Lightning Is the Only Way

Years passed.

Gravis' first stop had been the level five Laws of Storm's Supreme Cutting and Storm's Supreme Explosiveness. 

There was not much that could be said about the process. Law Comprehension was just comprehending new Laws. 

Gravis simply sat in the Law Comprehension Areas and comprehended the Laws.

After comprehending a Law, Gravis would call Stella and talk to her for a bit. After all, thousands of years had passed.

The first two Laws took Gravis 8,000 years in total.

Luckily, Gravis already knew the Composition Law for the Element of Storm, which made the comprehension far faster.. Comprehending the Composition Laws almost always took the longest since one was building a foundation for something completely new.

However, when one knew the Composition Laws, the other Laws would quickly follow.

During that time, Mortis comprehended the Law of Frostlightning and the Law of Punishment Brilliance. 

It sure was helpful to be connected to Mortis right now.

Gravis' next stops were the Laws of Inferno's Supreme Cutting and Inferno's Supreme Explosiveness. 

Comprehending these two Laws took Gravis 10,000 years.

Now, Gravis had fulfilled the bare minimum to comprehend the Form Law of the Saber. 

Of course, Gravis wasn't interested in the bare minimum.

In these 10,000 years, Mortis had finished all the Mixed Elements that included lightning. Mortis had comprehended the Laws of Deep Lightning and Shadow Lightning.

In just a short 18,000 years, Gravis had comprehended eight level five Laws.

This was insanely fast!

The next stop was a rather quick one.

It was the Law of Lightning's Supreme Cutting.

Gravis already knew the Law of Lightning's Supreme Explosiveness thanks to Mortis, which took care of that one.

Comprehending the Law of Lightning's Supreme Cutting only took 1,000 years.

Mortis didn't manage to comprehend a Law during that short amount of time.

The next stop was for the Laws of Frost's Supreme Cutting and Frost's Supreme Shattering.

Gravis' affinity towards the Water Element was okay to good, which meant that it only took him another 6,000 years.

During that time, Mortis barely managed to comprehend the Law of the Blizzard, which was a fusion of the Frost and Storm Elements.

However, just when Gravis wanted to go to his next stop, a message reached him.

"Hey, come over to my clearing," Arc transmitted to Gravis.

Gravis blinked a couple of times in surprise.

Arc rarely called him, which meant that probably something significant happened.

'Well, I've been comprehending Laws for over 50,000 years by now. That's a long time, even for Immortal Emperors.'

This reminded Gravis of something, and he quickly did some calculations.

Then, his eyes widened.

'Wait. Then, does this mean that I'm already over 100,000 years old?' Gravis thought with shock.

100,000 years.

How long was that!?

Gravis had come to this world when he had barely been 4,000 years old, but now, he was over 100,000 years old? Even more, his calculations told him that he was around 105,000 years old. This little discrepancy of 5,000 years was already longer than his entire life had been before coming to this world.

'That's so weird!' Gravis thought with a complex expression. 'I don't feel much older than before. In fact, for some reason, I feel even younger.'

Gravis scratched his chin as he thought about the strange sensation.

'Is it because of Stella?' Gravis thought. 'Being with Stella makes everything appear brighter, and I don't see everything in a dark haze anymore. It's like I have returned to a time with fewer worries.'

'However, I should already count as an old man,' Gravis thought with a complex expression. 'I am already older than the lifespan of an Immortal King. I don't know how many Immortal Kings go through tribulations, but there are probably not many.'

'Wait, didn't I just recently think that I was apparently destined to be young forever?' Gravis thought with a bitter expression. 'However, in the blink of an eye, I have become an old man.'

Gravis had to laugh a bit as he had these thoughts.

"You coming today, or what?" Arc transmitted with an impatient voice.

"Oh, sorry," Gravis said with some embarrassment.

SHING!

Gravis took out Arc's emblem and teleported away.

Gravis quickly arrived in Arc's clearing and spotted Arc.

However, Arc wasn't alone.

Exar stood beside him.

"What's up?" Gravis asked.

Arc had his usual smile on his face. However, he didn't sit on the stump but was standing beside Exar, which was unusual.

Arc gestured towards Gravis with his head.

Exar looked at Gravis and inspected him for a bit.

"I'm leaving," he said.

Gravis blinked a couple of times in confusion.

Then, it clicked.

"Oh, you're leaving for the highest world?" Gravis asked.

Exar nodded.

"I've been an Immortal Emperor for 350,000 years now, and my next tribulation will be in 50,000 years. If I remain here, I will cease to exist in 50,000 years since there are no more powerful Cultivators in this world," he explained.

Gravis took a deep breath. "350,000 years, huh?" he uttered as he looked to the side. "It sounds so long, but I'm already a third of the way there, basically. Why is time so weird?"

"You will understand that in the future," Exar answered.

Gravis noticed Exar's tone, and his eyes shone a bit. "Sounds like you already know the level six Law of Time."

Exar nodded. "Yes, I do. I'm also the one that created the tokens that you used to flee from the Nine Elements Sect."

Gravis raised an eyebrow.

The level six Laws of Space and Time were very difficult to comprehend. 

"Say, who's more powerful? Narcissus or you?" Gravis asked.

Exar slowly blinked once in boredom. Usually, he wouldn't waste his time with such empty chatter, but he was leaving anyway. 

Additionally, his teacher had told him that it would help Exar in the future if he built a friendship with Gravis. 

Of course, Exar had noticed how outstanding Gravis was, and he could certainly see that it could be beneficial to get to know Gravis more.

Because of that, Exar answered Gravis' question patiently.

Obviously, the relationship between Exar and Gravis wasn't close in any sense. Normally, there would be no reason for Exar to tell Gravis of his departure.

However, Arc wanted Exar to talk more with Gravis.

Why?

Was he doing it for Gravis' sake?

No, he was doing it for his student's sake.

Exar was far more powerful than Gravis' currently, but Gravis' rate of growth was terrifying, even in Arc's eyes. 

In the future, Gravis might be able to help Exar with some things.

"If you had asked me that question 50,000 years ago, I wouldn't have been sure of the answer," Exar answered patiently.

"However, now, I'm certain that I'm more powerful," Exar said.

'Certain?' Gravis thought. 'Narcissus knows several level six Laws, and Exar probably also knows some of them. However, the addition of just one or two level six Laws wouldn't make such a huge difference that Exar would suddenly become certain of victory.'

Gravis suddenly had a suspicion, and he took a deep breath.

'If this is actually the case, Exar might really be one of the most terrifying Cultivators of any higher world. He might even be the most terrifying one out of all,' Gravis thought.

"Do you know the Major Law of the Dead World?" Gravis asked.

Gravis got this suspicion when Exar said that he knew the level six Laws of Space and Time. These were already some of the hardest ones. The only missing things would be the level six Law of Gravity, the Law of Matter, and the Law of Mixed Elements.

Exar's eyes narrowed. "Was that a shot in the dark, or did you actually guess it?" he asked.

"A bit of both," Gravis answered. "However, I'm actually really impressed, and that's something that happens rarely."

Gravis looked at the lake in the middle of Arc's clearing and was reminded of the middle world's Grand Lake.

"I comprehended the Minor Law of the Dead World in the middle world, and that already made me one of the most powerful Immortals. Comprehending the Major Law of the Dead World in a higher world is probably even harder than that," Gravis said.

"That's wrong," Exar said with a slight shake of his head, surprising Gravis a bit. "Law Comprehension Realm Cultivators have a finite lifespan while Immortal Emperors have a lifespan that's defined by their power."

"If you were to convert my age to the Law Comprehension Realm, I would be 25,000 years old, 2.5 times as old as the maximum lifespan," Exar explained.

'2.5 times?' Gravis thought as he did some calculations. 'So, he's around 500,000 years old in total. Quite an old monster.'

"I hadn't thought of it like this," Gravis said. 

Then, Gravis smiled.

"So, since you have called me here, it probably means that you want to stay in contact, right?" Gravis asked.

Exar felt a bit uncomfortable by the direct question, but he nodded. "Yes. I think there might be things that we could do for each other in the highest world."

Gravis nodded. "No problem. I will probably stay in this world for a long time. By then, you should have already made some progress in the Star God Realm. I can give you some information about the highest world right now, while you can pay me back in the future by giving me some information when I get back. After all, you would have spent a couple ten thousand years in the highest world by then.

Exar nodded. "I agree."

Gravis also smiled.

After that, Gravis told Exar a lot about the workings of the highest world and how he could find Gravis in the future.

Exar thanked Gravis, and after a couple hours, he looked towards the sky and seemingly vanished into nothingness.

Gravis looked at the spot where Exar had been for a while.

"And like this, the most powerful Cultivator of the world has left without anyone knowing."