Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis had just been in the middle of comprehending the Law of Graphite's Supreme Cutting when his Laws of Danger and Safety screamed at him.

Someone was attacking him!

BANG!

Two snake fangs bit into Gravis' neck as they injected a ton of Shadow Poison into his veins. An instant later, the entire body of the snake coiled around Gravis as all his bones broke. 

There was deep hatred visible in the snake's eyes as it tried to kill Gravis, and its attack was definitely not weak.

This was an Early Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor, someone four levels above Gravis.

"Why?" Gravis transmitted.

"It's you!" the snake transmitted with hatred. "You were the one that ruined the purity of our beasts! You were the one that introduced the manipulation of metal to the beasts! You have ruined everything!"

Gravis scratched his chin as he calmly watched the snake wrestling with itself.

Yes, Gravis had never been hit.

As soon as Gravis' Laws had shouted at him, he activated his Law of Perceived Reality, making it appear like the snake had hit him. 

For the last couple of seconds, the snake was biting the air as it coiled around nothing.

Gravis wanted to know why someone had suddenly attacked him, and he quickly got his answer.

While the snake was wrestling with itself, Gravis checked up on his basic Formation Array that told him how long he had been in comprehension.

'A little bit over 10,000 years have passed already,' Gravis thought. 'Huh, a bit longer than I thought.'

Why was Gravis checking the time?

Because he had a suspicion.

'Sure enough, I had my fight against Eran when I was 46,000 years old. Eran was supposed to be Siral's tribulation, but I killed the opponent, which meant that he transformed into my tribulation. Therefore, my longevity has been extended after I won the fight.'

'Right now, I'm about 146,000 years old, nearly exactly 100,000 years after my fight with Eran,' Gravis thought as he watched the snake.

'This is my tribulation.'

Gravis scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he looked at the snake that grew happier as it felt the life of its target slowly vanishing.

'Officially, since Eran counts as my first tribulation, this snake is my second tribulation. This means that the snake is supposed to be two levels above me. However, there are two levels between Late Major Circulation Immortal King and Peak Immortal King. Additionally, there are also two levels between Peak Immortal King and Early Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor.'

'So, even though the snake is only two Cultivation levels higher than me, its Battle-Strength is four levels higher than mine.'

Gravis looked with a complex expression at the snake. 'Four levels, huh?' he thought. 'When I just arrived in this world, fighting something four levels above me was perfect tempering for me.'

'However, now, four levels are nothing. With the current power of my Will-Aura, even five levels wouldn't be hard.'

'Anyway, it doesn't matter.'

Gravis slowly walked over to the snake, who was growing more shocked by the second.

How was its prey still alive!?

The snake was certain that it had broken all of the Black Demon's organs and bones. How is its prey still struggling in its grasp!?

Meanwhile, Gravis walked up to the snake from behind and took out a spear.

Then, Gravis enhanced his body with the Law of Physical Power and loaded his spear with Mortality.

BANG!

The snake's head exploded as Gravis stabbed his spear into its head from behind.

Even until the end, the snake had never realized that the Black Demon in its grasp had only been its perceived reality. 

However, it wasn't physical reality.

As Gravis looked at the corpse, he had to sigh.

'The Law of Perceived Reality really is terrifyingly powerful,' he thought. 'In my fight against the Black Demon, it alone has won me half the fight. If the defense of my opponent hadn't been an entire level above his Realm, he would have even completely died to it.'

'My enemy sees what they want to see. This means that, in their perception, everything is going smoothly while, in reality, it isn't. This leaves them in a dream where they get what they want.'

'At least, until they wake up.'

Gravis ignored the corpse since there was nothing of value on it. After all, Gravis had enough Immortal Stones to become a Late Major Circulation Immortal Emperor. This corpse was literally worthless.

"Mortis, I just had my tribulation," Gravis transmitted.

"So?" Mortis answered neutrally. "It's only an Early Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor."

Gravis groaned. "Yes, I know that. I contacted you because I wanted to know if you also got attacked."

"No," Mortis answered. "Technically, I am you since we share the same Spirit. Therefore, I won't go through tribulations."

"Just wanted to make sure," Gravis said. "Anyway, did you make any progress in the Laws?"

"Corefrost is nearly done," Mortis answered.

"Nice," Gravis answered. "Anyway, I'm going to finish the Law of Graphite's Supreme Cutting. It might still take me another 10,000 years since my affinity towards earth is horrible."

"Okay," Mortis answered.

After talking with Mortis, Gravis contacted Stella and informed her that everything was alright. Gravis was pretty sure that Stella paid more attention to Gravis' age than Gravis himself.

Sure enough, when Gravis told Stella about his tribulation, she released a sigh of relief. She knew that Gravis couldn't possibly die in his tribulation, but she had still been nervous. 

The two of them talked for several hours. By now, they both longed for each other again. 

They had been apart for a really long time. 

"Give me another 30,000 years or so," Gravis answered. "However, if you want, I can come over right now."

"No, it's fine," Stella answered quickly. "I don't want to interrupt your comprehension. 30,000 years sounds fine."

Gravis sighed. He knew that Stella probably wanted to see him right now, but Gravis knew that Stella might feel guilty if Gravis came over.

So, Gravis went back to comprehending Laws.

8,000 years later, Gravis finished the Law of Graphite's Supreme Cutting.

That single Law took Gravis a collective 18,000 years.

During that time, Mortis finished the Law of Corefrost. In addition to that, Mortis also finished the Law of Deep Inferno, which was a fusion of Inferno and Deep Wood. 

'So many Mixed Elements,' Gravis thought with a sigh. 'Even more, they don't even really increase my power since my lightning eclipses their power by far.'

'Yet,' Gravis thought, 'I am gaining a ton of Law Comprehension experience, and all these Laws are for the Law of Mixed Elements. With that Law, all of these Elements will reach the power of a level six Law, giving me unprecedented variety.'

'However, 36 level five Laws for a single level six Law is honestly overkill. It's simply so much to comprehend.'

'The Law of the Dead World is the easiest one to comprehend out of the four main Laws, but it certainly requires the most work by far. Life only needs four level six Laws, which are comprised of a grand total of only seven level five Laws. The Law of Emotions only needs six upgradable level six Laws. Even more, the Law of Perceived Reality only needs five upgradable level six Laws.'

'Meanwhile, how many Laws does the Law of the Dead World need?'

Gravis counted the Laws.

'Six level six Laws, only on par with the Law of Emotions. However, the number of level five Laws is terrifying. The Law of the Dead World needs a grand total of 40 level five Laws!'

Gravis sighed.

'Fortunately, I'm more than halfway there.'

'Anyway, time for the last Law that I need for the Form Law of the Saber.'

Gravis left the area and went to his last stop, the Law of Graphite's Supreme Explosion. 

This time, Gravis wasn't interrupted, and he completed the Law in one sitting.

It took him 16,000 years. 

'Finally done!' Gravis thought as he released a sigh. 'Now, I can condense the Form Law of the Saber.'

'14 level five Laws,' Gravis thought. 'I wonder how powerful that Law will become.'

Gravis looked towards the west. 'Well, I'm already done, Mortis, but you have more Laws to comprehend,' Gravis thought with a smirk.

What had Mortis comprehended during this time?

First, Mortis had comprehended Shadowinferno, and after that, he had comprehended Soulstorm, which was a fusion of Deep Wood and Storm.

'23 out of 36, nearly two-thirds done,' Gravis thought.

After informing Stella that Gravis would condense his Form Law of the Saber soon, he went to a secluded place and concentrated on comprehension.

A Form Law didn't take nearly as long to comprehend as other Laws. After all, Gravis already had all the knowledge inside his mind.. He only needed to combine it.