Lightning Is The Only Way

Two more years passed in which Gravis simply tried to comprehend anything. By now, he had stayed five full years in the Red Kingdom. He had never been in one spot basically doing nothing for such a long time before.

In the lower world, he had always changed environments and learned new things. Even the entire rise and fall of the River Tribe had only taken a bit less than a year. So, five years felt like an eternity to him.

Yet, it only felt like an eternity when compared to his earlier life. In truth, the time actually passed rather quickly for him. In the beginning, every day had felt like forever, but as soon as he got used to ignoring everything else, time seemed to pass much faster.

Gravis had always been on edge, trying to put himself into as much danger as possible in order to not fall behind. This was the first time Gravis was basically forced to only wait. Was it a bad thing? Gravis wasn't entirely sure. He just didn't have enough information to make an informed decision on that.

For once, the absence of pressure had, ironically, put Gravis under more pressure. He felt like while he was just sitting here, other Cultivators went through one life and death fight after the other. Only sitting here made him feel like he was falling behind.

Yet, Gravis also realized that this was only his own ambition talking. In truth, other Cultivators also needed to just sit down and comprehend their Laws. At some point, everyone would have developed their own fighting style to the peak. So, Gravis tried to change his mindset regarding tempering.

Tempering no longer gave him any combat experience. He was already able to foresee nearly all of his opponent's attacks, and fighting more wouldn't increase that skill any further. Now, it was all about the Laws. Gravis was sure that the cultivators all concentrated on their Laws as long as they reached his power.

Gravis was wrong.

Cultivators and beasts at his Realm generally weren't even close to finalizing their perfect fighting style. Gravis had gone through more crises than nearly every other Cultivator and beast at his level.

In the Unity Realm, comprehending a Law was a luxury. Very, very few Cultivators and beasts in the Unity Realm had the chance of comprehending a Law. After all, the Unity Realm wasn't a Realm where one was supposed to comprehend a Law. Comprehending Laws came much later generally.

Cultivators would only start looking at Laws as soon as they reached the later Stages of the Nascent Nourishing Realm. After all, in order to reach the Law Comprehension Realm, one needed to have understood at least one Law. Without that, they wouldn't be able to reach the Law Comprehension Realm. At that point, everything would focus on Laws.

Gravis simply reached this step much sooner. He was already focusing his eyes entirely on the Laws while being inside the Unity Realm. Yet, was that a good thing?

Usually, one would say that it was a good thing. After all, Gravis would have had much more time to comprehend Laws. Yet, that mindset was wrong. The reason for that was longevity. Someone in the Unity Realm could already grow to be a thousand years old.

If someone comprehended a Law in ten years and reached the Nascent Nourishing Realm while another Cultivator needed 500 years to accomplish the same thing, would that make a difference?

In truth, it made no difference because, in the end, both of them would have comprehended one Law and would be in the same Realm. Many geniuses often argued that being able to comprehend a Law faster would allow them to remain young.

Yet, what was the point of that? As soon as someone reached the Spirit Forming Realm, the dulling of the mind via age had already vanished. An old man near his dying bed could comprehend just as much as a youngster. Arguments like these were only spoken by the geniuses to give them a sense of superiority.

In their mind, reaching supreme power was a sprint, when, in actuality, reaching supreme power was an ultra-long-distance marathon. Being faster in the beginning made no difference. When running such incredible distances, it was more about actually reaching the goal instead of having a good time.

Old Man Lightning was an excellent example of this fact. He had remained at his level for over a hundred years. Yet, he still had an amazing Battle-Strength and managed to ascend. The only difference between him and other Unity Realm Cultivators was their remaining longevity.

Old Man Lightning only had less than 800 years left, while others had more than 900. Yet, no one needed 800 years to reach the Nascent Nourishing Realm. This was such a large timeframe that everyone willing to risk their lives would easily reach it.

After that, the longevity would only increase, and in no time at all, Old Man Lightning would count as one of the young people again.

Because of all these factors, comprehending Laws in the Unity Realm only helped with the current Battle-Strength, identical to having a powerful Will-Aura. It gave a momentary advantage, but if one couldn't keep building on it, they would lose that advantage very quickly.

Sadly, Gravis knew most of these things, but not all of them, which was why he had made the wrong conclusion regarding other Cultivators. Yet, in the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter what other Cultivators did. It was all about one's own power.

All in all, tempering oneself every week or tempering oneself once every decade made no difference, as long as the Realm didn't progress faster. Cultivators and beasts had enough time to waste. Of course, that was only true up to a certain point.

When one reached the point when someone needed to comprehend Laws, the timeframe of tempering became important again. One should never forget that every tempering experience came with a risk of death. There needed to be a worthwhile reward to make taking the risk worth it.

If one crazily tempered themselves, they would only increase their Will-Aura, while the comprehension of a Law would only increase by a slight bit. Yet, if one tempered themselves after accumulating a lot of understanding, one might be able to understand a new Law.

Therefore, taking more time between tempering was actually way better than doing it constantly. Gravis was now only beginning to understand this concept. He had some inklings about the truth, but his tempering-crazy mindset made it hard to accept. It just felt too different.

After these five years of comprehension, Gravis managed to grasp some things, but nothing really conclusive. He still remembered how it felt when he had been close to understanding the Law regarding the materials of the middle world. Right now, he didn't have this feeling at all.

Back then, he felt like he was so close to understanding something. It felt like there was something there, and he just needed some type of breakthrough to understand it. This feeling was wholly absent right now, even for any of the Life Laws.

Gravis sighed as he realized that today would be the day when the Red King would bring him to the Empress. Five years. He had spent five years here, continually comprehending as much of the world as possible.

Yet, what had he gained?

In Gravis' mind, he felt like he had gained nothing. Yes, he understood some things, but was that really worth it to waste five entire years of his life? Gravis had been so used to just smashing through the Realms, and when the cruel reality hit him, it hit him harder than any other Cultivator.

Gravis was special in regards to his Spirit, Energy, and body.

Gravis was also special in regards to his Will-Aura and fighting style.

Yet, Gravis wasn't special in regards to Laws.

When it came to Laws, he was just as aimless and slow as everyone else.

"You ready?" the Red King suddenly asked Gravis, bringing him out of his thoughts.

Gravis looked at the mountain on which he had sat for years now. Yet, he didn't have any sentimental attachments to the mountain. This wasn't his home, and the Red Kingdom wasn't a place where he wanted to stay.

Crk!

Gravis slowly stood up and stretched himself for the first time in two years.

"Let's go," he said evenly without motivation.