Lightning Is the Only Way

What?

Arc had no chance of winning?

It wouldn't even be a fight?

The insurmountable battle Gravis had expected while residing in the higher world had turned out to not even be a battle at all.

Why?

The most significant factor why this wouldn't even be a fight is the Law of Sentience.

What did the Law of Sentience do?

If one looked at the difference between simple life and a powerful Cultivator, one would quickly see that the difference all came down to sentience.

In a sense, sentience included the ability to manipulate and understand one's surroundings. A non-sentient being wouldn't be able to look at iron and think of a way to make it into a weapon.

A non-sentient being also wouldn't be able to understand why iron was hard or where it came from.

In essence, a non-sentient being couldn't comprehend Laws, and this was the most important thing.

So, what could the Law of Sentience do?

It could stop the activation of all Laws on or below its level, including the user's Laws.

If Gravis activated the Law of Sentience, everything inside the range of his Spirit Sense wouldn't be able to unleash level eight or weaker Laws.

All level seven Laws would become useless.

All level eight Laws would become useless.

Arc would only have three Laws he could use.

First, his Heavenly Lightning, which was a level nine Law.

Second, his Law of the True World, which outclassed the Law of Sentience in power, therefore making it immune to its power. After all, it already included the Law of Sentience inside it.

Of course, Arc couldn't use that Law in their fight.

Third, Form Laws. Form Laws worked differently from normal Laws. Form Laws were activated in one's own Spirit and were then unleashed by precise movements.

A normal Law would need to manifest in the real world, but a Form Law didn't use the world as a medium to be unleashed, but the precise movements in conjunction with one's Spirit.

So, if Arc and Gravis fought, Arc would only be able to fight with his Form Law.

Of course, the same thing would also be true for Gravis and Mortis.

This entire fight would become a violent melee.

This was the power of the Law of Sentience.

If Gravis were alone, Arc would have a higher chance of victory. Sure, Gravis' body was definitely more optimized for these kinds of battles, but Arc had an insane amount of experience. 

It was very possible that Arc could foresee Gravis' attacks before even Gravis himself thought of them.

This was the power of having lived and having watched beings for many billions of years.

Additionally, Arc would be able to regain his Energy and Life Energy by tapping into the resources of his world. 

This would mean that Gravis had to end the fight in a single strike.

Such a fight would be devastatingly challenging for Gravis but not unwinnable.

This was why the Opposer had accepted the conditions.

It would be hard, but it would still be winnable.

On top of that, Gravis' power would be pushed to ridiculous degrees since he would be forced to comprehend the Law of Sentience in the higher world.

And then, Mortis had appeared.

Arc could fight Gravis in a one-on-one, but what if there were two Gravises?

Arc would no longer be the favorite.

In fact, his chances of winning fell from 90% to only 10%.

Mortis had been the very thing that changed everything.

After hearing Gravis' words, Arc only smiled.

"I think you might be overestimating yourself just a little bit," Arc said. "I agree that my chances of victory are lower than yours but saying that this wouldn't even be a fight would be a bit much."

SHING!

A black spear appeared in Arc's right hand.

Then, he pointed it at Gravis with a grin.

"Don't underestimate me," he said. 

Gravis and Mortis only looked at Arc with complex expressions.

"You're right," Gravis said. "However, you're only right if we don't include the Major Law of Death."

Arc lifted an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with anything?" he asked. "Your Law of Sentience will also block the Major Law of Death."

"No, it doesn't," Gravis said.

Arc's eyes widened in surprise.

"It doesn't?" he asked. "How and why?"

"The Law of Sentience has been created by the highest Heaven," Gravis explained. "However, the Major Law of Death hasn't been."

"It hasn't?" Arc asked with surprise.

This was new!

Arc knew that the highest Heaven had created all the Laws. So, he had assumed that it had also created the Major Law of Death. It was only logical.

Yet, it wasn't?

"No, it didn't originate from this Cosmos," Gravis said. 

He didn't fault Arc for not knowing. Yes, Arc was supremely old, and yes, he was the most powerful higher Heaven.

However, Arc had been stuck inside his world for his entire life, and Gravis was pretty sure that the highest Heaven wasn't someone or something that told everyone its secrets. 

Everything Arc knew about the highest Heaven was probably made by looking at what it did and trying to understand why it did certain things.

Arc didn't know the Major Law of Death, which meant that he also didn't know its origins.

He knew that it was connected to the Primordial Chaos, but that could mean many things.

"The Major Law of Death is not a Law of this Cosmos, but of the Primordial Chaos," Gravis explained. 

"This Cosmos is the culmination of Energy. Life, worlds, matter, elements, Spirits, souls, everything is made of Energy."

"However, Energy is only one part of Primordial Chaos. Primordial Chaos is a mixture of many different forces, but as far as I know, only Energy can be used to create matter and life."

"When I'm talking about Death, I'm not referring to the end of life. If I were to write down these words, Death, referring to the force in the Primordial Chaos, would be written with a capital D, while death, the end of life, would be written with a lowercase d. They are two different things."

"In our perception, death is the opposite of life, but Death, with a capital D, is the opposite of Energy."

"The Law of Sentience can only influence Laws based on Energy. It can't influence Laws that aren't based on Energy."

"As far as I'm aware of, the Major Law of Death is the only Law in existence that isn't based on Energy. There could be more in the Primordial Chaos, but I can't be certain," Gravis explained.

Arc had listened to Gravis intently.

This was the first time Gravis taught something to Arc, not the other way around.

It had always been Arc teaching Gravis, but now, Gravis was teaching Arc.

Arc looked at the ground with a frown.

If that was true, he might really not have a fighting chance.

However, he needed to know one more thing to be sure.

"What can the Major Law of Death do?" he asked.

He didn't know the Law, and he had never seen anyone use it. Therefore, he also didn't know what it did.

"Extend a finger to the side," Gravis said.

Arc did so without hesitation. He knew Gravis, and he knew that Gravis wouldn't use this opportunity to kill him with a trick.

SHING!

Gravis lightly swung his saber and severed Arc's finger.

As soon as the finger got severed, it vanished.

This didn't seem any different from when any Cultivator attacked someone.

However, Arc's eyes widened with shock.

Two major things had happened that shocked him to the core.

First of all, Gravis hadn't only severed a part of his body but also a part of his being. 

This meant that Arc's Realm had fallen ever so slightly.

If Gravis managed to cut off half of Arc's body, something that could be healed in no time at all under normal circumstances, Arc would lose half his power.

The second thing that happened was just as shocking.

Arc couldn't regrow his finger!

Gravis hadn't only cut off a part of Arc's Realm but also a part of his existence.

Everything was made of Laws, including Spirits and bodies. 

When the Major Law of Death cut off Arc's finger, it also annihilated the Laws belonging to it.

What did this mean?

This meant that, in the eyes of the world, Arc was a being with nine fingers. 

It was like he had never had ten fingers.

In essence, Arc was fully healed already.

His body was in its peak condition.

Sadly, his new peak condition only consisted of nine fingers.

All the Life Energy in the Cosmos couldn't heal something that was already healthy.

After some seconds, Arc frowned at where his finger had been.

CRRRR!

Over the next three seconds, Arc managed to grow a new finger.

But how?

Well, Arc knew the Law of the Living World, which included the Law of Life.

Arc could create life.

He could remold and recreate his body however he wished.

In essence, Arc wasn't healing himself but growing a completely new finger.

Something like this was impossible for anyone that didn't know the Law of Life.

Only the Law of Life could truly alter the body in such a way, at least consciously.

Beasts could still remold their bodies when they reached a new Realm. 

However, a human would be stuck forever with their current body if they were hit with the Major Law of Death.

If Gravis severed Exar's left arm with the Major Law of Death, Exar wouldn't be able to get his arm back until he comprehended the True Law of Life. After all, Exar was a human.

Arc also didn't know the True Law of Life, but his body hadn't been elevated to such a level that it needed that Law to be manipulated.

Arc was still in the Peak Immortal Emperor Realm, and that Realm was still included in the Major Law of Life. As soon as he became a Star God, he would need the True Law of Life.

This revelation changed everything.

Arc knew that as soon as Gravis managed to hit Arc, Arc would need to concentrate on regrowing his body.

Something like that wasn't easy and could be a major distraction in a fight.

Additionally, even if Arc managed to regrow his body with the Law of Life every time, his Realm would still drop due to the injuries.

As soon as Gravis and Mortis had injured Arc enough, he would become a Peak Major Circulation Immortal Emperor.

At that point, he would be helpless.

Arc now fully realized that this really wouldn't be a fight.

He had no chance of winning.

Arc sighed as he put his spear away.

"That sucks," he said.