Lightning Is the Only Way

The three of them talked for several days. Gravis and Mortis were telling Zero's Essence about their entire life, and Zero's Essence was very intrigued by the story.

She had thought that her own story was very incredible, but it was nothing in comparison to Gravis.

Gravis had met several different Heavens while no one alive had even met one!

It was like the entire Cosmos was unfolding before Gravis and Mortis, breaking normal convention.

The entire time, Zero's Essence only listened, and she rarely spoke up. Gravis even asked several times if he was boring her, but she always gave a negative answer.

"No, continue. I'm very intrigued," she kept saying.

And then, she became silent again.

Gravis knew that Zero's Essence was probably a very introverted person, but her introversion was really something else. Gravis assumed that she saw Gravis' story as a show or entertainment, not a dialog.

In these days, it was basically only Gravis talking with Mortis adding some things at the side. Yet, even Mortis was talking more than Zero's Essence.

"And that's when you showed up," Gravis finished.

Zero's Essence didn't react.

Gravis looked at Mortis uncertainly, and Mortis just shrugged.

"So, is there anything else you want to know?" Gravis asked, trying to disperse the awkward atmosphere.

"Why did you tell me all of this?" Zero's Essence asked calmly.

That question surprised Gravis a bit. "Why not? We're family, and I like talking with people."

"You're not that naïve," she said. "Family is only a bond by blood. However, it's worthless when considering powerful Cultivators. We have not grown up together, and this is the first time we are talking. We are strangers, and there are no emotions between us."

"So, why did you tell a stranger all of these things? Do you expect something in return?"

If Gravis hadn't already seen through a major part of Zero's Essence's personality, he would have assumed her comment to be derisive since she basically interpreted bad and selfish intentions into Gravis' actions.

However, Gravis realized that she was genuinely curious. She did not understand why Gravis was doing this, and she only wanted to learn the reason behind Gravis' actions.

Gravis had told her about his friends and family, and she even knew about the Eternal Fire Sect.

This was Gravis' biggest weakness, and he had unveiled it in front of her.

Why would he do that?

"Because I see you as a friend and/or sister already," Gravis said.

"How? You don't know me," she answered.

"But I do," Gravis said.

Zero's Essence raised an eyebrow.

"When I acted like an evil mastermind previously, I wasn't only speaking bullshit. The stuff about control and freedom is true. I only have to find out what it is that you desire and work around it."

"Additionally, you feel like a prideful person, but not unhealthily so. Lying and deceiving is not something you normally consider since you don't like it. Additionally, I am far weaker than you. If you wanted to kill me, you would just kill me. You wouldn't need to act all sneakily."

"Maybe you can see me telling you all of this stuff as a form of trying to gain goodwill from you, but that's just how normal human relationships work. People try to gain the goodwill of someone they like subconsciously or consciously. The only difference between their actions and my actions is that I actively know what I'm doing."

"So, even if I don't know much about you, I know that telling you my story won't be a danger to me. After all, you won't use it against me," Gravis said.

For a while, Zero's Essence only remained silent.

"Is it really that easy to analyze my entire personality?" she asked with furrowed brows. "It feels dangerous."

"I mean, the Law of Perceived Reality is the reason for the complexity in intelligent beings," Gravis explained.

"The Law of Life only supports life with the mental complexity of mortal plants."

"The Law of Emotions gives the life a subconsciousness and instinct. That life is essentially as complex as an animal or very weak beast."

"The Law of Perceived Reality is the understanding of consciousness and intelligence. Complex relationships and complicated thought patterns are part of that."

"So, since I know the True Law of Perceived Reality, I can watch your reactions and Law fragments from different perspectives, which slowly dispels their complex relationships with each other. When stripped of complexity, I only need to navigate your emotions and desire."

Zero's Essence fell into thought with furrowed brows.

It sounded very simple, but it definitely wasn't simple.

She knew that, even if she knew everything Gravis knew, she still wouldn't be able to navigate another person's mind to such a degree of mastery.

Gravis made it seem so easy.

There were so many complex and almost illogical connections in someone's personality. A good example would be a writer. That writer would want to earn money by publishing a story, and to support their endeavor, they quickly copied an artwork illegally.

However, that same writer would become furious when they saw someone else copying their own work while they themselves had done the same thing.

Yet, this obvious contradiction made perfect sense in that person's mind, and that belief was part of their mind.

Navigating these senseless connections in one's personality was basically impossible since there was no logic, rhyme, or reason on which one could base their feelings on. One would always go in completely blind.

The complexity and abstract nature of someone else's mind were impossible to see through in Zero's Essence's mind. There was an infinite number of variations.

"I think I know what you're thinking about," Gravis said. "You think that what I'm doing is simply too complex to do, but you're actually overcomplicating things."

Zero's Essence looked with a raised eyebrow at Gravis.

"You haven't comprehended the Law of Control yet. Everything that seems impossible in your mind is achieved with the Law of Control. You think I calculate everything perfectly and break someone else's personality down?"

Gravis snorted. "No, I can't do that. I simply look at the complex sea of emotions and relationships and focus on the feeling of control. When a string is all tangled up with tons of knots, you don't have to untangle the string. You only need to look at where it begins and where it goes."

"Of course, a person's mind isn't just a string, and you can't see where it goes. That's where the Law of Control comes into play. I see a complex and complicated mess of concepts before me. I can't understand that mess, but my feeling of control is roughly telling me what the purpose of that complex mess is."

Zero's Essence listened to Gravis' explanation, and she felt like she had learned something.

So, that was control, huh?

Of course, Gravis couldn't magically grant someone the True Law of Control, especially someone that had no affinity for it.

However, Zero's Essence felt like she had made some progress on her path to comprehending that elusive last Law.

"Thank you," she said. "Is there something you want in return?"

Gravis only grinned.

"No."