Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis thought about the Empress' words and realized several things. Yes, if his goal were only to ascend, there would be no problems for him, but the Empress knew that this wasn't his goal. Gravis wanted to become the strongest, and with that, he had to approach cultivation from a different standpoint.

What was the most important aspect of power when one had the goal to become the strongest?

The foundation and Battle-Strength.

What decided Battle-Strength?

That depended on the Realm of the person or beast. As a Lord or lower, the being's combat experience would be the most important, but starting at the King Realm, the Laws became more important. After all, at some point, everyone would have basically reached the peak of what they could do with their body or with the weapons they had at their disposal.

So, when one already had a 100% mastery of their abilities, the only way to become more powerful was to get more powerful abilities. That's where the Laws came into play.

Gravis knew that as soon as he lost his advantage in Battle-Strength, it would be difficult for him to regain it. It would not only take a lot of time, but it would also be very dangerous. After all, suddenly, nearly every being crossing his path might be a danger to his life. Additionally, sometimes one needed to push themselves to understand a Law.

If someone only understood one more Initial Law, the understanding of another Initial Law would allow someone to close the gap and triumph. Yet, if every opponent understood an additional Low-Rank Law, understanding one more Initial Law wouldn't make much of a difference.

This meant that if one didn't have the ability to resist someone on the same level, even an additional breakthrough might not guarantee their survival. If one reached that point, becoming more powerful became nearly impossible.

That was why it was important to always be above average in comparison to others at one's level. Because if you were above average, you would become average with an increase of Realm. Yet, if you were average, you would become weak with another increase of Realm. That's when one's path came to an end.

Right now, Gravis was the most powerful King. Just with his Law of Suppression, he would be able to slow a level five King by over 50%. Then, by using his Punishment Lightning, he would be able to kill them.

Yet, what if he was an Emperor and he met another Emperor that also understood a level three Law? Gravis had witnessed the power of a level two Law when he had fought the Inquisitor, and he had needed to evade every single attack. He had tried to block one spire once with his pillar of shields, but that had nearly killed him.

One had to remember that Gravis relied on speed and attacking power. His fighting style was very explosive and aimed to kill the opponent with a single attack.

Yet, what if an Emperor understood a level three Law regarding speed and a level two Law regarding attack? If Gravis were a level one Emperor, a level two Emperor that managed to comprehend these things would be able to kill Gravis without him being able to resist.

Gravis sighed. "I haven't thought that far ahead. Ironically, even though I have the most knowledge about the more powerful worlds out of anyone in this world, I was the one that failed to see this truth."

"Half-true," the Empress said. "It's not like we don't have any examples or comparisons in this world. Have you heard of the Ultimates?"

Gravis nodded.

"Why are the Ultimates still in this world?" the Empress asked. "The answer to that is that none of them understand a level three Law. Understanding a level three Law is very difficult. I, for example, haven't comprehended one yet."

"Put yourself in their situation. You have no one available that is a level above yourself, while the Striders are basically two levels above yourself. This means that you can only fight someone that's at the same level as you. Yet, there are so incredibly few of these opponents that you can't even find them."

"To understand a level three Law as an Emperor, you need a real life and death fight. Sadly, you can't find a life and death fight if you were in their situation. Because of that, you are stuck."

"I knew this," the Empress said, "and you didn't. That's why I was able to see what you haven't been able to see. The existence of the Ultimates is not something to look up to but something that you should fear and lament. Fear that you will never end up in their situation. Their existence is a clear example of what you shouldn't do."

Gravis nodded. "Even if one of them manages to kill all others and ascend, they would still be the weakest possible beast that could ascend from this world. In the next world, where everyone has managed to comprehend a level three Law, they would be nothing more than fodder."

Suddenly, Gravis' eyes widened. 'Wait, fodder?' he thought.

Didn't the higher world also require fodder and tempering for others? Then how was it possible that every beast in this world needed to understand a level three Law to ascend?

'Ah, I get it!' Gravis thought. 'It's not that there are more powerful middle worlds and weaker middle worlds. It's not that there are better and worse ones. It's simply a matter of fulfilling one's assigned job!'

'In the lower worlds, quantity is more important than quality. Yet, in the middle world, Heaven can already discern the future potential of beings. After all, Laws will be the main focus for, at least, a very long time.'

'So, when Heaven can see the good and bad seedlings already, it can gather the good seedlings in one place to make them even better while the other places are responsible for fodder! Logically speaking, this means that this world is a world made to create as many outstanding seedlings as possible, while many other middle worlds are just there to create average fodder!'

'It's a chain! There are places that create the weakest fodder, which will be used to feed the weak fodder. The weak fodder will be fed to the powerful fodder, and the powerful fodder will be fed to the cultivators.'

'This is a cycle of refinement. Put ten weak fodders together, and you might create one powerful fodder. That powerful fodder will then be fed to the powerful cultivators.'

Gravis' eyes shone. 'So this middle world has been specifically created to produce beasts that can reach the highest world. The higher world will have many beasts that only understand level two Laws so that their lives may be used to create beasts strong enough to reach the highest world.'

The Empress looked at Gravis, who was lost in thought. Gravis had probably understood something important, but the Empress wouldn't ask. Gravis had already shared more about the workings of the world than nearly anyone else would have done in his situation. A lot of beings in his situation probably would keep their origins a secret.

Gravis didn't want to share this secret with the Empress. Telling her that the purpose of her entire existence was to become mere food for humans would do way more damage than good. Not everyone was ready to oppose Heaven, like he did.

"Gravis," the Grand Elder said as he took part in the conversation for the first time. Gravis perked up and looked at him.

"I should tell you something that will make it easier for you to accept your Realm-Stop. I know that you are only around 50 years old, and 100 years feels like an infinitely long time to you," the Grand Elder said.

Gravis sighed and nodded. "It feels so incredibly long. I have managed to become so powerful in fifty years, but in the next hundred years, I won't be able to take a single step forward."

The Grand Elder also nodded. "If there wouldn't be the mandatory procreation, the average age for beasts that became Kings would probably be around fifty years. Yet, due to the mandatory procreation, the average age is more along the lines of 150 years."

"Now, what do you think is the average age for becoming an Emperor?" the Grand Elder asked.

"Probably around 250?" Gravis asked uncertainly. One hundred years to go from being a King to being an Emperor was already more than he actually thought. It was a very generous estimation.

"It's over 1,000 years," the Grand Elder said, shocking Gravis.

"A full millennium?" Gravis asked.

The Grand Elder nodded. "You need to understand the right Laws in order to comprehend a level two Law. Due to that, the average level five King has comprehended way more Laws than the average level four King."

"Level four Kings have understood about four Laws on average while the average level five King has understood about eight."

Gravis' eyes widened when he heard that.

"Yet, due to the vast differences of level five Kings, you can find level five Kings with only four Laws, but you can also find level five Kings that have understood twelve Laws. The gulf in power between level five Kings is vast," the Grand Elder explained.

"That is also why the Inquisitor was only above-average for his Realm, even though he understood a level two Law. One level two Law might be worth about as much as five level one Laws, but against someone that has understood twelve, even that won't be able to close the gap."

"Now, think of the average Emperor. If a level five King already managed to comprehend eight Laws on average, a level one Emperor would, on average, have at least eight Laws plus a level two Law. The gulf between a level five King and a level one Emperor is incredibly vast."

"Up to now, you have been fighting beasts that have lived for maybe up to 200 years. Yet, as soon as you're fighting an Emperor, you are fighting against someone that has had over 1,000 years to hone their power."

"So," the Grand Elder said, "don't think that a mere 100 years is too much. You need these next 100 years to reach the same average level of comprehension as the other level five Kings. After all, the opponents able to threaten you now are all already Emperors. Remember, the more Laws you understand, the easier it becomes to understand even more of them."

"Your Punishment Lightning has given you a shortcut to this level. The others had enough time to get a lot more practice in understanding Laws. While you are just about to understand another level two Law as a level three Emperor, the other level three Emperors might comprehend another three level two Laws since they have more experience in comprehending them."

"Take this time to learn as much about Laws as possible. You need it for your future," the Grand Elder said.

Gravis closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, he sighed.

Suddenly, Gravis bowed to the Empress and the Grand Elder.

"Thank you sincerely for your guidance."