Lightning Is the Only Way

Arc laughed as he smirked smugly. "Actually, this entire thing was created by me."

"By you?" Gravis asked. "Does this mean that this comprehension method only exists in this world?"

"No, it exists in every world," Arc said. 

Gravis blinked a couple of times. "Could you explain?"

"Well, it's like this," Arc said as he leaned back with a smile. "I hate seeing talent getting wasted. Yet, what is talent? What is the definition of talent? That's something debatable, but in my mind, talent represents the mindset of a Cultivator and their affinity towards the Laws."

"Someone that manages to comprehend Laws faster than others is obviously more talented. However, what allows someone to comprehend Laws faster?"

"It's the mindset," Arc said, tapping his head. "Specifically, the enjoyment of comprehending Laws and the abilities of the mind. If comprehending Laws is a chore, it will be far harder for you to focus and force you to comprehend Laws. At some point, you will also become burned out."

"The next thing is how you go about comprehending Laws. You, for example, are a very logical person. You analyze all the individual details and combine them into one whole concept. Like this, you comprehended a Law."

"This was all it has been for a really, really long time. However, this meant that only the logical people that loved finding problems and solving them became really powerful."

"So, I started comparing the Laws to people. You can analyze a person and run innumerable tests on them until you know how they will react to any given situation."

"Yet, are there not also people that know how someone will react just based on how that person feels to them? Your friend, Ferris, is one of these beings. You have already seen that he has a great talent for finding trustworthy people. However, you also know that Ferris definitely isn't the sharpest tool in the shed."

"So, how come that he is even better at judging others than you?"

"It's his empathy and feeling," Gravis answered. "Ferris trusts his feelings and somehow knows if that person is trustworthy or not."

"Exactly," Arc said with a smirk. "So, why is it that the Laws can't be comprehended like this?"

"The answer is actually rather simple," Arc said. "Because my creator designed it in such a way."

"Even though I dislike my creator immensely, I contacted him and told him about this change. Why not also allow a Law to be comprehended the other way around?"

"Could you elaborate?" Gravis asked.

"Simple. Every Law has its own minute and subtle feeling. If you are able to grasp the feeling of the Law, you will still know what it does in any given situation. The problem back then was that the people didn't know the specifics of the Laws, which made it impossible to be used, even though they perfectly knew the Law based on feeling."

"Thus, my creator tweaked the comprehension of Laws a little bit. Now, as long as someone perfectly knows how a Law feels, the Law will tell them all the small details about it. Thus, they also manage to comprehend the Law."

"So, in short, you learn all the details and combine them by analyzing, thinking, and calculating. In comparison, the Synchronization Comprehension method creates the entire concept and then delivers all the small details."

"Both comprehension methods are equally difficult since you need to understand the entire Law regardless, but the affinity for different Cultivators changes. With this, people that have an incredible talent for empathy and feeling can also comprehend these Laws."

Gravis remained silent for some seconds. "That actually sounds impossible. Yet, the highest Heaven simply made the impossible possible."

Arc nodded. "Yes. It's his Cosmos, and he can do with it whatever he wants."

"Anyway, that's the reason why the Unrestrained Sect comprehends the Laws differently from you. They concentrate on them and synchronize their mindsets. This takes a lot of time and concentration, but it works."

"However, this method only works for Cultivators that would rather follow their gut than their mind. You, on the other hand, always follow your mind over your gut."

Gravis nodded. "Definitely. Nothing against you, but this Synchronization Comprehension method is absolutely useless to me."

Arc laughed loudly. "I know. Anyway, you already heard the explanation from Surem about how to comprehend Weapon Laws via the Synchronization Comprehension method. Can you find out the actual way of comprehending the Law by his words?"

Gravis frowned as he looked down. His finger went to his chin to scratch it as he began thinking. 

The words Surem had said went through Gravis' mind. He said that Gravis should concentrate on the feeling of his weapon and worship it. He also said that the weapon was Gravis and that Gravis was his weapon. Without his weapon, a Cultivator would lose everything.

This sounded similar to something else. 

Hadn't Gravis said that he was lightning and that lightning was him? This was basically the same thing.

However, this was no longer the case. Gravis was lightning, but lightning actually wasn't Gravis anymore. Gravis' mind, body, and Spirit were made of lightning. Yet, there was an obvious disconnect between his lightning and himself. 

The more Gravis thought about this, the more paradoxical it seemed. 

Gravis was Punishment Lightning. 

Gravis' Punishment Lightning was Punishment Lightning.

Yet, somehow, Gravis was no longer his own Punishment Lightning, even though Gravis was Punishment Lightning?

This seemingly made no sense. 

In math, it would be like this:

a = c

b = c

a =/= b

It made no sense!

At the same time, Gravis likened his own situation to the words that Surem had said to him. Surem said that the weapon was the Cultivator, but was this true? Was this even possible?

Gravis wasn't a saber, was he?

'I mean, it has to be possible. Otherwise, Weapon Cultivators wouldn't be able to unleash these kinds of attacks,' Gravis thought.

'Yet, what makes a weapon? What could I even comprehend about it? My saber has a handle and a blade. I know it perfectly since I created it myself. I also fought with it for thousands of years, and I know all the movements I can produce with it.'

'I know all physical ways that I can move my saber and attack or block with it. There are only so many movements I can do. A physical attack with a weapon is only that, a physical attack. It isn't like other Laws that completely change their entire Composition and being. It's still the same.'

'I'm also pretty sure that Weapon Laws have nothing to do with some kind of perceived reality. Perceived reality exists in the mind, but a weapon attack is physical. It's firmly placed inside the physical reality.'

'So, what even are Weapon Laws? I haven't thought about this before, but the entire concept of Weapon Laws seemingly doesn't exist. It's like it's not real. Yet, it must be real since it can obviously exhibit powerful strength.'

'I think I'm even more confused than before,' Gravis thought helplessly.

Gravis sighed. 

"I give up. I have no idea what Surem meant," Gravis said.

Arc chuckled a bit. "Yes, because Surem's explanation made it even harder for you to comprehend Weapon Laws."

"Even harder?" Gravis asked with surprise.

Arc nodded. "Yes, he explained it correctly, and if you were to follow the Synchronization Comprehension method, you would find success. Yet, you must remember that the Synchronization Comprehension method works backward from your perspective. With his explanation, he showed you the end result and wants you to find out the details."

Arc smirked widely. "Now, let me tell you a sentence that will blow you away. Yet, with this sentence, you should be able to find out what Weapon Laws are."

Gravis became very intrigued. "Go on," Gravis said as he leaned forward.

Arc chuckled a little. "Oh, this is going to be so great. You don't know how much I'm anticipating your expression."

Arc looked deeply into Gravis' eyes with a smirk. 

"Weapon Laws…"

"Have nothing to do with weapons."