Lightning Is the Only Way

"They won't join for the same reason you won't join," Manuel explained.

Gravis thought about this for a bit and nodded.

At the moment, Azure and Stella were unreasonably powerful for level one Ancestral Gods, all thanks to the True Law of Empathy.

Stella had comprehended the True Law of Empathy, which had then given itself to Gravis, resulting in Mortis also comprehending it, who then quickly gave it to Azure.

The True Law of Empathy could transmit every Law except for Laws in the category of Emotional Laws or the Laws of Perceived Reality.

This meant that Stella and Azure knew three level nine Laws at the moment, the True Law of Empathy, the Law of Heavenly Lightning, and the True Law of Time.

Just the ability to stop time with the True Law of Time was already unreasonably powerful. On top of that, the two of them could release attacks more powerful than every attack any other level one Ancestral God could unleash thanks to the Law of Heavenly Lightning.

The True Law of Time and the Law of Heavenly Lightning were a terrifying combination at their level.

They were essentially unstoppable as long as their opponent didn't also know the True Law of Time.

However, how could any level one Ancestral God know the True Law of Time?

Gravis and Mortis had spent nearly 20 million years collectively in Samsara before comprehending it. Sure, a Divine God wouldn't need so much time to comprehend it since their Spirit was far more powerful, but they would still need several million years.

A level one Ancestral God?

Impossible.

Stella and Azure could fight four levels above themselves while not having a ridiculously powerful Will-Aura, which would already be seen as impossible by Divine Gods.

The reason why these peak geniuses from the Peak Sect could fight four levels above themselves was mostly thanks to the incredible amount of resources that had been pumped into them.

They had insanely powerful equipment.

They had undergone severe tempering, increasing their Will-Auras to the middle or maybe even late levels of the Ancestral God Realm.

Some of them probably even knew the Major Law of the Living World.

They also had powerful level eight Form Laws.

They might even have the True Law of Physical Strength, a level eight Law comprised of the three level seven Laws of True Speed, True Power, and True Defense.

Stella and Azure had none of these things. Yet, they could still fight four levels above themselves.

That would be too abnormal and would draw a lot of unwanted attention.

"So, it's only Aris and Exar?" Gravis asked.

"For now, yes," Manuel said. "There are still 150,000 years left before the tournament starts. Maybe someone else will reach the Ancestral God Realm before the time is up."

Gravis nodded. "Alright. Then, simply tell us when it's time to leave. We'll accompany them and keep a lookout for sneaky actions."

"Thanks," Manuel said.

"Why thanks? They're my friends too, you know?" Gravis commented with a smile.

SHING!

Mortis left without a word after realizing that there was nothing important left to be said.

Gravis and Manuel went back to Manuel's faction together, and the two of them gathered the relevant people to talk about the details.

Then, Gravis went to Stella and spent a lot of time with her.

Stella hadn't changed at all in the last 200,000 years, except for the fact that her Formation Arrays had become really good.

At some point, she could maybe even give Gravis some Formation Arrays he could put on his equipment to increase his own power.

Gravis and Mortis took a break for about 30,000 years before venturing out to comprehend two last Laws before the tournament arrived.

However, they didn't leave Manuel's faction.

In fact, they went deep underground to Meadow and Narcissus.

Gravis and Mortis were interested in the level seven True Laws of Power and Defense. Stella had already comprehended the True Law of Speed for them, leaving only those two.

Meadow and Narcissus knew these Laws since plants had a great affinity for the Life Laws. It wasn't anything special for them to know them.

Meadow immediately spat to the side and called Gravis a beggar. He didn't even offer anything in return. In her own words, she wasn't a slut. She was a whore, at worst.

If he wanted to use her, he had to pay the fee.

"Sure, go ahead," Narcissus said as Gravis and Meadow bickered.

Gravis only smirked while Meadow looked with shock at Narcissus. "Hey, you can't do that! They have to- "

BANG!

And Meadow was immediately suppressed by Narcissus' roots.

"Don't forget who's the one in charge," Narcissus said calmly and evenly.

Meadow couldn't really show an expression since she was a huge conglomerate of flowers and roots, but if she could form an expression, she would look with dramatic shock at Narcissus.

However, Meadow didn't protest.

"You're lucky you're so powerful and attractive," Meadow muttered to herself.

Plant relationships were weird.

Obviously, there was no bad blood between them.

This was simply how plants were.

Gravis and Mortis quickly created weak copies of themselves and fought against Narcissus' roots without using any Laws. Narcissus' roots used the two Laws Gravis and Mortis wanted.

Back when Gravis had comprehended the Major Law of Physical Strength, he had also fought two other beasts with the same method. Sadly, these beasts hadn't been able to pose any danger to Gravis, even when their bodies were a level higher than Gravis' body.

However, everything was different with Narcissus.

Narcissus wasn't some rookie that didn't know how to fight.

Because of that, Gravis and Mortis went through quite a beating. Without using any Laws and while suppressing their Realm, the two of them couldn't fight against Narcissus.

However, that was a good thing. The fact that they could barely resist meant that Narcissus was a good teacher.

In the beginning, Meadow wasn't interested in that little clash, but eventually, she became entranced.

Narcissus' control over his roots was phenomenal!

Gravis and Mortis used their full arsenal of techniques without breaking the restrictions, but Narcissus always perfectly countered them.

So, in the end, Meadow watched the battles with interest.

In a way, this wasn't any different from Gravis watching Stella create Formation Arrays.

Watching one's partner work could be very entrancing.

Eventually, the two of them comprehended the relevant Laws.

And as soon as they did, the level eight Law of Physical Strength followed.

Two level seven Laws, and one level eight Law.

With all of that combined, Gravis' and Mortis' bodies became one level more powerful, increasing their speed, defense, and power by quite a bit.

Additionally, they gained quite some insights into the other Life Laws. By watching Narcissus, they gained insights into the True Laws of Plant Composition and Plant Growth, and by comprehending the Laws, they gained insights into the True Laws of Body Composition and Body Growth.

They didn't comprehend these Laws yet, but they've gotten a step closer.

Gravis and Mortis thanked Narcissus after they had comprehended their Laws, and they spent the remaining time with their partners.

And before they knew it, it was time to head out to the tournament.

150,000 years had already passed.