Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis surprisingly spent 15 years trying to understand the combination of wind and fire without any success. This shocked him quite a bit since he believed that he already had a lot of knowledge in regards to Mixed Elemental Laws.

Gravis could infer a lot of things from the fusion, but it just didn't end. By now, he had learned more about this combination than two other, similar Laws would have combined. It was like this Law was far more complex than the other ones.

'This can only mean that this Law is a level two Law. That's quite surprising, actually. I thought that all Mixed Elemental Laws would be level one Laws. Apparently not,' Gravis thought.

Then, Gravis thought about the other Mixed Elemental Laws and found something that was actually quite similar to the Law he was trying to comprehend right now.

'I think I get it,' Gravis thought as he scratched his chin. 'This is not a Mixed Elemental Law. Apparently, not all of the elements can be mixed to create a Mixed Elemental Law. Instead, some of them go into completely different directions.'

'The fusion of metal and fire is a good example. The fusion of metal and fire, as well as the fusion of metal and earth, create Hard Complex Materials. Therefore, by understanding these two fusions, I gained insights into the Hard Complex Law. I just haven't looked at it from this angle but from a different one.'

The question during all of this was, what did the fusion of wind and fire create?

Surprisingly, it was just very hot wind.

At first glance, this seemed like it couldn't be any more straightforward, but that was not true at all. In actuality, what the fusion created was something not more complex but more basic than the Laws of Wind or Fire.

'It's just heat,' Gravis thought. 'Whenever I combine other elements, I see them fuse together and become more complex with attributes from both elements. Yet, heat does the opposite. The burning aspect of fire is gone, as well as the cutting and moving aspect from wind. It is simply a hot space, which only exhibits one aspect of the Fire Laws.'

Gravis scratched his chin as he made some connections. 'I have seen that the elements change the more powerful a beast becomes. The light element of the Light Ultimate or Light Immortal has transformed from a very defensive one into a very aggressive one.'

'This probably means that other elements could also change their properties as they become more powerful. It could very well be that the Laws of Heat would become the next stop for beasts with the fire affinity. This would transform their concentrated, explosive attacks into a domain. Instead of dealing a devastating strike immediately, they slowly melt the opponent over a long period of time.'

'Of course, I know that there are also stronger versions of fire. The Inferno Immortal, as his name suggests, knows about the level three Inferno Law, which is the equivalent to my Punishment Lightning. He still fights in a very explosive manner.'

'Does that mean that one can choose their future development?' Gravis thought as he looked at the sky. 'The Light Immortal didn't need to go on an offensive route. There surely is a better version of the light element as well, which would probably concentrate even more on defense and healing.'

Gravis thought about this for a while and came to an interesting hypothesis.

'I think there are, at least, two paths one can take: One of complexity and one of simplicity. The Pure Elemental Laws can probably become so powerful that they are even a force in the highest world. This means that everyone can still follow their pure elements without having to fear for their future.'

'Yet, there are also ways to gain more and more general powers. The Water Immortal has comprehended the Law of Supreme Cold, which is obviously not the level three equivalent of Punishment Lightning. After all, cold is only one aspect that is related to the Water Laws.'

Gravis ruffled his head in frustration. 'This makes it so much more confusing. Which one is the complex, and which one is the pure path? The complex path takes more general approaches to the workings of the world, while the pure path takes all attributes of a single element.'

'So, doesn't the pure path seem more complex actually, since it has more attributes? Yet, straying away from one's element seems to incorporate more concepts not related to the element, which would also make it more complex? Fuck, this is confusing.'

'Maybe I shouldn't call it pure and complex, but something else. I think calling them a generalized path and specialized path seems more fitting. The comprehension of more general kinds of concepts, like heat and cold, for example, has a prevalence in more parts of the world than the specialized path, which only comprises of a single element.'

'Let's see, the effects of a more generalized path would also equalize the three battle aspects of offense, defense, and speed. A fire Cultivator or beast normally has a powerful offense, weak defense, and average speed. Yet, if they switch over to heat, they would have an average offense, average defense, and average speed. It basically goes from 3-1-2 to 2-2-2.'

'At least, that's how it is for fire and heat. If I take water and cold as an example, it would start with 1-3-2 and become a 3-1-2. Right now, the Water Immortal's comprehension is still weak enough that the defensive aspect of her water is powerful enough to make her defense average. Still, the stronger she gets, the weaker it will become.'

'At some point, if she doesn't manage to understand the level three equivalent of water to my Punishment Lightning, her defense will drop immensely. At that point, since she is focused on the Cold Laws, she would have a similar battle strategy to a current fire user, which would be a powerful offense but weak defense.'

'Huh, that's actually quite interesting. It's surprising how one can start with one aspect and then completely shift into another.'

Gravis scratched the back of his neck. 'Though, all of this will only work if one doesn't have enough time to comprehend Laws. If the Water Immortal takes her time to comprehend the level three Law of Water, she can use the defense of that Law and the offense of her Law of Supreme Cold.'

'Yet, understanding that Law takes time. If she is in a very competitive environment, she would need to concentrate on enhancing her main Law to survive, which is the Law of Supreme Cold. Then, a couple of hundreds or thousands of years later, she might have progressed so far along the path to power that understanding the level three Law of Water wouldn't even help her a little bit.'

Gravis scratched his chin as he smirked. 'I think I found out another aspect that makes for a solid foundation. Right now, my own battle style is an absolutely overwhelming offense, overwhelming defense, and high speed, which would be 4-4-3. Yet, if I were to immediately become an Immortal right now, it would be 3-2-2 since my Law of Punishment Lightning helps me more in my offense than my Material Laws help in my defense.'

'So, by understanding the fusion of fire and wind, I can gain insights into the concepts of heat, which may be useful for my Battle-Strength. The concept of heat does not need a specific Element to interact with it, making it a more general kind of Law.'

'Wait a second,' Gravis thought as he narrowed his eyes. 'If I had no other useful Laws, but would be able to comprehend the Laws of Heat, wouldn't then my Battle Style be identical to the Battle Style of a fire Cultivator that also took this path?'

'Additionally, water cultivators, and actually any other elemental cultivator, could also use the Laws of Heat. So, the Laws of Heat and Cold actually don't need a corresponding fitting element to be used, which means that everyone can use them. The ones with the fitting element just have it easier to understand these Laws, which makes them more likely to use them.'

'So, in the end, I'm reaching a crossroads where the Battle Styles of different elements can converge.'

Gravis furrowed his brows. 'Does that mean that the Battle Styles of different beings are no longer defined by their element but by their chosen Battle Style and specialization in the future? Maybe, in the highest world, different elements are no longer differentiated between each other since there are so many generalized sets of Laws that can be used as the main focus of a Battle Style.'

'This means that every cultivator, no matter which element they follow or if they follow no element at all, can basically choose nearly every available path the Laws can take. Well, except for the element-specific ones.'

Gravis scratched his chin as he looked into the sky. 'Does that mean that, for a lot of people, the elements are only a base to establish a path of understanding? After they made quite some headway on this path, they can choose something fitting to their personality and Battle-Style and concentrate on that.'

'Huh, the very thing that has defined how my enemy acts and how effective I am against them seems to be changing. There's a high possibility that I will have absolutely no idea about the Battle Style of my opponent if I only look at their associated element.'

'That's rather wild,' Gravis thought.