Lightning Is the Only Way

"I killed some beasts," Mortis answered.

Gravis narrowed his eyes inside Arc's clearing.

"How many?"

"…A couple," Mortis answered after a pause.

"How many!?" Gravis asked again.

"I don't know. I didn't count," Mortis answered with annoyance. "Like maybe 40 or so."

Gravis furrowed his brows. "And they are probably all Immortal Kings?" Gravis asked.

"Most of them, yes," Mortis answered.

"Why?"

"Because they interrupted my Law Comprehension or didn't allow me to trade for their resources," Mortis answered. "You know that we need to go to multiple different places to comprehend the Soft Pure Law, and most of them just stopped me and said that this was their territory."

"So, I killed them," Mortis said.

Gravis scoffed. "What? Are you the Opposer? Is your solution to everything just killing?"

"What's wrong about that?" Mortis asked in annoyance. "Your father managed to become powerful this way. It's a proven method."

"Yes, but back then, the concept of Karmic Luck either didn't exist, or father had a normal amount of Karmic Luck. Instead, in your case, if you manage to anger even one powerful person, the chances are high that this person would want to kill you," Gravis explained.

"So? Then I just wasn't powerful enough," Mortis said coldly. "If I die, I die."

"You gotta give yourself enough time to become powerful!" Gravis shouted angrily. "You can't expect a rabbit to walk into a crocodile's mouth and then saying that it wasn't powerful enough. No, it wasn't that the rabbit wasn't powerful enough, but that the rabbit wasn't smart enough!"

"Are you calling me stupid?" Mortis asked with a freezing and threatening tone.

"No, but you're acting stupid!" Gravis shouted. "You are part of me, and I know that you are definitely not stupid, but your idiotic pride that says that giving even a small inch means being inferior makes you do stupid things!"

"How often has it happened that I underestimated others? Remember Byron? Remember Morus? Remember Narcissus? You are part of me, and I'm very susceptible to overestimating my own power."

"That was you, not me," Mortis said.

"Yes, that was me, not you!" Gravis shouted back. "So, learn from my mistakes so that you don't commit them!"

Mortis actually agreed with Gravis. He knew that he had fucked up big time, but he didn't want to admit it in front of the perceived weaker version of himself.

Mortis wanted to show Gravis that his way was better to become powerful, but now, Mortis was stuck in this shitty prison while Gravis had never been in prison all his life.

Mortis wasn't allowed to kill beasts. He wasn't allowed to leave this place. He wasn't allowed to summon any Laws to comprehend them.

Mortis was just stuck sitting there, doing absolutely nothing.

Had it been worth it?

No.

If Mortis had just decided to ignore some beasts, he would have already finished the Soft Pure law.

Imprisonment was a horrible punishment for Cultivators. After all, they were doomed to be stuck on their current Realm and comprehension while watching their longevity shrink and shrink. It was basically damaging their future potential by taking away time.

Gravis and Mortis argued for over ten more minutes. Gravis was always on the aggressive side, while Mortis was on the defensive side. He knew that he had committed a mistake, but he just couldn't admit it to his perceived weaker self.

Gravis knew very well what Mortis was thinking. After all, Gravis was the blueprint for Mortis.

"Are you so weak that you can't even admit that you have made a mistake?" Gravis asked.

"Don't you dare call me weak!" Mortis shouted.

"Your Battle-Strength is powerful, but what about your personality? Will you forever be stuck in your way without questioning yourself? Do you believe that conviction in your belief is a strength instead of a weakness?" Gravis asked.

Mortis didn't immediately answer.

"What's the problem?" Gravis asked, having calmed down by now. "You won't be injured by admitting a mistake. Your Battle-Strength won't decrease. The only thing that will happen is that you have admitted a mistake. The pain of jumping over your stupid pride will transform into motivation to never make such a stupid mistake again."

"Admitting a mistake is growth, not regression," Gravis said with conviction.

Mortis remained silent for a while. He knew that Gravis was right, but it was so very hard to admit his mistakes. If it were anyone else, Mortis wouldn't find it difficult. He would simply say nonchalantly that he had committed a mistake.

But in front of Gravis?

In front of the version of himself that was supposed to be a weaker version without any courage to face danger?

Wouldn't he be admitting that the other Gravis was the superior one?

Gravis noticed that Mortis still didn't answer and sighed.

"Advantages and disadvantages, Mortis," Gravis said.

Then, Mortis' eyes shone.

Yes, so what if he was weaker in this category compared to Gravis? Specifically this weakness allowed him to be superior to Gravis in other regards.

Mortis was still more powerful than Gravis in Battle-Strength, and wasn't Battle-Strength the most important? Power was everything, after all.

Mortis was still the more powerful version of Gravis. It was just that in some very specific situations, his mindset was not as effective.

"Fine," Mortis said finally. "I made a mistake. I shouldn't have killed so many beasts."

Gravis smiled brightly. "No problem. Now, do you need any help?"

"No," Mortis said, making Gravis furrow his brows again. "My sentence is 5,000 years long, and I already finished 3,500 of those. 1,500 years isn't so long, and it might be better to just finish it instead of trying anything."

In the beginning, Gravis had thought that Mortis had become stubborn again, but he realized that Mortis was actually doing the smart thing. The old him would not have accepted such a humiliation, but the new him was thinking about the long term.

Of course, a single conversation won't fundamentally change Mortis, but it would allow him to slowly change himself over time.

"Alright," Gravis said. "I'm done with my Weapon Techniques. Do you want me to finish the Soft Pure Law?"

"No, I want to finish it," Mortis answered. "How about you go visit Stella in the meantime? Like this, I won't have to wait for you."

Gravis scratched his chin in thought and shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

With that, the conversation between Mortis and Gravis ended. Gravis quickly went to Arc and talked to him for a while.

However, shortly before Gravis left Arc's clearing, he remembered something.

"The problem with my lightning is resolved now that Mortis is here, right?" Gravis asked.

Arc nodded.

"So, I can try the Emotional Laws, right?"

Arc nodded again. "You can, but it's difficult for you to find the necessary Law Comprehension Areas," Arc said.

"Are they that important?" Gravis asked with furrowed brows.

Arc nodded again. "There is only one Law Comprehension Area for each Law," Arc said. "This means that they are not only rare but unique in all the world. This makes them incredibly valuable."

Gravis sighed. "This means that I should wait. If I want to get to them earlier, I would need to either pay a ridiculous sum of money or join a Peak Sect. It would be better to just wait until I become unparalleled in this world."

"That would be easier," Arc said.

"Fine," Gravis said. "It's not like I'm going to run out of Laws to comprehend anytime soon. It doesn't really make a difference if I comprehend them now or later."

With that said, Gravis left Arc's clearing and traveled towards the Nine Elements Sect.

It was time to meet Stella again.

'It has been over 40,000 years.'