Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis looked more closely at the young man. This was a very specific piece of information that basically no one but his family knew. Yet, there was still a possibility that he overheard Yersi or Orthar talking.

"Yes, I had fun," Gravis said slowly. "But, again, what's it to you?"

"Not much," the young man said, still smirking. "I'm just very interested in you."

"I'm not into guys," Gravis said flatly.

The eyelids of the young man twitched slightly. That comment obviously had an effect on him.

But then, the young man started laughing. "You're really good at this!" he said.

"At what?" Gravis asked.

"At finding just the right buttons to push," the young man said. "You did the same thing when you called the highest Heaven a marauding… you know, to infuriate that middle Heaven."

This guy knew far too much. He even remembered the specific words Gravis had said to infuriate the middle Heaven. Only the present Elders at the time, his father, the middle Heaven, and the highest Heaven, knew that. Gravis never repeated his actual words to anyone since it wasn't really relevant to his story.

"Is this some kind of Law?" Gravis asked. "Some kind of Mind Reading Law?"

The young man chuckled a bit. "That Law does exist, yes, but for you, specifically, it can't be used," he said.

"Why not?" Gravis asked with narrowed eyes.

"Because your mind is full of Punishment Lightning," the young man said. "Not even I can read your mind, at least, not directly like that. I only have way of speaking, facial expressions, and gestures to make my guess," the young man said.

"But that is obviously not enough to guess something so specific," Gravis said.

"That's right," the young man said.

"Anyway, let's stop this little play, Gravis," the young man said. "How about a bet?"

"What bet?" Gravis asked.

"You guess my identity, and I will answer one of your questions. Yet, if you guess incorrectly, you will answer one of mine. Sound good?" he asked.

Gravis furrowed his brows. "Sounds good."

"Then, go make your guess," the young man said.

"You're the highest Heaven," Gravis said.

The young man only continued smirking. "No, I'm not."

Gravis' eyes sparkled. "Interesting," he said. "To be quite frank, I didn't think that you were the highest Heaven."

"Then why was that your guess?"

"Because I wanted to see how you would react. The fact that you didn't entertain the guess and played around with me means that you are afraid of the highest Heaven," Gravis said. "And that was your question. My debt is paid," Gravis said as he continued walking.

The young man only chuckled but didn't say anything.

Gravis walked away, and after a while, he was already in a different street.

The young man only continued waiting.

One minute.

Two minutes.

SHING!

"Okay, why didn't you stop me?" Gravis asked as he teleported back to the young man with furrowed brows.

"Because you wouldn't anger your lightning because of something like this," he said. "You might be fine with going against your lightning when spiting the highest Heaven, but you wouldn't do that just to spite some random person."

Gravis frowned. That was because the young man was correct. This was exactly the reason why Gravis returned. Gravis wanted to annoy the guy since he had also annoyed Gravis, but instead, Gravis was forced to come back awkwardly.

"Your question?" Gravis asked.

"My question is rather simple, actually. It might even surprise you due to its irrelevance to everything," the young man said.

"Ask," Gravis said flatly.

"Why did you decide to punish that young trader in the Sky Community like that?" the young man asked.

Sure enough, Gravis was surprised by the question. This question truly seemed absolutely irrelevant.

"It is true that it is forbidden to kill anyone in the Sky Community," the young man continued. "Yet, there are ways. For example, you could have simply absorbed the Energy in his Spirit Space, forcing him into the Initial Unity Realm. That would be horrible for anyone."

"Additionally, you could have simply teleported him to the outside of the city and killed him there. Tell me, Gravis, why did you decide to punish the young man like that?" he asked.

"Are you related to that trader?" Gravis asked.

"No. I have nothing to do with him," the young man said. "So, your answer?"

Gravis sighed. He really couldn't see through this strange young man.

Gravis turned his gaze to the still floating statue of the trader. "Several reasons, actually," Gravis said. "Punishing him is a very mixed bag. Yes, he stole from me, and I'm pretty angry about that, but the guy also doesn't deserve to die because of that. Yet, I am still pretty pissed at him."

"Killing him would feel great for me, but it also isn't truly fair. Fairness is important to me, but my own emotions are just as important. The truly fair thing would have been to make him give me everything he owned at the moment so that the relative punishment would be fitting for the crime."

"Yet, that also feels like he would have gotten off far too lightly. So, I went with a middle way. He has obviously already sold my Emblem, which means he should have enough money in assets to pay me back. He just has to sell his house, company, or whatever. That would ruin him financially, but he is still a Cultivator in the Nascent Nourishing Realm. If he puts his mind to it, he can recover from that."

"So, in short, the guy will feel the sting of losing his most valuable possession without dying. That should be a bit worse than I have felt back then, which makes it a bit unfair, but it feels better for me this way," Gravis explained.

The young man scratched his chin. "Isn't that interesting?" he said. "It sounds like you are very torn between two things. Tell me, is it your lightning that is telling you to kill the guy, or is it yourself?"

Gravis wasn't required to answer anymore, but these words got him thinking. "My Punishment Lightning wants to kill him. He went against me, and it says he should die. I don't think that he should die because of that."

"Yet," the young man said. "When you kill an entire world just by existing, you don't care?"

"I think I do, but I'm not entirely sure," Gravis said. "I don't actually want to kill so many beings, which is why I made that trade with the highest Heaven to let the most powerful beasts keep living. Yet, I also don't want to slow down my Cultivation just because it saves some lives."

"So, you avoid killing someone as long as it's not a hassle and doesn't interfere with your cultivation?" the young man asked.

"Pretty much," Gravis said.

"But does it truly not interfere with your cultivation?" the young man asked.

Gravis furrowed his brows again. "What do you mean?"

"Every time you try to find a compromise, you slightly alienate your lightning. Yet, you are also lightning at the same time. So, even these tiny decisions can have a huge impact on your being, even if you don't notice it," the young man said.

Gravis' insides shook. It wasn't that he hadn't known that, but that he didn't want to think about it. His lightning had become really angry ever since Gravis had spared the middle Heaven. His Law of Freedom allowed him to stay in charge of his being since it was more powerful, but what if Gravis transformed his being from Punishment Lightning into Divine Lightning? Then, the Divine Lightning would be far more powerful than his Law of Freedom.

What would happen then?

"What do you think would happen if that continues?" Gravis asked. This person was not simple at all, and he knew far too much. That was why Gravis asked him.

"To be quite frank," the young man said with a smirk. "I have no idea," he said with a shrug.

"What?" Gravis asked mockingly. "There's stuff you don't know?"

The young man chuckled again. "Yes, there is. After all, not even your father knows everything. Otherwise, the highest Heaven wouldn't be alive anymore, probably. I can't make an educated guess on that since I'm not on their level."

"And on what level are you?" Gravis asked, looking at the young man with a side-eye.

"Isn't it interesting?" the young man said with a chuckle as he diverted the topic. "You have asked me so much, but you never asked me who I actually am."

"Would you have told me?" Gravis asked.

"Yes, I would have," the young man answered.

This threw Gravis for a loop. "What? Seriously?" he asked.

"Yes," the young man said. "Don't always throw possible solutions out of the window. You think you are in control, and you think you can get a good read on someone else's personality. This is a form of control. Yet, is it truly a form of control when you are actually not in control and make an incorrect decision?"

Gravis thought about these words. "I think it is," he said slowly. "Control can be partial, and if I know more about the situation, I get a bit more control. I don't think control is a black and white thing, but a gradient, like light and darkness."

BOOOOM!

And Gravis managed to understand the level four Law of Control.

Gravis' eyes widened in shock. He had just learned another level four Law? Just like that!?

Gravis almost couldn't believe this. A level four Law shouldn't come so easily to him!

Then, Gravis realized that it was probably the young man's doing. The young man made his mind move just the right way so that Gravis came to the correct conclusion on his own.

Gravis took a deep breath, turned fully to the young man, and bowed. "Thank you, Senior," he said.

The young man chuckled a bit. "I helped you because I am interested in you," the young man said. "After all, you have something that belonged to me."

"So, don't you want to ask me who I am?" he asked with a smirk.

Gravis straightened again and looked at the young man. "Who are you?"

The young man smirked.