Lightning Is the Only Way

"Anyway," Gravis said. "This concludes the demonstration of Situational Laws. As the name implies, you need to have knowledge regarding specific situations and understand them. Danger doesn't exist in physical reality but in your perception. That's also why they are so hard to understand."

Stella was still shocked about Gravis' fighting style. Now that she thought about it, she should have won their fight easily. Gravis should have never been able to close in on her, and she should have been able to defend herself better.

It was like physical reality told her that Gravis had had no chance against her, but since both of them believed that Gravis was close to killing her, their combined perception changed physical reality.

It was like Gravis was destroying the combat experience of his opponent with his Laws.

Stella nodded after a while. "So, what about that other thing?" she asked.

"The other thing that you need is a change in mindset," Gravis said. "I'm talking about the illusion of a pure path to power."

Stella's brows furrowed. "Could you elaborate?"

"Not allowing anyone else to interfere has a lot to do with the illusion of wanting to reach supreme power with one's own strength alone," Gravis said. "We want to say that we have gained the power we currently have all on our own. We want to say that it was solely our own hard work that allowed us to become so powerful."

"But that's not true," Stella interrupted Gravis.

Gravis lifted an eyebrow. That didn't sound like a question but a statement. Stella sounded like she had had similar thoughts in the past.

Gravis gestured for her to continue.

Stella combed her hair with furrowed brows. "I've had these thoughts before," she said slowly. "I am obviously very talented. Otherwise, my teacher wouldn't have chosen Liam and me. "

"However, teacher and a lot of elders showed me the correct way. It's true that I had to build my strength myself, but they have shown me the direction. If I didn't know the direction, I would have long died."

"Additionally, inside the Sect, I've never had to fight someone that was straight-up impossible to beat. There had always been a chance of victory, even if my opponent was far more powerful than I. Of course, when I went outside, that didn't hold true anymore. I had to flee for my life more than once. I've also had to find shelter and hide before."

Gravis didn't interrupt as he let her continue explaining.

Stella looked to the sky with a forlorn expression. "How can I call this power my own when all my close ones have shown me the way forward? Without their help, I would have already long been dead."

"However," Stella said as she looked at the ground again. "Whenever I voiced my doubts, people told me that I was talking nonsense. They told me that without my own hard work and talent, I would have long since died. They said that no one else would have been able to survive in the situations I have been in."

"Even teacher said that my words were nonsense and that I shouldn't demean my own accomplishments," Stella said and looked at Gravis. "But I'm not! Yes, I am very talented, but that doesn't mean that I haven't received a lot of aid in my past."

"How can I call my path pure when I have been granted access to several Law Comprehension Areas, resources, safety, and techniques? Plenty of people don't have access to these things. Wouldn't they think that my path wasn't pure?"

Gravis looked with surprise at Stella.

Understanding this concept had been incredibly difficult for Gravis. First, the middle Heaven had to beat Gravis down into absolute submission to the point that he even felt like a little kid. However, not even that was enough! After that, the Black Magnate had told Gravis about the truth that power was absolute. It didn't matter where this power came from. Power was power.

Yet, Stella had been able to find that out on her own?

For the first time in a long while, Gravis felt like someone else was superior to him in something. Usually, Gravis was always the best in his cultivation Realm. He always had the most powerful Battle-Strength, knew the most Laws, had the most expansive horizon, had the greatest strategies, but not this time.

Stella had managed to realize something that Gravis hadn't been able to see on his own. Gravis had needed others to show him the way regarding this mindset, but Stella had found the solution on her own.

This required a tremendous ability of introspection and humility. Denying the pureness of one's path was like saying that everything one stood and worked for had been given by others. Throwing away one's life's work like this was beyond difficult.

Also, since one of the important aspects to realizing this truth was humility, did Stella know the Law of Humility, the antithesis to the Law of Pride? If that were the case, she would know two Emotional Laws, which would be incredible.

As Gravis came into contact with these revelations, he felt some of the magic of the world return.

Did Gravis always think that he was the best?

No.

Orthar was a good example. Gravis saw Orthar as someone that had been on the same level as him. Orthar was incredibly smart, calculating, and Gravis could talk as much as he wanted with him about nearly everything. It was like Orthar and Gravis had been on the same wavelength.

This was also the biggest reason why Gravis saw Orthar as his closest friend. Gravis could talk however he wanted with Orthar and share his thoughts with him. Orthar would nearly always give good advice and logical input that helped Gravis.

Such an attraction was very powerful. After all, personality-wise, Orthar and Gravis were like fire and water. Orthar suppressed and manipulated everyone for his own personal gain, while Gravis only used suppression and manipulation on his enemies.

Orthar's personality was like an evil overlord that wanted power and resources above anything else, no matter the cost, while Gravis did whatever he wanted. As long as no one bothered Gravis, he wouldn't bother them.

Yet, despite all this, Orthar and Gravis were good friends.

However, the dynamic between Gravis and Stella was different.

While Gravis thought that Orthar was equal to him in basically everything, with Stella, Gravis felt inferior in one department.

However, Gravis was also superior in other departments.

So, instead of two equals meeting, it was like two extreme opposites meeting. They were both good in basically everything, but they had different attributes in which they were excellent.

Gravis knew about Laws and Cultivation.

Stella had a superior ability to reflect on herself.

They both knew a ton about Matter and Life Laws.

Gravis knew more about the Laws of Perceived Reality, but Stella knew more about the Emotional Laws.

For the first time, Gravis found wonder in someone else's personality. When someone was superior in something, their way of thinking was different. This meant that part of Stella's mind was superior to Gravis' mind, and Gravis found that intriguing.

Someone that knew something better than himself.

Someone that was able to make connections that he wasn't able to make.

For some reason, Gravis found Stella's mind and words intriguing. He had believed that he had to teach Stella all about the illusion of pureness, but Stella had already known that.

Gravis had thought that he would have to talk a lot with Stella and convince her that her beliefs were incorrect. He thought that he needed to beat the illusion out of her like the middle Heaven had beaten the illusion out of Gravis.

However, none of that was necessary.

Stella already had the perfect mindset.

"Gravis," Stella said with some nervousness. "Could you stop looking at me like this?" she asked, becoming a bit embarrassed.

Gravis quickly shook his head and looked to the side. "Sorry, I was just so surprised by your words. I became lost in my thoughts."

Stella released a sigh for some reason. "Oh, ok," she said.

Gravis remained silent for a bit as he continued cursing Arc. Why had Arc told him about Stella!? Now that Gravis knew all about their connection, talking to her became difficult. Gravis hated awkwardness!

Usually, Gravis directly confronted his problems. He felt attraction for someone? Sure, he would just straight up tell them. If it worked, it worked. If it didn't, it didn't. That was that.

However, Gravis couldn't solve this issue right now. His attraction for Stella was real, but he couldn't act on these feelings until the issue with his lightning was solved.

Gravis sighed. 'I hate this!'

Stella looked with concern at Gravis while Gravis glared to the side.

As several seconds passed in silence, awkwardness reigned.