Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis spent the next hundred years trying to understand Inferno. As soon as he started, he noticed the difference. Inferno was fire, but it also wasn't fire. Even more surprising was that Gravis' understanding of mid-tier fire gave him nearly no help in understanding high-tier fire. It was like they were made of entirely different things.

From the outside, they looked nearly identical, but there were completely different Laws and concepts inside. In actuality, Gravis' understanding of Punishment Lightning helped him more in understanding Inferno than the normal fire element, which was nearly unbelievable to him.

This was probably also one of the reasons why so few beasts had managed to comprehend the level three equivalents of their elements. The only thing helping them was their affinity, but every other Fire Law was basically useless when looking at this Law.

Sure enough, this was an entirely cut-off Law from the others. Understanding other Laws only helped a tiny bit, as long as they were not Elemental Laws of the same tier.

Because of all these reasons, Gravis tried to comprehend the Inferno Law but failed, sadly. With only the help of Punishment Lightning, understanding this Law was just far too difficult.

'Are the other upgraded versions of the Laws also so difficult to comprehend?' Gravis thought. 'Does understanding the Composition of the body not help in understanding the higher tier Laws of Body Composition? That can't be right. After all, the base Laws of the middle worlds are necessary to comprehend the higher tier variants. There has to be some use.'

After the century was up, the Virtualization Array stopped working, and Gravis retrieved it. After sighing in bitterness for a bit, Gravis entered the "living room" of their apartment.

Yersi and Orthar also quickly joined him, and they began to talk.

Yersi had had no issues in understanding her level one Law. After all, she had already comprehended a ton of level one Laws before that. She had even already rented the second one and had also understood that one. After that, she simply waited for everyone else.

Orthar failed in comprehending his target Law, just like Gravis.

"This is inefficient," Orthar said to the other two.

"What do you mean?" Gravis asked.

"I already have the perfect Law for my Avatar," Orthar answered. "The next better variant would be a level four Law based on this level three Law, but I'm certain that I won't have the funds. Gravis, you will probably not work again since you have enough Immortal Stones to accomplish what you want. With that, my source of income will be severely compromised."

"Then, what's your plan?" Gravis asked.

"I will become an Immortal first. As an Immortal, my state of mind should elevate to a new level, making it easier for me to comprehend Laws. I need to take full advantage of my limited funds by using them as efficiently as possible," Orthar said.

Gravis scratched his chin. "Makes sense," he said. "Sure, then go ahead."

"Orthar is becoming an Immortal? I have to see this!" Yersi said with an excited smile.

Orthar and Yersi were not really close. Their mindsets clashed with each other, but they tolerated each other's existence due to Gravis. As soon as Gravis left for the higher world, Orthar and Yersi would probably never contact each other again.

Sometimes, people simply didn't like each other. It happened.

CRRRR!

Orthar's body started swelling and shone with a bright light.

Why did beasts want to live in Energy-rich environments?

There were two reasons for that.

The first reason was that the Energy stimulated their minds, making it easier for them to comprehend Laws. With more Energy, the Laws would appear clearer and brighter in their minds.

The second reason was that beasts also slowly absorbed Energy. Their absorption was not nearly as fast as a human's absorption, but it was there. This would very slowly push the beasts forward in their Realm, even without food.

With the insane Energy density in this city, Orthar had long been ready to become an Immortal but decided against it. He wanted to prepare himself first.

Gravis also felt like he had already made progress to the next level. Yet, in comparison to Orthar, Gravis had only made around 5% progress. If he didn't eat another beast or consume some Immortal Stones, he would need nearly 4,000 years to reach the Mid Minor Circulation Realm.

Orthar's transformation took several seconds, but when he was done, he revealed his human body.

When Gravis saw Orthar, his eyes almost fell out.

Orthar had the body of a young man with white hair. Gravis would have thought that Orthar preferred black, but that wasn't the case, apparently. Additionally, there was something very peculiar about Orthar's appearance.

He had seven eyes arranged in a circle.

As soon as Gravis saw Orthar, the middle Heaven immediately jumped into his mind. Except for the male features on Orthar, which clearly indicated his gender, Orthar looked exactly like the middle Heaven!

Additionally, this was a beast's human form! Every beast's human form looked like a human. They didn't have tails, claws, scales, or anything else that humans usually wouldn't have.

Yet, Orthar had seven eyes.

This was definitely not normal. As far as Gravis knew, Orthar was the only beast with such a strange human form.

"Orthar?" Gravis asked.

Orthar looked at his hands with a neutral expression. Even his expressions looked very similar to the middle Heaven's. When Gravis saw Orthar looking at his hand, he was reminded of the middle Heaven looking at the Grand Lake.

Then, Orthar looked at Gravis, and Gravis got a flashback of the first time the middle Heaven had looked at him.

It felt identical!

"Yes?" Orthar asked.

This was the first time Gravis heard Orthar's actual voice. Beasts always talked with their minds, not with their mouths. Yet, when Orthar talked, the image of the middle Heaven was shattered.

Orthar's voice was far deeper than the middle Heaven's. Additionally, the emotions behind the voice felt different. The middle Heaven had sounded like someone that had seen everything and was done with life. It had been aloof like nothing in the world had anything to do with it.

Yet, Orthar's voice sounded cold. It was like a human voice that had been created by a Formation Array.

When Gravis heard Orthar's voice, the image of the middle Heaven had been shattered. Their appearance might be nearly identical, but their personalities were distinctly different.

"You look exactly like the middle Heaven," Gravis said.

Orthar turned away. "Logical," he said. "My beast form already appeared far too similar to Heaven, as you have told me. Therefore, my human form would probably also look similar."

Yersi looked with wonder at Orthar's appearance while Gravis grimaced. "Is it a human form, though?" he asked. "I've never seen any human with seven eyes. I'm not even sure if that is possible."

Orthar wasn't surprised by these words. "Everything has its reasons," he said. "I don't have enough data to come to a conclusion, which makes speculation meaningless."

Gravis couldn't fully accept these words, but Orthar continued speaking. "My plan has changed, Gravis," he said as he looked at Gravis.

"Does it have something to do with your human form?" he asked.

Orthar nodded. "The world appears different," he said. "Things that I have not noticed before are clear before my eyes now. The Laws make sense, and they are one whole."

"What do you mean, Orthar?" Gravis asked.

Orthar looked at the artificial sky of their apartment. "Things are slowly starting to make sense. I finally understand the questions I had always had previously. I am I, but I am not the only I."

"What is going on, Orthar!? What are you talking about!?" Gravis asked nervously.

Orthar turned to Gravis, and his eyes appeared different. Gravis didn't know why, but it felt like some hidden confusion or conflict inside Orthar had disappeared. It was like he had changed completely.

"I can't tell you, Gravis," Orthar said. "You can keep my share of the money. I don't need it anymore."

Gravis felt a pit in his stomach. These words sounded far too ominous!

"We will see each other again, Gravis," Orthar said.

SHING!

And Orthar was gone as he teleported away.

Gravis immediately stretched his Spirit Sense, but he couldn't find Orthar anywhere.

He had simply disappeared!

"Father!" Gravis said. "What is going on!?"

"Is it important?" his father answered.

"My closest companion just up and left! How is that not important!?" Gravis said.

"Orthar is still alive, and he is still himself. You don't need to worry about him. This is part of the Old Bastard's plan, and as long as you don't die, you will inevitably see him again," the Opposer said.

"Yes, thanks, but what is going on?" Gravis asked, calmer now. The fact that his father said that nothing was wrong with Orthar calmed him down, but the fact that this had something to do with the highest Heaven made him nervous again.

"Is Orthar still your friend?" the Opposer asked.

"Of course!" Gravis answered like this was a stupid question.

"Then respect your friend's boundaries," he said. "If he wanted to tell you, he would have told you. Do you feel comfortable with using me to spy on your friend?"

Gravis' body trembled in frustration.

But some seconds later, he calmed down with a sigh.

"No, I don't," Gravis said.

"Then don't ask," the Opposer said. "As long as you still see him as your friend, trust in him. When it's time, he will tell you himself."

Gravis really didn't like this situation, but his father was right. If Orthar wanted to tell him, he would have told him.

Yet, Gravis still felt a feeling of loss and abandonment. A friend just leaving like that didn't feel good.

"Orthar, what's going on?" Gravis said silently to himself more than to Orthar.

His best friend had vanished just like that.