Lightning Is the Only Way

This proof was too powerful to go up against. Gravis' entire existence didn't conform to the basics of cultivation. From this moment on, Stella no longer doubted Gravis' words. Gravis had shown powers that went far beyond what Cultivators saw as possible, which meant that he probably also knew a lot of things that others didn't know.

And that was true.

Gravis had gained incredible knowledge due to the dynamic between him and Heaven. He went through so many abnormal paths in his cultivation that he had a horizon that could be called unequaled in a higher world, except for Arc.

"Now, with that out of the way," Gravis said, "let's continue."

Stella nodded.

"The first primary category is the Matter Laws," Gravis said. "That includes all forms of dead matter you can see and the elements."

Whoop!

Gravis created a cube of metal with his metal element. "The reason why they are the easiest to understand is that we can feel them with all of our senses and that they don't move or interact without something external affecting them."

"We can see them," Gravis said as he gestured to the metal cube. "We can feel them," he said as he put his hand on the cube.

Clink! Clink!

"We can hear them," Gravis said as he lightly knocked on the cube, "and we can smell and taste them."

"The elements are the same. We can perceive fire, water, wind, lightning, and so on with all of our senses and can simply look at them."

Stella nodded, even though she already knew that. She simply didn't know the overarching category.

"The next category is the Life Laws," Gravis said. "We can still perceive them with all of our senses, but they don't stand still. They move, constantly interact with each other, and change. This makes them basically a more complex form of matter. Especially since the Law of Life also includes Spirits."

Stella nodded. She knew some level two Soul Laws. Therefore, she knew that understanding souls was more difficult than simply understanding metal or earth.

"The next category of Laws is the Emotional Laws," Gravis said. "You know the Law of Empathy, which is part of that category. You probably have also heard of the Laws of Pride and Rage."

Stella nodded again. The Emotional Laws were definitely not easy to understand. Understanding all the elements wasn't nearly as hard as understanding all the Emotional Laws.

That's when realization struck.

'He's right!' Stella thought. 'From an individual standpoint, understanding an Emotional Law might not be harder than understanding matter as long as I come into contact with the emotion, but trying to understand all of them would be many times harder! Additionally, it's difficult to understand emotions since I can't just manipulate myself into feeling them.'

This realization affirmed Stella's decision to believe Gravis. She had known all of these things, but she hadn't made the connection.

"The last set of primary Laws are the Situational Laws," Gravis said. "You know one of them. The Law of Danger."

Stella's brows furrowed. Nearly everyone knew the Law of Danger since Cultivators had a very intimate relationship with danger. Understanding this Law wasn't hard. However, Gravis said that this category was the hardest to perceive.

"The Law of Danger is very common," Gravis said, "but the other Laws are far rarer."

"The reason why Situational Laws are called Situational Laws is that you can only understand them when being in a certain situation for an extended period of time, understanding the hows and whys of the situation."

"You can't see, hear, taste, smell, or feel the Situational Laws with your body. You can only feel them with your Spirit and mind. However, they are still real, even if you can't perceive them like any other kind of Law."

Stella fell into thought as she combed her hair with her fingers. All of this sounded very logical, but she only had the Law of Danger as an example.

"Let me give you some examples and show you how the Situational Laws affect reality," Gravis said.

Stella looked with surprise at Gravis. "You know them?" she asked.

Gravis smirked. "The Situational Laws are probably the most important reason for my Battle Strength. You could even say I specialize in them."

"They are so powerful?" Stella asked in shock. "Also, why haven't you used these Laws against me in our fight?"

"I did," Gravis said, confusing Stella.

He had? But Gravis hadn't unleashed any kind of powerful attack or powerful defense. As far as she knew, Gravis had only used the Life Laws, gravity, time, and the elements. She had not seen any other kind of Law at play.

"Let me demonstrate," Gravis said.

Stella waited, but nothing happened.

After some seconds, Stella became confused again. What was he talking about? Gravis was doing nothing.

"How do you feel?" Gravis asked.

Stella was a bit surprised by the seemingly irrelevant question. "Normal," she answered.

Gravis nodded. "Look behind you."

Stella used her Spirit to look behind her in confusion.

BZZZZZZ!

A powerful spear of lightning was just a meter behind her, pointing directly at her.

BANG!

Out of reflex, Stella shot up and destroyed the spear with a fireball.

When did that spear arrive!?

"You might be confused right now, so let me explain," Gravis said as he looked at the agitated girl. "Think about it. Would you normally overlook such an attack? You are not currently fighting, but I know that such an attack wouldn't catch you by surprise, even when you are relaxed. Am I right?"

Stella's mind was going wild.

Gravis was right!

Even when Stella was relaxed, she would have never overlooked such an attack! That was also why she had been so surprised. She was always careful, no matter where she was or how she felt. A Core Disciple didn't have the luxury of letting down their guard. Otherwise, an assassin might find an excellent opportunity to attack them.

"How- How did you do this?" Stella asked with shock. Gravis couldn't have used the darkness element to hide the attack. Stella knew the Shadow Element, which was the higher form. She would have felt it! He also couldn't have used space since she knew a lot about space. Even more, Gravis had used lightning, one of the least subtle elements.

So, how did Gravis hide his attack!?

"You probably think I hid my attack, right?" Gravis asked with a smirk.

Stella nodded. "Does this mean that you didn't?"

Gravis nodded. "I didn't hide it. I used the antithesis of the Law of Danger on you. When you are in a state of combat, this Law wouldn't be able to hide an attack, but when you are in a relaxed state, the Law is enough to reduce your perception of danger to nearly zero."

"The reason why you didn't notice the attack is because you didn't perceive it as dangerous and ignored it just like our surroundings. We don't constantly keep watch over every single tree and pebble on the ground. So, since the lightning spear didn't exhibit any form of danger, you didn't deem it more important than a pebble in your relaxed state of mind."

Stella was shocked beyond belief. This was a Law? But this Law didn't work on reality! It was like Gravis' Law directly influenced Stella's perception.

But how was that possible!? One couldn't intrude on the Spirit of another one unless they were far more powerful!

Suddenly, Stella glanced at a stone beside her.

"See that?" Gravis asked. "That's the High-Tier Law of Danger, something I managed to understand in the middle of our fight. The normal Law of Danger only works on yourself, but the better version can be used on someone else. That stone is just a stone, nothing more, but you perceived a kind of threat from it."

For some reason, Stella started to breathe heavily. It was like the world was changing around her. Things that were safe were no longer safe, and things that were dangerous seemed no longer dangerous.

It felt like she couldn't trust her senses anymore.

Stella's nervousness brought her into a battle-state.

"This is another Law," Gravis said. "Think about it logically. Would something unimportant like this influence your mindset so much? You are nervous and in a battle-state, even though you have only seen a stone and a weak attack. Don't you think you're overreacting?"

Stella's eyes widened again. Yes, why was she so nervous? Her power was no longer sealed, and Gravis wouldn't be a danger to her right now. Additionally, she didn't believe that Gravis wanted to hurt her.

So, why was she so agitated right now!?

"These were the effects of three Situational Laws," Gravis explained. "I won't explain to you what they do or what they are called. If you know a lot of Situational Laws, you can extrapolate the names of the other Situational Laws. I didn't demonstrate the Law you need to understand, but it is in the same category."

"Understanding two Situational Laws is already quite rare, but understanding three is already extremely rare. I haven't met any human in this world that knows three. Not even your teacher knew three, I'm sure of it.'

"Do you understand now why these Laws are one of my most powerful weapons?" Gravis asked.

Gravis had used the Major Law of Control to make Stella feel like she was losing control over the situation. This was the reason why she became so nervous. By now, he had already deactivated it again, and Stella's mind returned to normal.

"It's frightening," Stella said slowly. "And yes, I understand now," she said as she turned to Gravis. "At the beginning of our fight, I felt like I was safe. I felt like I was in control and that you couldn't possibly win against me. Even when I unleashed the Burning Sky Slash, I felt like you couldn't possibly be a danger to me."

"And then, everything changed. From a watcher's perspective, I appeared arrogant and careless. However, I am definitely not arrogant and careless. If I were, I would long be dead. Then, when you came close, I felt like I couldn't win. I made several stupid attacks."

Stella looked to the side with melancholy. "An outsider would think that I was a weak rookie, someone that didn't climb to their position with their own power. Why? Because I made several rookie mistakes."

"So that's your power, huh?" Stella asked with a complex expression as she looked at Gravis. "You change the finely tuned senses of your opponent regarding battle and distort them into such a state that they give you an advantage. When you are closing in, you make your opponent believe that they are superior, which will result in them unleashing weaker attacks."

Stella took a deep breath as she remembered Gravis' burning skull right in front of her. "And when you are going in for the kill, you make them believe like they have already lost and that there's nothing they can do, even though they might still have a chance."

Gravis nodded with a smile.

"Yup. I basically weave and distort perceived reality to change physical reality."

"That's how I fight."