Lightning Is the Only Way

"Neutral," Arc said.

"So, neither good nor bad," Gravis answered.

Arc nodded. "It isn't the worst case, but also not the best case for him," Arc said.

Gravis furrowed his brows as he looked to the ground. "This means that there might really be something that the highest Heaven can do against Elements. It's possible that Mortis will be useless against the highest Heaven."

"Possible," Arc said.

"However, if that is true, I dodged a bullet," Gravis said. "I specifically traveled the path of lightning to fight the highest Heaven in the future. I believed that countering its strongest Element would give me the best shot."

"And it's true. The path of lightning has allowed me to kill the lower Heaven, and it also gave me a chance against the middle Heaven, even if that chance was minuscule. It will also protect me against your Lightning Laws in the future, and it should also protect me against the highest Heaven's Lightning Laws in the future."

"However, following the lightning path and being lightning are two different things. If I had remained as I was, I might have been helpless against the highest Heaven."

Gravis looked towards the horizon. "No wonder the highest Heaven always supported me as soon as my Spirit became attuned to lightning."

"I was never a danger to it, even if I would have reached my father's level in the future."

Arc smiled. "But that has changed, hasn't it?"

Gravis nodded. "Yes. I am no longer comprised of any Laws that the highest Heaven has created. I am now made up of something completely new. Yet, I still retain my ability to absorb all kinds of lightning."

"Now, if I become as powerful as father in the future, I will actually be a danger."

"Yet," Gravis said as he furrowed his brows. "What appears to be the best solution for me is only neutral for the highest Heaven. This means that it might use Mortis against me in the future, and if Mortis and I fight, there is a high chance that we will both die. In that sense, I would still not be a danger to it."

"Are you dead set on fighting my creator?" Arc asked.

"No," Gravis directly answered. "I am going through all these eventualities just to be safe. I have forgiven the highest Heaven for what it has done to my childhood friend back then, and it hasn't gone against me ever since. As long as it doesn't go against me, I have no reason to fight it."

"However, this is the status quo for now. If nothing changes, everything will be fine, but I'm nearly certain that the highest Heaven will try something in the future. I don't believe that someone that kept my father suppressed for 50 billion years would just allow me to become powerful enough to oppose it. Something like that doesn't seem to fit its personality."

"So, in short, as long as my creator doesn't become the aggressor, you won't fight," Arc said.

Gravis nodded.

"So, you're ready to die?" Arc asked with a bitter smile.

Gravis looked with furrowed brows at Arc. "What do you mean?"

"Do you think you're able to survive if my creator actually makes a move on you?" Arc asked. "Do you think he will strike as long as he is not 100% sure that you will die?"

Gravis took a deep breath. "Probably not," he said. "If the highest Heaven makes its move, I will probably die."

"Then, what will you do?" Arc asked.

"I can only prepare myself for every eventuality," Gravis said. "I can only rely on my father as long as I'm not on his level yet. If it decides to strike early, he is the only one that can resist it. However, when I'm on my father's level, everything will change."

"When will he strike?" Arc asked with interest.

"I don't know," Gravis said.

"Will he strike?"

"Honestly, I also don't know," Gravis said. "No one is able to see through the highest Heaven's personality. Even my father can't foresee its actions. There is even a possibility that it might actually just want me to become powerful."

"There's a possibility that it will let me grow and do whatever I want. It knows that I won't go against it as long as it doesn't go against me. Not going against me is also a form of protection for itself. It could let me grow and then just forever ignore me like I don't exist, and I won't come into conflict with it."

"Like that, the current status quo will continue. It will be the highest Heaven versus my father. I would be a neutral party in all of this," Gravis said.

"Difficult, huh?" Arc asked with a smile.

"It really is difficult," Gravis said. "I managed to gauge the personalities of the three Heavens I came into contact with pretty quickly, but I still have no idea what the highest Heaven is actually thinking."

"Is it someone that chases control and wants to suppress everything that is a danger to it? Possible."

"Is it someone that is stuck in a shitty situation because someone that it ignored has become so powerful that they can kill it, and it only wants to survive? Possible."

"Is it someone who values justice and only goes against those that goes against it? Also possible."

"I honestly have no idea. I can't even trust father when he talks about the highest Heaven since he is biased for obvious reasons. It's really difficult."

"That's all I wanted to hear," Arc said with a smile.

"What exactly?" Gravis asked.

"I wanted to make sure that you don't jump to conclusions," Arc said. "Keep every possibility in your mind and try to ready yourself for every possibility."

"Because there is a high chance that if you concentrate on one possibility, my creator will do something completely different just to throw you off. He's the smartest being in existence, and he basically knows everything. Trying to scheme against him is impossible. The only thing you can do is prepare yourself against every eventuality," Arc explained.

Gravis nodded. "I will. Thanks, Arc."

Arc only smiled without saying anything.

"By the way," Gravis added as he remembered something. "How did you come up with the idea to use Yi Lu?"

"Oh, that?" Arc asked with a smirk. "It's actually rather simple. Want to know how I went about finding you an opponent?"

Gravis became interested. "Sure."

"First, I checked through all the candidates that could theoretically arrive at your location without violently changing their actions. There were a couple, but I chose Eran. Want to know why?"

Gravis nodded. "Yes, please."

"Because you haven't fought a powerful Space Cultivator before."

Gravis blinked a couple of times in surprise. "That's it?"

"Yeah, that's it," Arc said with a smirk. "I wanted to give you a new kind of opponent."

Gravis nodded.

"Anyway, after I decided on your opponent, I needed to find a way for you or Siral to kill his granddaughter. However, you guys have no reason to kill her. After all, she's too weak. So, I needed to introduce someone close that you would want to save."

"That's when you thought of Yi Lu?" Gravis asked.

Arc nodded. "His personality is quite compatible with yours, which makes him very incompatible with the Sect Congregation. The Sect Congregation is like the Sect Alliance. They are all about respect, schemes, politics, rules, and so on."

"So, in the end, I only needed to allow Yi Lu to become powerful enough to kill the son of the granddaughter of Eran. That's it."

"You make it sound so simple," Gravis said. "However, from my point of view, it sounds like you went through a ton of gambles. How could you guarantee that everything would come to pass just how you planned it?"

"Gravis," Arc said with a smile. "I've been doing this for quite some time. After a while, you just have a feeling for if a plan works or not. When you flip a coin, it's a gamble, but if you can perfectly calculate the wind, air resistance, the force of the flip, and so on, it's not a gamble anymore."

"Don't forget that I know the Law of the True World. I know what every human in this world will do years in advance."

Instead of being impressed, Gravis only smirked. "Except me, right?"

Arc smiled bitterly. "Yes, except you. Your entire being is outside my scope of understanding."

Gravis chuckled a bit. Not even the Black Magnate had been able to foresee Gravis' actions, and the Black Magnate knew the most powerful version of the Law of the True World.

Arc was incredibly powerful, but even he didn't count for anything in front of the Black Magnate.