Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis keeled over and fell on one knee. He was breathing heavily.

'I- I'm back?' he thought.

'Fuck, I didn't know Samsara would pull me into the same visions as my opponent!' he thought with shock and terror. 'Luckily, the Laws of Shadow's Illusion and Deep Wood's Destruction didn't affect me.'

Yes, Gravis had seen everything that the Holy Son Candidate had seen.

However, the impact was not nearly as strong for Gravis as for the Holy Son Candidate.

First of all, Gravis was an onlooker. Watching the life of someone else was like watching a very, very long performance. It didn't have anything to do with him. That made it far easier for Gravis to stay himself.

Second of all, Gravis wasn't affected by the Law of Shadow's Illusion. This made the visions appear far less clear. It was like there was a constant haze over everything. One could liken it to a dream, and it just didn't feel real to Gravis. After all, Perceived Reality wasn't physical reality.

Third of all, Gravis' Spirit wasn't attacked by the Law of Deep Wood's Destruction. This meant that he was not losing his faculties over time. His Spirit still had the power of a Late Major Circulation Immortal Emperor. This allowed him to stay more clearheaded.

'1,324 years,' Gravis thought. 'Just a short 100 years of his life already amounted to 1,324 years of illusions. Without the Law of Deep Wood's Destruction, the visions would have been far longer. I don't know how old he is currently, but if he had made it all the way, we might have seen visions for over a million years.'

THUNK!

The Holy Son Candidate fell over, dead.

Gravis looked over with complex emotions in his eyes. 'Cutter, huh?' he thought. 'Your father was a farmer, but he liked cutting wood as a hobby. He thought that you could learn from him and become a woodcutter. Therefore, he called you Cutter, huh?'

'Your life was truly tragic. You already had issues with bonding with others when you were young, but that was only exacerbated when your family died. You cut off all your emotions since you never wanted to feel pain again, finally becoming who you are today.'

'I might have only seen your first hundred years several times, but it still feels I've known you for a lifetime.'

'It kind of feels like I killed an old acquaintance.'

One couldn't help feeling for someone after seeing them live their life for over a thousand years.

Gravis also felt horrible for Cutter's dead family. He went through the same things as Cutter's family did, and it was horrifying.

Gravis had felt utterly helpless in that situation, but he kept telling himself that this was his attack and that all of this wasn't real.

With Gravis' Will-Aura, he managed to get through everything without any damage. He only felt slightly mentally drained.

Silence.

The entire hall fell into silence as Cutter's dead body fell over. His belongings were already strewn around him.

Gravis narrowed his eyes at Cutter's corpse. 'Even if I feel for you, I don't regret killing you. You wanted to force yourself upon Stella and kill her. Even if you have been formed into who you are today by your surroundings, it doesn't justify what you wanted to do to Stella.'

'I need to be careful of using this attack. If someone had lived with nearly no regret, they wouldn't break easily. They wouldn't dissociate with themselves since the character they are watching would do the same thing as them. In that case, I would need to go through the entirety of my enemy's life.'

'I can deal with a couple thousand years, but if it becomes even longer, my personality might change. I might become very similar to my enemy. Then, wouldn't the opponent have won?'

'However, Samsara truly is terrifying. I'm not even sure if someone five levels above me can resist it. As soon as I hit, the fight will basically be over as long as they are not some saint that lives completely without regret.'

'Yet, every time I use it, I will be pulled in.'

However, there was a slight glint in Gravis' eyes. 'Samsara has disadvantages, but funnily enough, these disadvantages also bring some certain advantages with them.'

'My Will-Aura has grown a slight bit more powerful. After all, I was facing the danger of losing myself.'

'Additionally, going through someone else's life multiple times from different viewpoints gives me more insight into the Emotional Laws. I'm certain that I learned quite a bit about the Law of Empathy just now.'

'Lastly, I'm also certain that Samsara's effects can be weakened by mastering more Emotional Laws. The Law of Apathy allowed me to dissociate from Cutter's life to some extent. If I also know the Law of Empathy, I can probably live through these visions for a lot longer without any aftereffects.'

'If I comprehend the Law of Emotions, I can basically ignore all of these aftereffects. Then, it wouldn't matter how long the visions are. My emotions will be stable beyond comparison, and it would just be like reading a long story. I wouldn't need to face the danger of losing myself.'

'However, for now, I need to be careful against whom I use Samsara.'

'But everything actually makes sense. The Law of Perceived Reality can help me understand the Emotional Laws with Samsara. When I master the Emotional Law, I can probably use it to learn more about life. After all, emotions are a big part of life. The Law of the Dead World also helps in comprehending the Laws of Life to some extent since everything is basically made out of different materials.'

'At the peak of the categories, the categories help me with learning different categories. That's probably also how Divine Gods can gain insights into the Laws of Perceived Reality. At that point, the Situational Laws no longer need different situations to be comprehended.'

'Anyway, off to save Stella!'

Gravis stood up as he stretched his body. It felt weird to be back inside his own body for a short time, but he quickly acclimated to his body again.

Gravis looked around and noticed the expression of the other people in the hall.

Shock.

Everyone was shocked.

One single attack had directly killed the Holy Son Candidate!?

How!?

Wait, he was dead!?

How were they supposed to explain this to the All-Matter Sect!?

Their ally's Holy Son Candidate had died in their headquarters in their own tournament!

They were supposed to save his life!

However, the most shocked person out of all was the Sect Master.

She had bet everything on the fact that Gravis couldn't win against the Holy Son Candidate. After all, how was he supposed to get through that armor?

All her plans were destroyed.

Yet, she quickly calmed down as she narrowed her eyes.

A ton of ideas, schemes, and plans went through her eyes, one after the other. She was a very scheming person, and her superb ability to quickly come up with complex plans was one of the main reasons why she managed to become the Sect Master.

"Now I understand," the Sect Master said coldly, claiming the attention of everyone in the hall.

The Sect Master slowly stood up from her throne as she looked with cold eyes at Gravis.

"No wonder you didn't mind killing the Holy Son Candidate of the All-Matter Sect."

"Everyone else wouldn't dare to kill a Holy Son Candidate inside the very headquarters of another Peak Sect."

"This can only mean one thing."

"You didn't come here with pure intentions."

"You didn't come to claim the hand of the Holy Maiden."

"You didn't come to win the tournament."

"No, you came here to damage the alliance of the Peak Sects."

"Killing someone in my very house will inevitably damage the relations between the Nine Elements Sect and the All-Matter Sect."

"And why?"

The Sect Master's eyes narrowed with cold hatred.

"Because you come from Underworld!"

The eyes of everyone opened in shock. They still couldn't get over the fact that the Holy Son Candidate of their allied Peak Sect had died, but the Sect Master's words brought clarity back to their minds.

Everything made sense!

Yes, Gravis had been sent here by Underworld to damage the relations of the Peak Sect!

Like this, Underworld would have an easier time developing in the regions under them!

WHOOOOOM!

The Sect Master released her Will-Aura, and everything was locked down.

Even Gravis couldn't move anymore.

After all, without his Avatar, Mortis, Gravis' Law of Perceived Reality could only exhibit the power of a level five Law.

The Will-Aura of such a powerful Immortal Emperor was far beyond the ability of the Law of Freedom, which had been boosted to the power of a level five Law.

"First, I deal with you," the Sect Master said as she slowly pointed towards Gravis.

"And then, I deal with Underworld."

"This will not go unpunished!"