This special task from the Empress truly was special. Normally, Gravis wouldn't be interested in fighting such weak beasts at all. Every fight was a precious tempering opportunity, and if he increased his Realm by eating weaker beasts, he was basically throwing away the advantages he had built for years.
Yet, Gravis didn't have to consume the beasts. Everything was up to him. Usually, Gravis wasn't the biggest fan of wasting food, but if there were no other way, he could do it either way. When it concerned his path to power, he was morally flexible.
Gravis also remembered something else. What had been his goal in making his incredible foundation and Battle-Strength? What was the driving factor for creating such a powerful Battle-Strength in the first place?
It was to make it easier for him to find resources relevant to his current cultivation level.
This was very basic and the whole reason why Gravis was so hellbent on having a powerful Battle-Strength. For example, Emperors generally wouldn't care about resources that Kings needed, like the corpses of other Kings. The corpse of a King did nothing for an Emperor, after all.
Wasn't this exactly such a situation?
Every King desired to win this incredible opportunity of staying in the world's best Law Comprehension Area. Yet, Emperors couldn't directly participate in this opportunity. Because of that, the Battle-Strength of the King was what would decide if they managed to take hold of this opportunity or not.
Gravis also desired this opportunity, just like every other King. Yet, if he had decided to waste some of these tempering opportunities, he wouldn't have understood nearly as many Laws. On top of that, he might have never met the Empress if the Red King hadn't taken note of him. Maybe he also wouldn't have comprehended the Law of Suppression.
The most powerful Kings in the world surely all understood a ton of Laws and maybe even several level two Laws. Undoubtedly, some of them could easily become level two or level three Emperors with their Battle-Strength but decided to wait for precisely this opportunity.
If Gravis hadn't been so hellbent on tempering, his Will-Aura alone would maybe only weaken them by 30% or so. Then, they could still attack him with level two Laws. These Kings were so powerful that there wouldn't be any certainty of Gravis receiving this opportunity.
Yet, all of Gravis' preparations had paid off in a major way. As he was currently, no King in this world could even defend against him, no matter how many Laws they had comprehended. His Law of Suppression and Will-Aura suppressed every level five King by over 90%.
If Gravis used this combination, he wouldn't even need to use his lightning. He could just walk up to them and behead them with his saber. Due to Gravis' insane tempering, grabbing ahold of this opportunity wasn't much more difficult than walking to him.
This was the fourth time that his insane tempering allowed Gravis to grab ahold of an opportunity that everyone in his Realm desired. Yet, even though it was the fourth one, it was definitely the most notable one.
The first one had been Gravis' fighting against the Fire Guild in the lower world's middle continent. Without outstanding Battle-Strength, he wouldn't have been able to temper his body that quickly.
The second one had been the Heaven's Trial in the core continent. Only Seed Stage cultivators had had the opportunity to take part in it, and if Gravis hadn't had such an insane Battle-Strength, he would have died. This allowed him to temper himself in a significant way.
The third one had been the competition to be a mate to the Empress. If Gravis hadn't won that, he would have needed to father over a thousand children. He was already overwhelmed with three of them. Making a thousand would have probably torn him apart.
This was the fourth one, and taking ahold of this opportunity would allow him to comprehend a ton of Laws. Maybe there were even unique Laws he could comprehend at the Ultimate's Meet. This was probably worth even more than 200 years in any other Law Comprehension Area.
"You've been lost in thought for quite a while, Gravis," the Empress said suddenly, interrupting Gravis' train of thought.
"Oh, sorry," Gravis said as he smiled at the Empress. "I was just thinking about how my tempering has paid off. If I hadn't tempered myself so much, I probably wouldn't be able to grab this opportunity."
The Empress looked at Gravis neutrally. "You act like you've already won the competition," she said.
Gravis only smirked. "Haven't I?" he asked.
The Empress remained silent for some seconds. "There is a 99% chance of you winning, but unforeseen situations can still occur."
"Like what?" Gravis asked.
"A powerful Emperor might attack you, or an Ultimate could throw in a veto since your Battle-Strength is already in its own league," the Empress said.
Gravis only continued smirking. "Haven't you said that one of the Ultimates has a lightning affinity?"
The Empress remained silent as her insides shook a bit. The Ultimates were at an entirely different level for her, and inside her mind, there was no way to resist them. Yet, with Gravis' words, she remembered that any beast with a lightning affinity would die in front of him.
If Gravis decided to kill the Lightning Ultimate and then use his Energy to attack someone…
Who would be able to resist him?
"I feel like all my tempering and comprehension has been for nothing in front of you," the Grand Elder said with a sigh as he took part in the conversation for the first time.
"Well, it's because you have a lightning affinity," Gravis said helplessly. "Also, I'm pretty sure that I am the only one in the entire Cosmos that can do that. I've told you how I've managed to gain my powers. If it weren't for the highest Heaven and my father intervening, I wouldn't even be alive anymore."
"The highest Heaven only allowed my existence due to my father, and my father has absolutely no interest in creating a second one of me. So, I'm certain that I'm the only one that has this ability."
Suddenly, Gravis' eyes narrowed. "At least, to this degree," he said.
Now, the Grand Elder became interested. "What do you mean with that?" he asked.
Gravis explained to the Grand Elder the usage of the different elemental Composition Laws and how it might even be possible to make Gravis disappear.
The Grand Elder frowned as he realized that he would also fall in that category. In comparison to humans, beasts stored the elements directly in their bodies instead of transforming Energy into elements. This meant that a human that understood the Composition Law of Punishment Lightning could make all his lightning vanish.
In comparison to Gravis, this wasn't as bad. After all, the Grand Elder would only lose his lightning for the current fight, while Gravis would die. In the worst-case scenario, the Grand Elder could still fall back on the power of his body.
"Do you want to try?" the Grand Elder asked.
Gravis looked with confusion at the Grand Elder. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"I have understood Punishment Lightning, which means that I have also comprehended its composition. I can use this knowledge and try it out on you. Of course, I won't kill or injure you," the Grand Elder said.
Gravis' eyes sparkled. He didn't want to acknowledge that any cultivator could potentially turn him into dust. Additionally, this had been a possibility for the future, not for the current him. Yet, this future possibility had quickly become a present possibility.
Gravis had to confront it.
"Yes, please try it," Gravis said. "I need to know how it feels and if I have a way to defend myself."
The Grand Elder nodded solemnly as he walked over to Gravis. He didn't have a Spirit, so he needed to have physical contact with Gravis. The Grand Elder put his hand on Gravis' chest. "Ready?" he asked.
"Do it," Gravis said.
BZZZZZZZ!
Gravis felt his whole being shake, and he immediately felt unimaginable pain. The last time he had felt a pain this intense had been when he had tempered his Spirit with Destruction Lightning. It felt like a powerful force was pulling at every particle of his being.
Gravis' body swelled as he felt like his being tried to fill an endless vacuum. Yet, thanks to his Will-Aura, Gravis still managed to remain clear-headed. The pain was unreal, but Gravis still managed to fight against the sensation.
Gravis used all his power to fight against the pain and the sensation of being torn apart. He used all his will and concentration in an effort to stay whole. If he lost this battle, he would become nothing. Of course, the Grand Elder would stop if he saw that Gravis was about to die.
Several minutes passed in silence in which Gravis only gritted his teeth. His Will-Aura had long activated and shook the surroundings. Of course, the Mountain of Pride was too hard to be shaken, and the Empress and Grand Elder were too powerful to be suppressed by it.
The Empress watched with interest at what was happening to Gravis.
"Gravis, are you ok?" the Grand Elder asked.
"Yes," Gravis said through gritted teeth.
"Do you want me to increase the intensity?" the Grand Elder asked.
"What?" Gravis asked in shock and confusion.
"I've only been using 10% of my power. I can increase the intensity if you want," the Grand Elder said.
Gravis only looked like the world was crashing down.
