Gravis and Ferris walked to the new forest and looked at it in wonder. All kinds of trees and plants could be seen. The trees had different forms, colors, and they even felt different. It was almost like all plants in the world could be found here.
Gravis immediately realized how valuable such a place was. Understanding living things was way harder than understanding dead things. It wasn't that the Laws were more complicated, but that one had to experiment a lot. Nothing dead would be able to resist someone touching and destroying it, but something alive would have a lot of objections.
Additionally, living things often walked around and became more powerful. If Gravis wanted to understand the Laws regarding Life without this place, he would need to hunt and enslave many beings, and Gravis didn't want to do that. He wasn't a huge fan of killing beings that hadn't shown hostility towards him.
Luckily, this whole forest was only a single being, Meadow. Meadow was incredibly old, and she had probably comprehended an unreal amount of Laws regarding Life. Plants naturally understood more and more powerful Laws as time passed. Yet, they could also comprehend additional Laws, but it wasn't a necessity.
All other Ultimates had their paths nearly completely severed, but Meadow, as a plant, simply had to wait. This meant that Meadow was the only Ultimate that would become an Ascender, but that wasn't everything.
Since Meadow had lived for such a long time, she had probably understood even more Laws than all other Ultimates. This probably made her the most powerful Ultimate out of all of them. Nothing but Heaven or a vengeful Ascender could kill her in this world. Who knew, maybe she had already comprehended so many level two Laws that she could actually kill a Strider but just didn't want to?
Gravis guessed that Meadow had probably already comprehended an incredible amount of level two Laws. She probably understood nearly all level two Laws regarding plants.
One had to remember that there was more to a plant than simply its composition. Gravis didn't know the specific Laws, but there were probably also Laws regarding more powerful versions of wood. Maybe there was a level two Law for each part of a plant? There might also be a level two Law regarding roots alone.
"Hey, Meadow," Gravis said, "can you choose which Laws you want to comprehend?" he asked.
"What's with that stupid-ass question? I'm a living being, you fucktard! Of course I can choose which Law I want to comprehend," her melodious voice appeared in Gravis' mind.
"And since you have been in this world for over 50,000 years, you've probably decided to first understand as many level two Laws as possible, right?" Gravis asked.
"Of course!" she answered. "I don't wanna get fucked up as soon as I reach the next world. I can live for ten times longer than you weak-ass bitches, and I'm gonna use all of it in this world! My longevity will increase anyway when I ascend."
"Quite smart," Gravis commented as he scratched his chin.
"Oh wow, the small King-boy finally managed to realize that not everyone has their heads as far up their own ass as he! Truly, what a marvelous step forward! Maybe you won't understand a Law regarding Plants next, but a Law regarding your own widely stretched asshole," she said, her harmonious voice somehow showing her sarcasm very well.
Gravis actually had to laugh at that comment. He obviously didn't mean it like that, and he most certainly did not look down upon the older beings in this world. He had just recently gotten a reminder of the wisdom of his seniors. Yet, he didn't engage in the conversation. He had plants to comprehend!
Meadow's answer had cleared Gravis' mind. Since she could choose which Laws she wanted to comprehend, it probably meant that she aimed to understand as many level two Laws as possible. The number of level two Laws she had managed to comprehend was probably higher than any other beast in this world.
'This also explains the huge variety of plants in this new forest,' Gravis thought. 'Obviously, all of these plants are part of Meadow's body, yet they all feel like they are their own beings. This is not something that just anyone can do.'
Gravis went to the first flower he saw and plucked it. Meadow didn't make a sound, which probably meant that she didn't care. After all, she had said that he could do whatever he wanted in this forest.
The flower floated in front of Gravis, and he looked at it with intense interest. First, he looked at its outside and then also used his Spirit to look at its inside. He looked at it for several minutes in interest.
Gravis looked at the forest again and noticed that an identical flower had already grown at the same spot. 'Meadow is probably giving me an endless supply of flowers, which wasn't part of our deal. Sure enough, she's actually a kind soul deep inside,' Gravis thought with a smile.
Gravis didn't decide to confront Meadow with his thoughts. If he did that, she might say that this was only an accident and would stop producing more flowers.
BZZZ!
Gravis summoned some weak lightning and looked at what happened to the flower. A lot of smoke appeared as the flower burned away. Additionally, with Gravis' excellent control, he managed to make the lightning just powerful enough to burn one material at a time.
Gravis looked at the different kinds of gasses that were being produced by him burning the flower. By now, he had enough experience to accurately judge what kind of materials were left behind and what materials transformed into gasses.
This burning and stopping repeated multiple times, and Gravis harvested samples of all the materials to experiment further. Keeping them isolated was no issue with his Spirit.
After that, Gravis plucked the same flower another ten times, repeating the process. Since the burning was very slow and gradual, this whole process took over five minutes. Yet, Gravis managed to understand a lot regarding the Composition of Flowers.
Then, Gravis simply studied the same flower but didn't pluck it. Gravis couldn't waste such an incredible opportunity! This was a paradise when one wanted to comprehend all kinds of Laws regarding Life. Comprehending only the Composition of Wood would be a gigantic waste!
Gravis planned to understand much more. His father had said that Gravis shouldn't concentrate on only one thing. He had also said that the Initial Laws were more important than the more powerful ones since they opened the doors to other, more powerful Laws.
The Composition of Wood, referring to the material, was not its own Law. The Composition of Wood, referring to the material, was part of the Medium Pure Material Law and the Elemental Wood Composition Law.
The element of wood could take many more forms than natural wood. Additionally, the wood element was also related to the soul. Gravis hadn't forgotten his fight with the High Priest and how he had appeared in Gravis' Spirit Space.
After seeing this incredible forest, Gravis decided to understand much more than just the Composition of Wood.
'This time, I will understand the Elemental Wood Composition Law, which should be a level one Law. When I know that, I should also be able to understand the Medium Pure Material Law. Yet, this will only be a small part of what I'm here for,' Gravis thought.
'I have comprehended the Organ Growth Law, which should be part of the Organ Law, which should be a level two Law. The same thing should hold true for Muscles, Bones, Blood, and Skin. Then, these five level two Laws should combine into the Law of the Body, which would be a level three Law.'
'Plants should have something similar. There are probably Laws associated with the roots, wood, stem, leaves, and maybe even petals. All of these parts should have at least three level one Laws associated with them, which would then combine into a level two Law. Then these level two Laws would probably create a level three Law, which would be the Law of the Plant.'
'Of course, my goal isn't that grand. There are multiple ways to combine Laws, and one level one Law can go into multiple level two Laws. I can combine all the Laws of Organs into a level two Law, but I'm sure that I can also combine all the Composition Laws of a body into another level two Law.'
'So, this time, my goal is not only to comprehend the Medium Pure Material Law but also to Comprehend the entire Plant Composition Law, which should be a level two Law. Additionally, by seeing the plants regrow, I might also understand more general Life Laws, like growth or something similar.'
'Also, my knowledge about plants is not as superficial as I have thought,' Gravis thought with a smirk. 'I totally forgot that I have looked at the CMO for a long time, and it also produces plant materials from time to time.'
Gravis' eyes shone as he looked at the entire forest. 'So, my minimum goal is to comprehend, at least, seven level one Laws and maybe even a level two Law. I think I'm experienced enough to comprehend the level one Laws without going through a life and death fight, but the level two Law probably can't be completed until I'm able to temper myself again.'
Gravis' smirk intensified as he threw a glance at the excited Ferris, who was currently sniffing a flower.
'Watch out, Ferris! This time, I'm the one that's going to annoy you to death with new Laws I managed to comprehend!'
