Gravis remained sitting at his current position for several days, just thinking about the future.
Sadly, no matter how much he thought about his future, he just didn't see a way out of his predicament. Not matter what he did, he would have to sacrifice something he wasn't willing to sacrifice.
The hopelessness of the situation put a heavy weight on Gravis' shoulder.
Gravis wanted to feel pressure while cultivating, but he didn't want to feel this kind of pressure. The more pressure he felt, the more powerful he would grow after breaking through it, but this was something different.
Gravis would lose something important, no matter what happened.
Fortunately, Gravis' will wasn't so weak that he would break due to pressure. He hadn't felt this kind of pressure before, but that didn't mean that he couldn't deal with it.
So, after some days, Gravis stood up again and stretched himself.
'As much as it pains me to admit it, the best course of action is not to resolve the problem immediately but to postpone it until I know more. More Laws might help me understand the world better, which might allow me to find a good solution.'
'I have to ignore the problem for now and concentrate on becoming more powerful.'
Gravis looked towards the north with narrowed eyes. 'From now on, nothing is keeping me away from comprehending Laws anymore.'
'The Sect Alliance won't do anything.'
'The issue with Stella is resolved.'
'The issue with my lightning won't be resolved anytime soon.'
'There is no danger around anymore.'
'Now, I can concentrate on comprehending Laws as much as I want.'
Gravis sighed. 'However, over 20,000 years of comprehending Laws might change me. I will be staying in seclusion without any real contact for five times as long as I have been alive.'
'I fear that I might lose myself in a sea of Laws, becoming similar to an emotionless being that only is interested in nature, not emotions. I fear that I might become similar to the Black Magnate when I met him, just fully focused on power.'
'I hope it doesn't happen, but there is no way to know. I have never comprehended Laws for that long.'
'Well, whatever happens, happens,' Gravis thought.
Then, he teleported away.
First on the list were the Battle Laws for the Inferno Element.
Gravis arrived at the first Law Comprehension Area of the Inferno Element, the Law Comprehension Area for the Law of Inferno's Heat.
Back in the middle world, Gravis had already noticed that there were element-specific temperature Laws, and this one was the element-specific version of the Law of Heat. It was a level four Law, which, as the name implied, increased the temperature of the Inferno Element even more.
Below Gravis was a sea of fire. It wasn't lava, but just a white sea of liquid Inferno. It didn't explode or burn violently. It was just there and didn't move, like a serene lake.
However, even from several kilometers away, Gravis felt the incredible heat.
This was the hottest thing he had ever seen or felt in his life, except for when Stella had attacked him with her Inferno back then.
Gravis announced himself and also informed the disciples that he would probably stay here for several hundred years.
The disciples were surprised when they saw him but went ahead and informed their Sect Master.
The Sect Master informed the Sect Alliance, and Gravis directly jumped into the pool.
The disciples took in a violent breath through their teeth out of shock. Was that guy suicidal!?
Well, Gravis didn't have as great of an affinity towards Inferno as towards lightning, but his body still had an insane defense. As long as the entire heat was not concentrated on him, his body could keep up with healing.
As soon as Gravis entered, he felt his body being burned, but his scales gave him enough resistance to buy enough time to heal them before they fully vanished.
At the same time, Gravis used a bit of the Composition Law of Inferno to break some of it down into Energy. Otherwise, his passive Energy regeneration wouldn't be fast enough. He had to supplement it with the Inferno Element.
It took some days of getting used to the process, but at some point, everything just came automatically to him.
Thus, Gravis started his first long session of Law Comprehension out of many.
After some months, Gravis' mind had nearly vanished as he ignored everything outside.
No one came to disturb him.
There was nothing to be careful about.
No one was waiting for him.
There were just Laws.
And after ten years, Gravis' mind seemingly stopped existing.
It was like his mind had become a machine just intent on comprehending Laws, nothing more.
BOOOOM!
And Gravis comprehended the Law of Inferno Heat!
Gravis opened his eyes and activated the Law.
As soon as he did, the unbearable heat surrounding him seemingly vanished. Now, Gravis didn't even need to regenerate himself anymore since his body didn't receive any damage.
SPLASH!
Gravis came out of the pool and looked around himself.
He didn't recognize any of the present disciples, who all looked at him in shock.
'It's been quite a while,' he thought. 'However, it doesn't feel that long. It only feels like I spent a couple of years in there.'
Gravis checked his Spirit Space and looked at a Jade Token.
'473 years,' Gravis thought.
Gravis had created this jade token to check the time that had passed. He simply created a simple Formation Array that used a tiny bit of Energy. Depending on how much Energy had been used up, Gravis would be able to tell how much time the Formation Array had been active.
'A bit faster than expected, but my affinity towards Inferno is a bit above average. Earth, metal, and darkness will take far longer than this.'
Gravis looked around but didn't feel any different.
'I don't feel different since seemingly no time has passed. However, maybe the change is just too subtle to notice right now. I need to keep watch over my mind.'
Gravis thought about the dangers of cultivating too long in seclusion and decided to create a kind of test.
Gravis created some questions and answered them as subconsciously as possible. He didn't think about them at all.
After that, he put the jade token with the answers away and kept the jade token with the questions. With a bit of control, Gravis managed to blur his mind as much as possible about the answers he had given. He couldn't fully manipulate his own memories but blurring something as inconsequential as some subconsciously given answers wasn't difficult.
He would repeat the test after every session and would compare the answers after every set of elements.
Even if he hadn't noticed a change by himself, the answers would help him make a picture.
Gravis left the Law Comprehension Area and directly went to the next one without pause.
SHING!
Gravis arrived in front of it and saw something familiar.
BRRRRR!
White fire was violently burning in a crater. The walls of the crater were turning into smoke and entering the darkened atmosphere. For millions of kilometers around, only black clouds made of ash could be seen.
However, the crater still existed.
Gravis already had a guess why that was and checked. Sure enough, there was a vein of Graphite in the ground. The ash would fall down in the distance, and the Energy would travel here, creating more earth.
This was the same principle as the Law Comprehension Area for the Major Law of Lightning's Explosiveness.
Gravis announced his arrival and entered the flames.
CRR! CRR! CRRR!
Gravis' scales were being disintegrated into nothingness, but Gravis had been prepared for that.
This was the Law of Inferno's Decomposition. Fire could only exist when it was burning something, which meant that the Composition of the burning object was changed into something else. This Law increased the decomposition process.
Usually, when someone used Inferno as an attack, the Inferno was burning the Energy of the Cultivator. More Energy meant more flames. This meant that this Law would actually even weaken the attack. After all, it wouldn't become more powerful while consuming more Energy at the same time.
However, when one used Inferno as an area-wide attack, like with the Law of Inferno's Heat, the Inferno would have a greater effect since it would consume the target too. This meant that the Law of Inferno's Heat and Inferno's Decomposition could be combined very well.
Gravis used his Life Energy and his Composition Law of Inferno again to keep his body going during the disintegration.
After some years, Gravis completely lost himself again.
Seemingly no time passed for Gravis.
BOOOOM!
Gravis opened his eyes and the fire no longer injured him.
He had comprehended the Law of Inferno's Decomposition!
Gravis exited the fires again and noticed that he didn't recognize the present disciples anymore. A lot of time had passed again.
Gravis checked his Formation Array again.
'463 years,' Gravis thought.
Gravis took out the jade token with the previously recorded questions and answered them without thinking about the answer. After that, he blurred his mind again and put the jade token with the answers away.
He informed the disciples around him that he was leaving and teleported away to his next target.
After some minutes, Gravis arrived in front of a singular burning tree. It kept burning with intense power, but nothing seemingly happened to it.
This was the Law of Inferno's Efficiency. It was the polar opposite of Inferno's Decomposition. It simply used less fuel for the same amount of power.
After informing the present disciples, Gravis sat down on top of a branch and lost himself to comprehension again.
