Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis and Ferris traveled for around two days to the north. The Empire was relatively close to the core of the continent, but not that close. The fact that they took two entire days proved as much.

The closer they got to the bulwark and the Grand Lake, the bigger the Striders seemed. Their sheer size was incredibly breathtaking. From the top of the Mountain of Pride, they hadn't appeared as gigantic, but when they arrived at the bulwark, the Striders simply appeared massive.

Even though they were still over 200,000 kilometers away from them, the closest Strider already seemed so massive that Gravis couldn't even see its head anymore. Its closest leg looked like a bridge that led to an entirely new world, which was its torso. The closer Gravis got, the more he could feel the sheer power of them.

"We're nearly there, Gravis!" Ferris said with excitement. "I've already announced our arrival to the guards of this place. They know me, so we have no issue with entering. Don't attack anything, and don't release any of your power. The plants are not fans of slaughter and battles."

"No problem," Gravis said with shining eyes. He had some things that he could offer the plants, but he hoped that they would allow him to comprehend them without any payment. The reason for that was that paying a plant or a beast was difficult.

Paying a human was not an issue since Gravis would only need to hand over some treasures or currency, but plants and beasts were not interested in that. They were more interested in tempering and food.

After some more seconds, Gravis noticed that the environment had changed. A towering and wild forest appeared with trees several kilometers tall. That size surely was impressive, but Gravis had seen trees just as big in the lower world. Could plants also control their sizes?

Right now, Gravis was just two-meters tall. After all, every King could freely control their size, and most of them were always in their smallest possible size. It was just easier to travel like this.

Ferris passed the line of trees and entered the massive forest without being stopped as Gravis followed him. "Where are we going, Ferris?" Gravis asked.

"To the Empress of the Bulwark Empire, the Plant Ultimate," Ferris answered. "We first need to discuss everything with her."

Empress just

"The Plant Ultimate is a nice and welcoming being.

an Ultimate, but he accepted it. This surely would make things easier. After around a minute, the two of them reached a several-kilometer-wide clearing in the forest. The only thing present in that clearing was a humongous bed of

flowers and, for some reason, felt peaceful. Some kind of harmony radiated from this place,

and Gravis did the same. Ferris knew better how to act in

transmitted to Gravis as he took the lead. Then, Ferris stepped into the meadow, onto the field

barely lifting his feet. Instead of walking forward, it was more like he shuffled forward. Like this, he didn't step on any flowers but pushed them to the side instead. Of course, some of them couldn't avoid the destiny of being stepped on, but Ferris' body was very light right now. Even a mortal flower would survive a

able to move more flowers out of the way than Ferris, but even with that, he still had to step on some of them. Without flying, this couldn't be

moving, but it still only took a couple of minutes for them

than him was not something to be ashamed about.

they

daffodil. It was surrounded by other flowers, but interestingly, all the flowers had

the Plant Ultimate, one's eyes would still be drawn towards this particular flower. It just seemed… special.

nature itself was speaking, and Gravis felt like he saw the whole

stepped on the flowers with any weight, their bodies were still bent. His stroll to this position had

even and neutral as he looked at his footprints. Then, he

journey to gain something we desire, we involuntarily leave behind a path of destruction, but as long we try to minimize the destruction, new life will grow.

path of cultivation. Reaching the Plant Ultimate was impossible without stepping over plants, but they could still try to

paying any attention to them, the flowers would die, and it

Ultimate remained silent, so Gravis