Lightning Is the Only Way

The two of them remained silent for a couple of seconds.

"If you were more powerful than me, what would that change?" Gravis asked.

"I would have been able to help you with your Sin Aura," Stella answered immediately.

"And I wouldn't have comprehended the True Law of Suffering. By not being of much help, you helped me more than you could have helped by actually helping me," Gravis answered.

Stella frowned.

"Let me finish," Gravis interjected before Stella could say something. "I know that my words sounded very crass, but there is a point to all of this."

Stella suppressed her desire to interrupt Gravis.

"Now, if we ignore this entire Sin Aura thing. If you were more powerful than me, what could you do for me?" Gravis asked.

"I could protect you when-"Stella started, but she didn't finish her words as she realized something.

Gravis nodded. "Exactly," Gravis said when he saw that Stella realized the meaning behind his words. "Anything that endangers my life is tempering, and if I want to become more powerful, I can't have any help with that. As soon as I realize that my life actually isn't in danger since you will intervene, my Will-Aura won't be able to grow anymore."

"Now, let's assume you could give me a ton of Laws I don't know, and all these Laws would increase my Battle-Strength by an entire level. Would that make me safer?"

Stella grimaced.

"No, it wouldn't," Gravis added. "Because, when my Battle-Strength grows, I also have to fight even stronger opponents for tempering. In a sense, you giving me more Laws might actually endanger me more than if you didn't. My power increases, and to help my Will-Aura grow, I would need to put myself under even more danger."

"Then, when I am actually in danger of losing my life, you would have to retreat far away so that you can't possibly help me. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to temper myself."

"So, if you were more powerful than me, and if you could give me many more powerful Laws, you wouldn't be able to make my life safer."

"The same thing is true if you could give me incredible equipment. Due to the powerful equipment, my Battle-Strength increases, which means that I have to fight more powerful enemies."

"Now, what about if an enemy appears that I can't possibly win against? Sure, you could save my life and kill them yourself, but at that point, wouldn't you also be many times more powerful than me again?"

"Wouldn't the entire dynamic reappear but with switched sides?"

Stella's mind was trying to come to terms with what she heard.

She hadn't seen these things from that viewpoint.

"Alright, so, what can I do for you with my power?" Gravis asked.

Stella thought about protecting her, but that wasn't even true.

there, and they were even more powerful than Gravis. Gravis' interference wouldn't make

Equipment?

already debunked

was Gravis actually doing

many Laws," Stella said. "Just based on my own merits, I don't deserve to

chuckled, and Stella

this way. If I had

you mean?"

of our friends died in temperings. Sure, some of them were also killed by far more powerful Cultivators, but a lot of

they would have fought more powerful enemies. Would they have survived against these

of his head. "Battle-Strength is nice, but you also have to have the ability to triumph against your opponent when they are as powerful as you. When two

most important thing is your ability to grow under pressure. If your ability to grow under pressure is below your opponent's, you will die. After all, if you both have

you have control over that ability of yours. The more you want to live, the higher your concentration

some Laws?" Gravis added with a smirk. "You're fighting two or three levels above yourself. Sure, it wouldn't be anything special if others could also get these Laws, but

new Laws during tempering, and you would inevitably die when you meet an

obviously happened to you before, but you still managed to

you would still be able to

of the most powerful higher world in existence. You achieved that all

that you're unworthy of

at the table with

shout. "Let's talk about what you are actually

Stella looked at Gravis.

at home just

Sects. Without you, one

have saved the lives of nearly all of my friends and my son, just like they have saved yours in the war. I can deal with some deaths, but if everyone died in their

looked absentmindedly at Manuel's

I didn't know how much my death

shot to Gravis

Gravis sighed.

terrifying," Gravis said. "I was continually fighting against the desire to kill myself. I just wanted this torture to end,

I didn't think about my father, or Heaven,

death. Sure, Aris and Yersi would

they are my children. They don't need me as much as I need them. The death of a parent is horrible, but the children can come to terms with it. Yet, if

Aura, I had a lot of horrible thoughts," Gravis said as he looked with a pained expression to the side. "I didn't care for my father's problems. They were his problems, not my problems. That wouldn't

for killing myself, but Mortis hadn't had someone back then. I could accept taking his life away too, as

over my death, just how I got over their death. It sounds cold, but that's how

from

Gravis looked at Stella.

"Except you."

a deep

part of