Chapter 711: Graphite
It was still tough for Yersi to accept the situation. Something like this had happened to a lot of others around her, but she had never been the fortunate one. It was just like a dream had come true.
Yersi accepted the date. She had no idea what she should think about Jake, but that was what dates were there for, right? Dates were there for two people to get to know each other more.
Because of that, Yersi decided to postpone her Law Comprehension to spend more time with Jake.
On their first date, Yersi asked Jake why he had asked her out and if he minded the look of her body.
Surprisingly, Jake was honest and said that he had no attraction to her physical form but to her personality. Yet, he also said that when Yersi became an Immortal, everything would change. Yersi already considered herself as a human, and as soon as she managed to condense her human form, she would probably stay in that form indefinitely.
At that point, Yersi's appearance would be just as attractive as her personality to Jake. Many people would have simply said that she was just perfect as she was right now, but how many would actually mean that? Yersi looked like a black, scaly demon. Sure, some people would think of her as cute or maybe even adorable, but only very few would actually find her sexually attractive.
While all of this was going on, Gravis continued comprehending his Laws. He wasn't certain what he should think about Jake. On one hand, Jake had acted perfectly to both of them, but on the other hand, it was also possible that he simply wanted to build a connection with Gravis' family.
Many people would be interested in joining the family of the Opposer, thinking that they might get to know some exclusive secrets that made them incredibly powerful. Of course, that couldn't be further from the truth. The Opposer wouldn't even speak with them.
Yet, just because there was something very attractive about Yersi's background didn't mean that this was the only reason anyone would want to come close to her. The same could be said about wealth. There would be a ton of people trying to get close to a wealthy person because of their money, but that didn't mean that there weren't people who simply liked the person for their personality.
Of course, all of this was only secondary. If this was Jake's actual goal, he would very quickly find himself before a brick wall. It wouldn't be Yersi or Gravis that stopped him. After all, Gravis was too weak for that.
No, it would be Gravis' mother who would stand in his way. She obviously loved and doted on her granddaughter, and if she found out that Jake was only in it for the money and status, she would find that out very quickly.
Because of all these reasons, Gravis didn't worry about Yersi. She was over a thousand years old and fought through an army of monsters. She should be able to handle that, and even if she couldn't, Gravis' mother would take care of things.
So, Gravis concentrated on learning more Laws.
Next on the list of Laws was Graphite, the level three Law equivalent of earth. Graphite didn't refer to a specific kind of earth but to all kinds of earth on the third level.
Gravis put the Virtualization Array into his room, and in a matter of seconds, his room basically vanished.
'Fuck, I nearly can't move!' Gravis thought as an unreal amount of pressure pressed into his body. The entire room had been filled to the absolute brim with grey, black, and brown stone. Just the pressure of the stone made it nearly impossible for Gravis to move.
Any mortal would have already died since the Graphite didn't even allow the chest of anyone to rise and fall. Luckily, Gravis didn't need to breathe.
CRR! CRR! CRRR!
Gravis tried to move, but it was impossible. No matter how much power he used, he couldn't destroy the stone around him. This meant that he was stuck here.
'Well, not totally,' Gravis thought as he connected with the Virtualization Array with his Spirit. He could still deactivate it. 'I can still use my Spirit to deactivate it, which is everything that I need. This means that the power of the Graphite around me is actually just perfect for me. I'm getting injured, but not nearly enough to die. This should be the best way to comprehend the Law.'
Starting from this day forward, Gravis remained stuck. He hadn't expected to be stuck immediately, which was why he was stuck in a half-sitting, awkward position.
Gravis remained in that position for 98 years.
SSSSSSS!
The Graphite turned into its base components, and Gravis deactivated the Formation Array.
'Sure enough, my talent in earth is also not that great,' he thought as he jumped around, being happy that he could move again. 'The only reason why I managed to comprehend this Law in one sitting is that I know Deep Wood, Storm, Matter, and the Plant Laws. Without the Matter or Plant Laws, I probably would have needed a century more or so, maybe even two.'
Gravis cracked his neck as he looked around. 'Jake said that Yersi should wait with earth, and I think that is one of the reasons. I know so many Laws from so many different categories that I can extrapolate a lot about Graphite simply by referencing so many other Laws. With Yersi's current Law count, this would be impossible. Heh, I'm basically brute-forcing my way through earth.'
Gravis exited his room again and found Yersi in the "living room" together with Jake. They both sat near the beach, leaning against each other, simply looking at the lake.
'Oh yeah, that's right. It's been like a hundred years or so,' Gravis thought. 'That should be plenty of time to get to know each other.'
Yet, Gravis noticed something else when he looked at Yersi.
"Hey, father!" Yersi said with a smile as she jumped into Gravis' embrace. Obviously, Yersi seemed to be very happy.
"Hey, Yersi," Gravis said as he returned the hug. "I see you have reached the Peak Law Comprehension Realm. How did that happen?"
Yersi chuckled with pride. "Yes, I've been working hard!" she said.
"Have you properly tempered yourself?" Gravis asked.
Yersi nodded. "Sure," she said. Then she summoned some images to show Gravis her fights.
Sure enough, the fights definitely hadn't been easy. They were not on the level of 50% life and 50% death, but they were still very dangerous. One could say that this was a good compromise between just raising one's Realm and actual life and death tempering.
If Yersi's goal were power, Gravis would disapprove, but her goal was only to reach the Immortal Realm, nothing more. She had gone through six Realms while continuing to risk her life. Half-assing one Realm was alright as long as she didn't aim for the peak.
As to where Yersi got her tempering from?
This city had everything. When there was a need, a supply would be created to fill that need. This city had several arenas where different cultivators and beasts could fight each other. The personnel of the arena would analyze the powers and Laws of all combatants and search for fitting ones.
Of course, one could also slightly skew the results with a well-placed donation. This sounded shady, but it actually wasn't. One side would be favored in this battle, but if the other side managed to win, they would earn a ton of money. Some people always wanted money and would take the risk. This meant that both sides knew that one side was slightly more powerful.
Yersi had been fighting beasts one level above her and humans on her level. These were all still slightly weaker than her, but they were actually rather powerful in their own regards.
Gravis had to sigh when he saw all of that. Yes, everything was alright for her goal, but he was still a bit disappointed that Yersi couldn't fight two levels above herself. Of course, Gravis knew that he had no right to put such pressure on his daughter. He simply had to accept that she didn't pursue power like him.
"Why have you decided to increase your Realm now?" Gravis said.
"That was actually me," Jake said. "Happy to see you again, Gravis," he said politely.
Gravis nodded. "So, what's the reason?" he asked.
"As long as you remain in the Early Minor Circulation Immortal Realm, you can condense your Avatar whenever you want. This means that she is not under any pressure. Additionally, as an Immortal, it will become easier for her to learn more Laws. This should save her some time and money," Jake said.
Gravis furrowed his brows. That actually made a lot of sense, but there was one thing that Jake didn't say.
Gravis turned to Yersi. "Has he told you about comprehending the Body Laws as soon as you become an Immortal?" he asked.
Yersi nodded. "Jake told me that it will become more difficult to learn the initial Body Laws when I'm an Immortal."
Gravis nodded. As long as Jake told her this, everything was okay. Yersi was an adult, and she was responsible for her own decisions. Gravis wouldn't choose to become an Immortal without checking out a ton of Body Laws, but Gravis wasn't Yersi. Yersi was her own being, and everything was up to her. As long as she was sufficiently informed, everything was on her.
Gravis was not an overprotective parent that didn't realize that his child was an adult now.