Gravis thought about his situation for quite some time until he finally rubbed his head in frustration. 'Fuck this! I need to go with the first choice. It appears absolutely impossible right now, but there surely is a way to increase my Battle-Strength even more.'
'So, a beast four levels higher than me would have speed that is impossible for me to react to, would create an attack that I can't resist against, and I can't even injure them. This means I need to upgrade all three aspects.'
'The best way to majorly increase these aspects is by understanding more level two Laws. First of all, I need to deal with the speed difference. Right now, I can increase my Will-Aura again, which would put the suppression to 30%. The problem is that I have no way to increase it right now. The only other beast in this world that has comprehended Punishment Lightning is the Grand Elder, and with me being a level five King now, he won't be able to help me.'
'Since he has overtaken the position of the leader of the Icy Pride Empire, he also won't increase his Realm for quite some time. So, increasing my Will-Aura falls flat,' Gravis thought as he scratched his chin. 'This means I need speed from somewhere else.'
Gravis glanced to the Lightning Ultimate. 'There surely must be an upgraded form of the level one Law of Lightning's Speed. Comprehending this Law would allow me to react to attacks, at least. This should be my first stop.'
'Then, I need to deal with my attack. Punishment Lightning is great and all, but it is only the base form of an attack. I need to manipulate it appropriately to make use of it as efficiently as possible. The Lightning Crescent has served me well for a long time, but it's a technique I have comprehended in the lower world. There surely must be better and more effective ways to use my Punishment Lightning.'
'Yet, maybe I don't need to completely change my technique, but upgrade it. Right now, my Lightning Crescent makes use of my Will-Aura, Spirit, and Punishment Lightning. Yet, it hasn't integrated other Laws. Additionally, I haven't comprehended any of the offensive Laws regarding lightning yet.'
Gravis' eyes shone. 'Lightning is a very offensive element, so it should have plenty of offensive Laws. If I comprehend some of these Laws, the power of my Lightning Crescent will rise. However, I'm not sure if that would be enough.'
'Another problem with my Lightning Crescent is that the power is not concentrated enough. I unleash it in a slash, and then it simply explodes. A lot of its power vanishes into the surroundings, and it spreads over my enemy's entire body. If I could concentrate it on one point, its power would rise again.'
'So, for my speed and offense, I need to comprehend more about lightning. I've always put it on the back burner since I could comprehend it anytime I wanted. Maybe I should increase its priority,' Gravis thought as he looked at the moving clouds in the sky, which moved around the lower bodies of the Ultimates.
'As for elemental defense, I need to comprehend the Light and Darkness Composition Laws. With that, I will be able to weaken all elemental attacks of my enemy. Additionally, understanding the level two Laws associated with their Composition would surely increase their effectiveness even more.'
'As for physical defense, the sharp attacks are already countered very well by my new Hard Complex Law. The problem is the force that the attacks transmit. I can increase my resistance to these attacks with two other things.'
'First, I need to comprehend the Soft Complex and Medium Complex Laws. Right now, my armor is so hard that if my body gets thrown around inside it, it's like I hit a hard wall of ore every time. An appropriate solution would be to have a hard layer on the outer side, a soft layer of gas in the middle, and a flexible but durable layer beneath all of this.'
'A physical attack would hit my armor and would maybe dent it a little bit. The layer of gas would slowly distribute the force over a wider area, and my body would be softly held in place by the medium material.'
'The next issue would be the internal tearing of my body with such an attack. I probably can't do anything with the Body Composition Law since my body has a different Composition. Yet, there are more Laws regarding the body. Maybe there are some hardness or flexibility Laws?'
Gravis frowned as he realized the monumental task in front of him. 'I probably need to comprehend, at least, five additional level two Laws to allow me to even survive against a beast four levels higher than me. With such a big number of level two Laws, only Meadow would have comprehended more than me, and only Sary would have a comparable number.'
'This means, to jump four levels as a level five King, I would need to have comprehended more Laws than an average Ultimate, someone that is an entire Realm above me and thousands of years old. If it is even possible without tempering, I would probably need hundreds of years.'
Gravis sighed when he realized the time he would need to invest. He would remain a King for probably another 500 years. In that time, his children might even become Emperors already.
Yet, when Gravis glanced at Meadow, he made his decision. 'So what?' Gravis thought. 'So what if I'm slow in increasing my Realm? A lot of humans my age have probably already become Immortals. Taking nearly 1,000 years to reach the Law Comprehension Realm would probably make me an old man. Instead of looking up at the old monsters, I would be the old monster.'
Suddenly, Gravis smirked. 'But am I not already an old monster for mortal standards? Some humans would look at Meadow and think that she was pathetic for remaining an Emperor for over 50,000 years. Yet, her Battle-Strength is absolutely insane.'
'How would the youngsters feel when someone many times older than them and with a weaker Realm would jump levels to kill them? The more powerful my Battle-Strength, the easier it is to survive. Right now, no level two Emperor would care about me, a level five King. I don't even give them any Energy when they eat me.'
'On top of that, with them constantly feeling that they are more powerful than me, even tempering against me would feel horrible. Knowing that you are much more powerful than someone but somehow not being able to win is frustrating. Only when the fight is close to an end would their emotions subconsciously realize the danger.'
'An Emperor would gain nothing by winning against me. Instead, they would risk their lives for absolutely no gain, and they know that. This is the advantage of having a powerful Battle-Strength. I can choose my opponents since my opponents don't want to choose me.'
'All these youngsters, who look down upon the seemingly weaker old monsters, die with regret as their arrogance becomes their downfall. By progressing too fast, one becomes average at some point, and that's when cultivation becomes nearly impossible.'
By now, Gravis smiled as he rubbed his chin. 'Alright! I've decided!'
'I will become an old man!'