Law
Law is the deepest skeleton of reality itself—the underlying rules that everything obeys.
Ankit grasped the beginning of it by speaking small commands to reality and feeling it listen just a little.
At low comprehension, he can impose minor personal laws in a small area (e.g., "no one can lie here," "gravity doubles," "fire cannot burn me").
At higher levels, his words truly become law—when he says "sit," reality itself forces obedience, rewriting cause and effect to make it happen.
Entropy
Entropy is the reason things fall apart, the reason time moves forward, the slow slide toward disorder.
Ankit understood it without ever leaving his chamber—simply by observing how every flame dims, every wound scars, every plan slowly frays if left alone.
He meditated on the cooling of tea in his cup, the fading of incense smoke, the inevitable tiredness after training.
Low comprehension lets him accelerate entropy in small ways—making objects rust faster, energy dissipate quicker, or wounds refuse to heal normally.
***
Ankit exhaled slowly, the sound barely disturbing the stillness of his cultivation chamber.
His mind drifted toward a distant, persistent thought. He murmured to the empty air, voice low and tinged with quiet frustration.
"These are all the higher elements I've comprehended during this period—Void, Dimension, Decay, Regeneration, Soul, Mind, Memory, Order, Chaos, Law, Entropy. And yet… I still can't grasp time. I always feel like I've touched its edge, like the answer is right there, but the moment I reach for it, it slips away again. What should I do? Time is always moving… so if I want to comprehend it, do I also have to move? Do I have to age, to truly feel its passage? Or is there another method I haven't seen yet?"
He considered the idea of venturing out of the solar system—searching places in space that might hold a fragment of time's mystery.
But then a softer thought surfaced.
"Let's first meet with the family. I haven't seen them for months."
With a single blink, Ankit vanished from the chamber.
He reappeared at the sealed entrance to the stable space passage, stepped through without pause, and emerged on the other side—inside the Abode of the Sky.
He didn't linger at the massive gate.
There was no need.
He moved directly toward the kitchen hall, where the warm scent of food and the low hum of voices already reached him.
The moment he stepped inside, every disciple rose from their seats in perfect unison, voices rising together in respectful greeting.
"Master!"
Ankit raised a gentle hand.
"Continue eating. No need to stand."
The disciples hesitated only a second before sitting again, though their eyes remained bright with reverence.
The disciples family had also begun to rise, but they stopped when they heard his words.
And Ankit family -- Kamal, neelam, sanya, Rudra became excited after seeing him, their eyes shine like they hadn't saw him for months.
One look was enough.
This was not a clone.
This was Ankit himself.
The disciples, still relatively weak in cultivation, couldn't yet distinguish between the main body and the clones. But the family—strengthened by years of proximity, the Mortal Foundation Scripture, and their deep familiarity with him—knew instantly.
Rudra didn't care about such details. He didn't know if he is clone or Ankit himself.
The moment he saw Ankit, pure joy lit up his small face.
"Brother!"
He broke into a run, jumping straight into Ankit's arms.
Ankit caught him effortlessly, lifting him high before settling him against his shoulder with a soft smile.
Rudra wrapped his arms around Ankit's neck, grinning ear to ear.
The rest of the family approached more slowly, warmth and quiet happiness shining in their eyes.
Sanya bounced forward first, unable to contain herself.
"Brother, you finally left cultivation! How strong are you now?"
Kamal and Neelam welcomed him with gentle smiles, but Neelam quickly reached out and lightly scolded her daughter.
"Sanya, let your brother eat something first. He just came back—he must be tired."
Sanya immediately lowered her head, cheeks puffing out in a small pout, though her eyes still sparkled with curiosity as she peeked up at Ankit.
Neelam turned to him with soft concern.
"Ankit, come. You should eat."
Ankit nodded and followed them to the table, settling between his parents while Rudra climbed onto his lap without hesitation.
As he picked up his chopsticks, he finally answered Sanya's question in a low, calm voice.
"I was planning to cultivate longer, but I ran into a small problem. I decided to step out and roam for a while—maybe find something that helps solve it. But before anything else, I wanted to see all of you."
He paused, taking a small bite of warm rice.
"As for how strong I am… I don't know. I haven't checked yet."
Sanya tilted her head, clearly unsatisfied with the vague answer.
"But still… any idea?"