Ch. 1021..1030

Chapter 1021 - 1021 – Reveal

Arc's eyes widened when he heard Gravis' words.

He could survive?

That was possible?

Yet, the more Arc thought about Gravis' words, the more sense they made.

Yes, there truly wouldn't be any reason for the highest Heaven to force the agreement.

Arc had seen that the highest Heaven had taken Gravis' emotions and words seriously in the past. The highest Heaven's conduct regarding Gravis was different than when it communicated with anyone else.

Usually, the highest Heaven didn't care about anyone's feelings. After all, it was the most powerful thing in the Cosmos, and everyone, other than the Opposer, was helpless in front of it.

However, even though Gravis was someone the highest Heaven could kill with a mere thought, it didn't ignore his feelings. The highest Heaven had to consider the Opposer's opinion, but it didn't need to consider Gravis' opinion. According to logic, it still shouldn't care about Gravis' feelings.

Yet, it did.

This meant that the highest Heaven had some plan regarding Gravis in mind that required his support.

This was the only reason Arc could come up with. There wouldn't be any other reason that would make it consider Gravis' opinion.

As soon as Arc saw a chance of survival, his emotions became wild for the first time in forever.

His life could change!

Gravis, Mortis, and Arc waited for some seconds.

"Fine."

The three of them looked to the side.

Someone new had appeared in Arc's clearing.

It was a blonde, middle-aged man with three eyes. He wore white robes, and his hands were behind his back.

He had a neutral expression on his face as he looked at Gravis.

The three of them couldn't feel his Cultivation.

However, Gravis' and Mortis' eyes widened as soon as they saw the new person.

They knew him!

"Orthar?" Gravis asked in shock.

This person looked exactly like Orthar!

Orthar looked at Gravis. "Hello, Gravis," he said evenly.

Suddenly, Gravis' eyes turned left as he noticed something.

Another person had appeared in the clearing, and he also knew that person very well.

"Father?" Gravis said in surprise.

It was the Opposer.

Right now, the Opposer had his black saber in his right hand as he stood to the side between Gravis and Orthar.

There was no longer any reason to remain hidden.

After all, the person that wanted to stay hidden had revealed himself.

"Later," the Opposer said to Gravis, keeping an eye on Orthar.

Gravis noticed his father's actions and looked at Orthar.

"Orthar, I thought you would become a middle Heaven. What are you doing here?" he asked.

Orthar continued to look at Gravis with a neutral expression.

"My name is Orthar," Orthar said. "However, I'm also not completely the being you know as Orthar."

Gravis furrowed his brows.

"That's the old bastard," the Opposer said.

Then, Gravis' and Mortis' eyes widened.

First, they had expected Orthar to be some kind of agent sent by the highest Heaven.

However, Orthar was the highest Heaven himself?

"How?" Gravis asked.

"I wanted to get to know you, Gravis," Orthar said. "Observation is not always as reliable as experiencing something myself."

"I created a beast after my own image and with my personality and made him meet you. I wanted to experience your personality first-hand. Of course, that Orthar didn't have my memories. In essence, the Orthar that you met was a younger version of myself," Orthar said.

Gravis was still in shock as he listened to the highest Heaven.

"After gaining sufficient knowledge, I fused with the Orthar you know and left."

Gravis still tried to process what he was hearing.

"Then, Orthar is dead?" Gravis asked.

"No, I'm not," Orthar answered. "I went through our experiences, and I still remember everything. Our interactions truly happened, and nothing has changed. My Spirit wasn't overtaken. I fused with the other version of myself, which you know as the highest Heaven. I am both at once."

This revelation was still hard for Gravis to grasp.

Was his friend dead or not?

He said he wasn't, but was that true?

"He's speaking the truth, Gravis," the Opposer said.

Gravis looked at his father.

"I noticed that he essentially made a younger copy of himself so that he could come into contact with you."

Gravis furrowed his brows.

"But if you knew, why didn't you do anything? This doesn't sound like you," Gravis said.

"This is your life, not mine," the Opposer answered. "I don't want to involve you in my conflict, and for you to make the best decision, you have to know both sides. Additionally, even if I didn't think like that, forcing you to come to my side in this conflict will drive you away instead. Freedom is too important to you, and if I don't respect your freedom, I might end up getting on your bad side."

"Obviously, I don't want to get on the bad side of my son," the Opposer said.

Then, he looked at Mortis.

"Or sons, in that case," he said.

Mortis looked at the Opposer with an unsure expression.

Usually, Mortis had a solid hold over his emotions, but as soon as he saw his "father", he became uncertain.

Gravis saw the Opposer as his father, and Mortis had Gravis' memories. Therefore, Mortis also saw the Opposer as his father.

"You are Gravis just as much as he is, only from a different time and place," the Opposer said to Mortis. "Memories and feelings are what connect us. Therefore, you are my son."

Mortis felt things he hadn't felt ever since he had come into existence.

Was this a feeling of belonging?

Was this familial love?

Meanwhile, Gravis was looking at Orthar.

"So, you are the highest Heaven, right?" he asked.

"I am," Orthar said.

"Why did you decide to show yourself now? You've been keeping yourself hidden all this time," Gravis asked.

"There's no point to keep up pretenses," Orthar said. "You will not receive the Brand, and you even know the Major Law of Death. As long as nothing out of the ordinary happens, you will reach my level. Instead, acting towards you in a fashion akin to acting towards someone beneath myself would only increase your dislike towards me."

Gravis lifted an eyebrow.

Now that he had accepted that the highest Heaven was basically Orthar, a lot more things made sense.

The entire Cosmos was created to gather as much Energy as possible.

It was incredibly efficient.

Everything had its use.

Gravis had once thought that he wouldn't want to live in a world Orthar created, but it turned out that he had been in one this entire time.

Yet, there was also a major difference between the two Orthars.

The old Orthar would have run everything like it was a machine, forcing everything into place.

However, this wouldn't create the best result.

After all, the beings would lose motivation and wouldn't be as complicit. A lot of them would also only do the bare minimum to survive.

It would kill motivation.

Yet, this other Orthar had an incomparable amount of experience in running a Cosmos.

He knew exactly what gave the best results.

Gravis remembered the words his father had once said.

The Opposer had once said that Emotions were there to force people to make connections with others, which would result in them not wanting to lose them, resulting in a need for power.

Back then, Gravis had dismissed his father's words as too cynical.

However, knowing Orthar, this actually seemed very likely.

"You said you don't want me to dislike you even more. However, why would you care about that?"

"Tell me, why do you care about my feelings?" Gravis asked with a raised eyebrow.

Chapter 1022 - 1022 – Gravis' Purpose

"Because I have a plan for you, Gravis," Orthar said.

Gravis was surprised that Orthar admitted it this openly.

"You're admitting it directly?" Gravis asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You're not stupid, Gravis," Orthar said. "You know my personality since you know Orthar. Acting like I don't have a plan is meaningless."

"Okay, then what is your plan?" Gravis asked.

Orthar only continued looking at Gravis evenly.

"Not even your father knows that," Orthar commented.

Gravis glanced at his father and then looked at Orthar again.

Then, Gravis smirked.

"Well, has father ever asked you?" he asked.

The Opposer furrowed his brows.

Orthar only looked at Gravis.

Then, Orthar smirked, which was quite surprising.

The Orthar Gravis knew had never shown something like a smile or a smirk.

"No, he didn't," Orthar said.

"So, will you answer me?" Gravis asked.

Silence.

"It seems like, in some sense, you are already superior to your father," Orthar said, glancing at the Opposer. Gravis could see a glint of dislike in Orthar's eyes when he looked at the Opposer.

The Opposer only looked emotionlessly at Orthar.

"If I refuse to answer, it means that I have something planned for you that you don't like. So, if I have something planned for you that you wouldn't like, I would be forced to lie to you. However, a lie is a lie. You don't need to find out the truth to know that it is a lie. You only need to find a single inconsistency. As soon as it is exposed to be a lie, you will know that I have something planned that you don't like. Otherwise, I wouldn't have lied."

"If I had something planned for you that you were fine with, there would be no reason for me to keep it secret."

Orthar continued looking into the Opposer's eyes with a smirk as he talked to Gravis.

"In essence, you managed to somewhat force me into a corner with only a question. Someone else hasn't managed to achieve something like this before," Orthar said while looking at the Opposer.

Gravis could see that the Opposer and Orthar really didn't get along, which wasn't very surprising.

Orthar was using Gravis as an example to show the Opposer that a mere Immortal Emperor could do something he couldn't, the most powerful being other than him.

The Opposer didn't care.

Orthar looked back at Gravis.

"Luckily for me, I don't have anything bad planned for you. After all, if I had, I wouldn't think about your opinion on the matter."

Gravis only looked at Orthar. "And what is that plan?" he asked.

Not even the Opposer knew the plan Orthar had for Gravis.

This would be new, even for him.

"Alright, I'll tell you," Orthar said. "You knowing won't change anything."

Gravis listened with interest.

"You are a stabilizer," Orthar said.

"Stabilizer?" Gravis asked.

"Your purpose for becoming powerful is to protect me and this world," Orthar said.

The Opposer frowned.

Gravis also frowned.

"And why should I do that?" Gravis asked. "You should know that I won't go against my father."

"You don't have to," Orthar answered.

Gravis became a bit surprised.

"What do you mean I don't have to? You two are enemies."

"My plan for you is to stay neutral in this conflict," Orthar said. "I don't want you to kill me, and I also don't want you to kill your father. I only need you to stay at the sidelines."

"Obviously," Orthar continued, "if I ever attack your father, you will come to his aid. I'm in an inferior position here since I'm not part of your family. If I attacked your father, I would be attacked by both of you, and I would die."

"So, to survive, I simply have to not attack."

"You should be fine with that, right?" Orthar asked Gravis.

Gravis only frowned.

Orthar had helped Gravis a lot in the past.

Yes, he had used the child-Stella back then to use him to hurt the Opposer, but he had repaid that debt manifold.

He gave everyone Gravis cared about a ton of Karmic Luck to protect them.

If Orthar hadn't done that, Aris, Cera, and Yersi might have already died.

Even Stella might have died already.

Orthar had killed one life but saved many.

Was this reason enough to become friends with him?

No.

However, was this reason enough to not seek vengeance?

Yes.

So, if Orthar truly didn't act against any of Gravis' loved ones, Gravis would have no reason to go against him.

This would also be in Gravis' interest. After all, all of these dynamics were like this because this was how Gravis was. This was his personality.

Yet, Gravis didn't immediately accept this as the truth.

It could very well be a lie.

However, it perfectly fit everything that had happened to Gravis in his life.

Was this the truth?

Gravis couldn't be sure right now.

"So, you want to end the conflict between us. Is that it?" the Opposer asked, glaring at Orthar.

Orthar looked at the Opposer.

"Tell me, when have I attacked you after our initial clash?" Orthar asked.

"You didn't, but you used Gravis to attack me indirectly," the Opposer said.

"Yes, an action born out of 50 billion years of needing to protect myself from you with everything I got. I might consider emotions to be the bane of a correct decision, but I'm not immune to them. Even I will fall victim to their grasp after 50 billion years of frustration," Orthar said.

"And look what came of this one mistake. I acted one time out of frustration in 50 billion years, and I nearly died six years later when that same person decided to become one with lightning. And that wasn't even everything. After that, my actions resulted in the creation of someone that has the background and potential to also become a threat to me in the future, and even worse, that person doesn't have any goodwill towards me."

"In fact, we don't even need to go that far into the future. Your attack following the incident alone was already far more damaging than what little satisfaction I've gotten from this act of frustration."

"Yes, I fell victim to my frustration, and yes, I committed a mistake. This won't happen a second time," Orthar explained.

"I'm not the aggressor in this conflict. You are," Orthar said to the Opposer. "Except for this one incident, I didn't do anything to you or to any of your loved ones. I even gave you a perfectly compatible wife. What do you want me to do? Is passively being your punching bag for 50 billion years not enough for you?"

Orthar's words made a lot of sense to Gravis.

As far as he knew, that incident with the young Stella was the only thing that happened between them.

The Opposer looked at Orthar, unperturbed. "You know exactly what I want," he said.

Orthar snorted.

"And put my life in your hands? I'm not an idiot. I know how much you hate me, and I'm willing to find a compromise. However, I will not initiate the negotiation by putting my head in your hands," Orthar answered.

"Then this will only continue," the Opposer said.

"Will it?" Orthar asked with a slight smirk. "If you keep being the aggressor, your son might not like it."

"As soon as he reaches your Realm, even if he might not be your match, he will be a deterrent. I can finally focus on something other than gathering as much Energy as possible to defend myself from your aggression. Additionally, you might also get what you want when our relationship has sufficiently improved or if Gravis becomes powerful enough to protect my life from your saber," Orthar said.

Gravis only watched on as his father and Orthar argued.

"What do you want from Orthar?" Gravis asked his father.

The Opposer continued looking at Orthar.

"I'm fine with him knowing," Orthar said. "No more secrets."

Then, Orthar turned to Gravis.

"The answer to that question has something to do with the very makeup of the Cosmos and its true purpose."

"Do you want to know?"

"I can tell you."

Chapter 1023 - 1023 – Secret Of The Cosmoses

The secret of the Cosmos?

Gravis had the opportunity to learn it?

"As long as it doesn't hurt my path to power, yes, I want to know," Gravis said.

Why would he decline?

The more Gravis knew, the easier it would be to make a correct choice in the future.

"Fine," Orthar said. "Then let me begin by telling you how a Heaven's Magnate can become more powerful."

"Does it have something to do with the Law of the Cosmos?" Gravis asked.

"Correct," Orthar answered. "The Law of the True World allows you to become a Heaven's Magnate, but that is obviously not enough to establish a Cosmos of your own."

"Establish a Cosmos of my own?" Gravis asked in surprise.

Then, did this mean that people could create their own Cosmos?

Did his father have his own Cosmos?

Were they in Orthar's Cosmos?

"That is the key to reaching the next level," Orthar said. "There are nine levels of power in the Star God, Ancestral God, and Divine God Realm, each increasing one's power by four times. However, Heaven's Magnates have already reached the peak in that regard. A Heaven's Magnate can't absorb more Energy since the density of their being is already too high. There is a limit of how much you can compress Energy."

"This means that, in essence, Heaven's Magnates are all at the same Realm with no possible way to increase their Energy even more."

"However, that doesn't mean that they are all equally powerful. While there are no differences in terms of Realm, there are differences in terms of Laws."

"According to that classification, there are three different levels for Heaven's Magnates. The first level is when a Heaven's Magnate comprehends the True Law of the True World. This allows you to push your Energy density to the limit."

"The next level is comprehending the Law of Energy."

"Law of Energy?" Gravis asked.

Orthar nodded. "The Law of Energy teaches you how Energy works. You can call it the Composition Law of Energy itself. This Law also allows you to filter Energy out of the Primordial Chaos. A Heaven's Magnate that has comprehended the Law of Energy has an infinite amount of Energy as long as there is enough Energy in the world. The Energy can't be compressed further, but they can unleash all their Energy in a single strike and refill their storage in an instant."

"You should know that this is a decisive advantage in a fight."

Gravis nodded.

If Gravis had this ability, he could unleash one fully powered Lightning Crescent after the other.

"The last level of a Heaven's Magnate is when they combine the Law of the True World with the Law of Energy to create the Law of the Cosmos," Orthar continued. "At this point, the Heaven's Magnate is ready to take the next step."

"In order to grow more powerful, the Heaven's Magnate must banish their Star into the Primordial Chaos and use it to create a Cosmos."

"Star?" Gravis asked.

"As soon as you become a Star God, your Avatar transforms into a Star. You will know what abilities it has when you get there," Orthar explained.

"Back to the topic. Since your mind is connected to your Star, as soon as you form a Cosmos with it, this Cosmos is part of your power. As you now know, Heaven's Magnates have reached the maximum achievable compression of Energy. So, the only way to increase one's power even more is to make a larger storage container for Energy."

"The Cosmos acts as one's personal Energy storage. Additionally, one can establish their own Laws and kinds of life there. These are your own, personal Laws, and you can use them anywhere."

"The Realm following the Heaven's Magnate Realm is all about creating your own Cosmos and your own Laws. When the reality inside your Cosmos works and your Cosmos is stable, you can manifest it. That's when the Cosmos becomes real, and it becomes a true world. That is when you achieve the last Realm."

"This is the highest achievable Realm. A Cosmos already encompasses the perfect usage of Energy. The only possible path forward that remains would be to use the other forces in the Primordial Chaos, but that is impossible. No one has ever achieved anything like that."

"No one?" Gravis asked. "So, there are more?"

"Yes, Gravis, there are more," Orthar said. "Your father and I are not the only beings on our level. However, the other beings do not reside in my Cosmos."

"So, is there like a higher world than the highest world?" Gravis asked, trying to wrap his head around it.

"No," Orthar said. "All Cosmoses are equal in level. The strongest world in my Cosmos is on the same level as the strongest world of the Cosmos where my true body resides."

"Your father has built his own Cosmos, and his Cosmos is connected to my Cosmos. In your father's Cosmos, he is the highest Heaven. If a being from his Cosmos leaves his Cosmos, they will arrive in my Cosmos, and if that being then leaves my Cosmos, they arrive in the Cosmos I currently reside in. If I ever die, they will arrive in the Cosmos I have been born in."

"All of this repeats itself for an unknown number of times. All the different Cosmoses create an unimaginable root network. If only one Heaven Breaker appears per Cosmos, the Cosmoses will create a chain. If there are multiple, they will create multiple branches, which are all connected to even more Cosmoses."

"Heaven Breaker?" Gravis asked.

"Heaven Breaker is what we call beings on our level. They are called Heaven Breakers because they have the abilities to fight with the Heaven of their Cosmos."

Orthar stopped explaining, and Gravis had to take a deep breath.

The secrets of reality had been exposed in front of Gravis, and he had learned so much.

His father hated the highest Heaven, but he himself was a Heaven in his own Cosmos.

For a second, Gravis questioned if living in his father's Cosmos would be worse or better.

Gravis expected that his father's Cosmos was probably even more brutal.

Also, the highest world was truly the highest world, but also not really. There was an uncountable number of similarly powerful highest worlds connected to this one in a chain.

How many Cosmoses were there?

How long did the chain of Cosmoses go for?

How long had the Cosmoses existed?

What was the first Cosmos?

Gravis had so many questions he wanted to know.

"I can guess what questions you have," Orthar said. "Sadly, I can't answer them. I don't know how many Cosmoses there are. I don't know about the first Cosmos. I also always wanted to know, and I have traveled quite far down the line of Cosmoses."

Then, Orthar looked at the Opposer with a venomous glance.

"However, I had to pause my journey because I had to put all my focus into staying alive. I also want to know more, but I can't. If I get careless for but a moment, I might die," Orthar said.

The Opposer only looked coldly into Orthar's eyes.

By now, Gravis had realized that the dynamic between the highest Heaven and his father was very different than he had imagined.

"You want to go out, right, father?" Gravis asked as he looked at his father.

The Opposer nodded.

"I want to leave this Cosmos with my family and find a way to become even more powerful," he explained. Then, he narrowed his eyes at Orthar. "But, he won't let me. He refuses to let me leave his Cosmos."

Gravis sighed.

He knew the feeling of wanting to be free very well.

"Orthar, why are you refusing to let my father go?"

Chapter 1024 - 1024 – Power Of Heaven Breakers

Why didn't Orthar allow the Opposer to leave his Cosmos?

"You do not know the power of Heaven Breakers, Gravis," Orthar said. "I have met a substantial number of Heaven Breakers on my journey. I have probably met over a million."

Gravis' eyes widened.

Orthar had already seen over a million beings on the same level as his father?

"Yet, from these million Heaven Breakers, I still rank among the top three," Orthar said.

Gravis took a deep breath.

Orthar was so powerful?

"How are you so powerful?" Gravis asked.

"The world one is born in, and the difficulty of achieving true power is what defines one's power," Orthar explained. "Out there, there are worlds where the Heaven Breaker simply allows their beings to rapidly consume Energy without end, allowing the world to be entirely filled with Energy."

"I have met several Heaven Breakers that had their entire Cosmos filled with so much Energy that every single centimeter of their world is filled with the same density of Energy as a Heaven's Magnate."

Gravis took another deep breath.

That was a terrifying amount of Energy!

"However, a Heaven Breaker does not only rely on the Energy in their Cosmos but also on the Laws they establish and the power of their Cultivators."

"There are worlds where you can sit inside a cave for merely 1,000 years and can achieve the Energy density of a Heaven's Magnate. There's no fighting since there is no scarcity of resources. This allows the Cosmos to rapidly fill with Energy."

"However, this has the disadvantage of having weak Laws. The beings in that world don't even comprehend the Laws of the Cosmos. A Heaven Breaker can use the combined power of the living beings in their Cosmos to supplement the power of their own Laws."

"A Heaven Breaker that has such a Cosmos can unleash an incredible amount of Energy, but their Laws are weak. It is quantity without quality. Simply imagine someone with a vast amount of Energy that uses the level one Law of Fire to unleash it."

Gravis understood. Unleashing such an attack was truly a waste of Energy.

"A Heaven Breaker that has such a Cosmos belongs to the weakest kind. Even a mere Divine God can kill such a Heaven Breaker."

Gravis' eyes widened when he heard that.

A Divine God could kill a Heaven Breaker!?

That was insane!

However, Gravis realized that it made sense.

Yes, the Heaven Breaker had infinitely more Energy, but all of it could only be unleashed in a feeble way.

"If I took out a Heaven's Magnate of my world, they would already be stronger than half the Heaven Breakers. One of the reasons for their power is the complexity and power of the Laws, but another reason is also the concept of a Will-Aura I have invented."

"In general, the harder something is to master, the more powerful it is. Pushing a Will-Aura to its limits requires an incredible amount of tempering. Therefore, someone that has a Will-Aura is vastly superior to someone that doesn't."

"A stronger kind of Heaven Breaker are the ones that have used complex Laws to create their world. Such a Heaven Breaker can kill one of my Heaven's Magnates, but it won't be easy."

"These kinds of Heaven Breakers are vastly above average in terms of the general power of Heaven Breakers."

"I have pushed the complexity of my Laws to the limit, but the real difference is the concept of a Will-Aura. The requirement to build a powerful Will-Aura vastly reduces the number of living beings that reach the peak, but the average power of those at the peak is unimaginable for nearly any Heaven Breaker."

"With the concept of Will-Aura and my complex Laws, I would already be in the top 1% of all Heaven Breakers."

"However, the thing that allows me to truly be supremely powerful is the Major Law of Death," Orthar explained. "Every Heaven Breaker only focuses on the Laws of Energy, and they don't know anything about the other forces in the Primordial Chaos."

"In the end, this means that only a Heaven Breaker that has a vast amount of Energy, very complex Laws, a brutal refinement of the quality of their living beings and knows Laws outside the Laws of Energy can rival me."

"These Heaven Breakers are incredibly rare."

"This didn't answer your question of why I'm not allowing your father to leave my Cosmos, but it should give you enough knowledge to deduce the answer yourself," Orthar said.

Gravis gathered all the information and looked at his father.

How did the Cosmos of his father look like?

Gravis knew his father very well, and he had also listened to part of his father's life story.

His father was brutal, not only to his enemies but to himself as well.

Gravis could very well imagine that his father's Cosmos was filled with rivers of blood and an apocalyptic struggle for power.

However, Gravis couldn't be entirely sure.

"I can't be sure," Gravis said.

The Opposer remained silent.

He didn't look at Gravis.

"I can tell," Orthar said, glancing at the Opposer. "His Cosmos is filled with stupid, bloodthirsty, greedy beasts that know nothing but consume, consume, and consume."

"There is no intelligence."

"There is no emotion."

"There are no complex Laws."

"There isn't even much Energy."

"He draws all his power from sheer brutality, death, and destruction."

"His Cosmos has an incomparable affinity towards the force of Death, and his Cosmos is constantly at the brink of being consumed by the force of Death."

"Every day, he probably fights against the force of Death that is invading his Cosmos. His living beings live in that mixture of Energy and Death and gain incredible powers by doing so."

"However, if he ever loses his focus, his entire Cosmos might be destroyed, and he will die along with it."

The Opposer didn't answer.

Gravis had an uncomfortable expression on his face.

This sounded absolutely monstrous.

Yet, this was his father.

However, Gravis didn't forget that his father had changed severely.

How had his father been when he had just created his Cosmos?

Orthar had probably attacked the Opposer back then, realizing that he could become a danger.

The Opposer probably barely survived, and his being was filled with even more hatred.

At that moment, the Opposer probably wanted nothing more than to kill Orthar.

Thus, he created his brutal Cosmos.

In essence, the Opposer had acted exactly how Gravis had acted when he had tempered his Spirit with Destruction Lightning.

Back then, Gravis wanted nothing more than to kill the lower Heaven.

He had thrown all caution to the wind and had chased power violently.

Maybe the Opposer had seen his past version in his son at that moment.

The Opposer probably regretted creating such a brutal world, and he didn't want his son to make the same mistake.

Orthar looked at Gravis again.

"Your father doesn't use much Energy while fighting. He doesn't use any powerful Laws. In essence, he has pushed the concept of brutality to its limits."

"However, even though he is constantly wrestling with Death, his power is unimaginable," Orthar said.

"His power is far higher than even the most powerful Heaven Breaker I have ever seen."

"If I didn't already have the power of one in a million, and if he weren't in my Cosmos, I would be helpless in front of him."

"While he is in my Cosmos, I can use the Cosmos itself to fight against him, barely giving me a chance of survival."

"However, if he leaves my Cosmos and appears before me, only death will await me."

Orthar looked deeply at Gravis.

"You know your father. If you were not related to him and had offended him in the past, would you be willing to put your head in his hands in the hopes that he would spare you?"

Gravis took a shaky breath.

No, he wouldn't.

His father was an even more brutal version of Mortis.

"Gravis, you will never be able to reach the power of your father," Orthar said. "You value life and emotions too much, making it impossible for you to create such a world filled with nothing but death and destruction."

"However, you don't have to reach his power."

"You only have to act as a stabilizer."

"As soon as you can guarantee my survival in front of your father, I'm willing to let both of you leave."

"I don't trust in your father's personality, but I trust in your personality."

"This is what I request of you."

Chapter 1025 - 1025 – Wish Granted

Gravis had listened to everything Orthar had to say. All of these things were far beyond his current capabilities, but he had gone through enough worlds to get the gist of what Orthar was saying.

Essentially, Orthar had only explained all of this to show how terrifying the Opposer was and why he wanted Gravis to act as a stabilizer between them.

Of course, Gravis knew Orthar well enough to notice the hidden things behind what he was saying.

Orthar definitely wasn't some poor victim.

If Orthar were certain of his victory, he would have long since killed the Opposer and everyone that could have posed a danger to him.

Orthar had obviously also attacked the Opposer in the past when he had first shown how dangerous he could be.

Gravis was pretty sure that this attack from Orthar was also the reason why the Opposer hated him so much. After all, the Opposer had always killed his enemies without fail. Everyone that had attacked him had died by his hand.

One was an emotionless schemer, while the other one was a brutal and vengeful monster.

In a sense, Gravis was a mixture of both. Gravis was pretty good at scheming, but his Emotions kept him from using schemes to needlessly hurt others. Gravis was also willing to be brutal to himself and his enemies, but he wouldn't go so far that he would forsake every last shred of emotion to seek unsurpassed power.

'I actually seem to be perfectly suited for this role,' Gravis thought. 'If I assume this role, both parties get what they want. Father can escape this Cosmos, and Orthar can finally relax again.'

However, exactly because Gravis knew Orthar so well, Gravis didn't believe everything that Orthar had told him.

Gravis believed the things Orthar had said that the Opposer could confirm, but he wouldn't immediately believe everything.

And the most important thing Gravis didn't fully believe was Orthar's plan for him.

Currently, Orthar's words appeared very truthful. Gravis wouldn't see any negative consequences for either side if he were to act as a stabilizer.

Yet, some situations could have more than one path that had no consequences.

So, Gravis didn't fully believe Orthar.

He would remain skeptical and see how it would go in the future.

"I'm fine with working as a kind of stabilizer," Gravis said, "but I will obviously remain skeptical, precisely because I know you, Orthar."

Orthar simply looked at Gravis. "As long as I treat you with genuine kindness, you have no reason to go against me," Orthar said. "You have already realized this truth. In a sense, this is a scheme, but it doesn't bring you any harm."

"I don't need to plan on how to hurt you if there is no way that you will hurt me. Cooperation can bring better results than suppression," Orthar said.

"However, I also know that, no matter what I say, you will remain skeptical. Attempting to persuade you to believe me will only make you more suspicious, so I will let you see everything with your own eyes, Gravis," Orthar said.

Orthar was openly showing his hand by explaining all of this, but this was also the best way to deal with Gravis.

"Fine," Gravis said. "So, with that out of the way, what about Arc, Mortis, and I?"

Gravis glanced at Mortis and Arc.

However, when Gravis noticed Arc, one of his eyebrows lifted.

Arc was looking at the sky with a hopeful expression, and he didn't move at all.

It took a second for Gravis to realize that Arc had been frozen in time.

This was probably Orthar's doing since he had unveiled a lot of secrets before Gravis and Mortis.

As Gravis thought that, he also realized something peculiar.

'He froze Arc in time, but he didn't freeze Mortis,' Gravis thought. 'Does he consider Mortis as a part of myself, or is he simply allowing him to hear these things as well?'

"Since your goodwill is the basis of our future cooperation, it makes no sense for me to not grant you something so simple," Orthar explained.

Gravis released a sigh.

He had been pretty sure that Orthar would accept his proposal, but he had still been nervous about the answer.

"Thanks, Orthar," Gravis said.

Surprisingly, Orthar smiled lightly.

This Orthar was truly different from the one Gravis knew.

However, it also made sense.

The Orthar Gravis knew had been created as a beast, and beasts generally didn't have such mannerisms due to their different emotions.

Yet, this Orthar had been born in an entirely different Cosmos. He probably wasn't a beast, but he probably also wasn't a human.

He was probably something entirely different.

However, one thing was certain. Orthar probably had emotions just as complex as humans. After all, if he hadn't, he wouldn't have been able to create such emotional creatures as humans.

In a sense, this was a far more experienced version of Orthar with human emotions.

This gave a lot of complexity to his character, but it also made his thoughts way harder to anticipate.

One could say that Gravis knew Orthar, but he also didn't know him.

It could also be that the Orthar that had been born in the middle world had been created in an optimized image. Maybe the highest Heaven had created Orthar with a personality he would like to have himself.

When Gravis was young, he had also wanted to basically have no emotions.

He wanted to be completely logical and make all the correct decisions all the time. It would have also been easier to come to terms with his rapidly growing ability to kill random innocent bystanders just by existing. Dealing with emotions was difficult.

It could be that Orthar actually had emotions that he wanted to discard but couldn't since that wouldn't be him anymore.

Maybe the Orthar from the middle world was how Orthar actually wanted to be?

Gravis couldn't be sure.

Gravis didn't know enough about this version of Orthar to make any kind of concrete judgment.

'However, it could also be that Orthar foresaw that I would think like this. Creating a perceived perfect version of oneself shows that one thought that oneself wasn't perfect, showing vulnerability. This could make me see him in a more positive light when, in reality, he has only shown me what he wants me to see.'

Gravis sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

'Guesses upon guesses with no clear answer. I hate that.'

"What about the Brand?" Mortis asked from the side. He had seen that Gravis was distracted and took the initiative.

Orthar looked at Mortis.

He didn't look at Mortis any differently than when he looked at Gravis.

"It is my decision if I imbue you with the Brand or not. There is no sense for you to remain in this world just to gather enough Energy. If I infuse this world with enough Energy, your breakthrough might unnecessarily damage this world, and I don't want to waste my Energy to stop something like that. Go to the highest world. You can reach the Star God Realm there," Orthar said.

Mortis looked evenly into Orthar's eyes.

"You're not going to pull back and say that we broke the agreement after we breakthrough in the highest world, right?" Mortis asked.

Orthar blinked once in boredom.

"It wouldn't be worth the cost," Orthar said, glancing at the Opposer.

The last time Orthar had tried to play the political game, all the Star Gods had died.

The Opposer didn't care about rules and politics.

Chapter 1026 - 1026 – Finally Home

"Good," Mortis said with a nod. Since he had Gravis' memories, he also saw Orthar as a friend, but he also knew that this Orthar was different from the previous one.

Mortis wanted to make sure that Orthar wouldn't make a stupid mistake.

"You can simply leave whenever you want," Orthar said to Gravis and Mortis. "I have made my stance clear. Whatever happens from now on is up to you."

"Also, one more thing," Orthar added as his eyes narrowed. "Don't attack my Cosmos with the Major Law of Death again. I might want you to act as a stabilizer, but you still need to reach the power necessary to act as one. Fixing a hole in the Cosmos takes a gigantic amount of Energy, and I need every little bit of it."

Orthar looked at the Opposer. "Before you have reached sufficient power, I can't allow myself to become careless. If I waste just a little too much Energy, I might die to your father's hand before you achieve the necessary power to act as a stabilizer."

The Opposer only glanced back at Orthar.

He hadn't spoken much since they had arrived, which made his stance clear.

He would support his two sons, but he would still allow them to make their own decisions.

He hadn't interjected with his own thoughts regarding what Orthar had said.

"This won't happen a second time," Gravis said. "If I can't lose something, it doesn't have any value. By being willful this time, father has paid the price. I can't allow him to pay the same price again, or I might regret it forever."

Mortis nodded. "Agreed. If I die, I die. I can get why Gravis resurrected me this time, but I don't want it to happen a second time."

"Good," Orthar said.

And then, Orthar disappeared.

It was like he had never been there.

After some seconds, the Opposer looked away from the place Orthar had been and looked at his two sons.

Gravis and Mortis looked at their father, unsure how they should feel.

They could finally return home, and they would never need to leave again.

They had gone through the lower world, the middle world, and the higher world to reach the highest world.

The very world that had been so far away from them in the past was now directly in front of them.

There would be no more temporary homes, only a permanent home.

They didn't have to say goodbye to their close ones again.

They wouldn't leave to different worlds anymore.

As Gravis looked at his father, his family shot through his mind.

Was Aris still alive? Had he reached the highest world?

Was Cera still alive?

Yersi should still be alive. How powerful had she become?

Did Stella miss him?

After some time, the Opposer smiled warmly, something rarely seen.

"You've done it," he said to Gravis and Mortis. "You've become powerful enough to truly be part of your home."

Gravis and Mortis both felt a complex mix of emotions, but they were mostly positive.

"It's been a long time," Gravis said. "I should be something like 270,000 years old by now. I've reached this world when I had only been 4,000 years old."

Gravis also smiled.

"Yet, for some reason, my time in Arc's world didn't feel as long as my time in the middle world. I think that's mostly because of Mortis, Stella, and Arc."

"While it hasn't felt long for you, it has felt the longest to your mother," the Opposer said. "She always wants to know how you are doing."

Gravis also missed his mom.

In comparison, Mortis felt nervous.

Mortis wasn't technically her son.

Would she accept him as part of their family?

Usually, Mortis would have seen such thoughts as weak, but as soon as he had been cut off from Gravis' emotions, he held a certain nervousness inside himself.

This Mortis hadn't been cut off from Gravis' emotions for more than some hours. After all, in Mortis' memories, they had fought Nira just a couple hours ago.

Due to Mortis' conversation with Gravis, Mortis didn't directly fall into the spiral of despair. On top of that, he had been distracted by their upcoming fight with Arc.

This version of Mortis hadn't had enough time to come to terms with his new situation yet.

However, these thoughts that had resulted in the old Mortis' suicide were still buried in Mortis' mind.

Because of that, Mortis felt more nervous about his mother's position regarding him than he had ever believed.

Could he also feel these feelings that Gravis had sent him in the past?

He hoped so.

The Opposer looked away from the two of them and looked behind them with an emotionless expression.

Gravis looked back and noticed that Arc's time had resumed.

Right now, Arc was looking nervously at the Opposer.

Arc had always appeared like an all-knowing God, but even he became incredibly nervous in front of the Opposer.

When Arc had seen the Opposer, he had immediately realized who that was.

Arc's perception was incredible, and he could immediately discern why the appearance of the Opposer made him so nervous.

The Opposer felt just like the Gate of Death.

Both of them didn't belong to the Cosmos.

They were foreign things.

These things shouldn't exist in the Cosmos.

After listening to Orthar's words, Gravis knew where these feelings of rejection that everyone felt towards his father came from.

The Laws in his father's Cosmos were far different, and Orthar had also said that the Opposer's Cosmos was filled with Death.

He was a manifestation of his Cosmos, and he truly didn't belong to this Cosmos.

"To think that I would one day help one of the old bastard's creations," the Opposer said.

Gravis sighed. "It would be really cool if you could refrain from calling Arc a creation. He's a living being just like you and me."

The Opposer remained silent for a second.

"You're right," he said. "Arc, the old bastard has agreed for you to come to the highest world. You will be a normal Cultivator just like anyone else, but I doubt that you will be spared of the Brand."

Arc's nervousness mixed with some disbelief.

He was free?

He was free!?

Arc almost couldn't believe it.

"Congratulations," Gravis said with a smile towards Arc. "You can finally see the highest world. You no longer need to guess Laws. You can see them for yourself now."

After some time, Arc sighed and smiled warmly.

Gravis could even see some tears forming in his eyes.

"Thanks," Arc said silently. "Truly, thank you."

"No problem," Gravis said with a smirk. "It's what friends do, right?"

Arc nodded with a smile. "Yes."

"Let's go," Gravis said, looking at his father.

SHING!

A portal appeared before them, and the Opposer motioned with his head to follow him.

Then, the Opposer stepped through the portal.

"Come on, Arc. You go first," Gravis said.

Arc looked at the portal with a complex expression.

This portal signified freedom.

Arc looked one last time at his world.

He wouldn't miss this world even a little bit.

Yes, it was his world, but it had also acted as his cage for an eternity.

He wouldn't miss his cage.

Without a word, Arc quickly flew through the portal.

Then, Gravis stepped through the portal, and lastly, Mortis.

The portal closed, and this would be the last time any of them would step foot into this world.

A couple weeks later, a new Heaven would appear in this clearing and would take Arc's place.

It would emulate Arc's behavior in managing this world, but in comparison to Arc, it didn't care much about freedom.

No one in the world had noticed that their Heaven had left.

No one knew that the two most powerful Cultivators, Gravis and Mortis, had left the world.

The Peak Sects would continue warring with the beasts without end.

The world didn't change much, except for the increased average power of beasts.

This was the first world Gravis left behind that hadn't been severely damaged or destroyed.

Gravis had kept his promise of not destroying the world.

WHOOOM!

As Gravis stepped out of the portal, he was immediately attacked by a substantial Will-Aura.

This Will-Aura was definitely on the level of a Star God, which was quite impressive.

Gravis quickly saw the cause.

Arc had clamped his hands down on a saber.

The Will-Aura came from the attacker.

Apparently, someone had just tried to attack Arc.

Chapter 1027 - 1027 – Joyce

Gravis was quite surprised when he saw that someone had attacked Arc.

Where had the Opposer dropped them off?

In his own room.

Someone dared to attack Arc in the Opposer's room?

However, most of Gravis' questions were answered when he saw the attacker.

It was a beautiful woman with purple hair tied up in a long ponytail that reached the floor behind her. Her eyes were narrowed as she looked at Arc, but Gravis could see some confusion and shock in them.

Gravis had to take a deep breath as he saw her.

He knew her.

That was Joyce!

Gravis and Joyce had met for the last time when Gravis had been about 24 years old. An unimaginable amount of time had passed since then.

Gravis had promised Joyce back then that if she managed to reach the highest world, they could be together.

However, both of them have changed severely since then.

Ironically, their mindsets had changed places.

Joyce had been a kind soul, but now, she had become as cold and brutal as Mortis.

Meanwhile, Gravis had basically been Mortis in the lower world, but now, he had come to terms with his emotions again, placing happiness on the top of his list of priorities.

As far as Gravis could tell, Joyce had probably thought that it would be Gravis stepping through the portal. She probably wanted to test Gravis' power with a sudden attack.

Sadly, it had been Arc that came through the portal first.

Joyce was in the Peak Immortal Emperor Realm, and Gravis could feel her Battle-Strength.

It was quite impressive.

She could probably jump one level above herself, making her more powerful than most Ascenders in Arc's world. Being more powerful than most of the Ascenders from the most powerful higher world was already pretty impressive.

So, what was Joyce doing here?

Well, Gravis had told her back then that she only needed to search for the Opposer, and she would be able to find him.

His father obviously knew who she was and allowed her to remain here until Gravis returned.

"Hey, Gravis! Look! I've been attacked!" Arc shouted with an excited smile, looking at Gravis. "Isn't that great?"

Gravis had to laugh a bit at Arc's enthusiasm for being the target of an attack. "Yes, Arc. That's great."

Joyce's narrowed eyes went from Arc to Gravis, and Gravis could feel quite some anger and killing intent behind them.

Obviously, Joyce wasn't happy right now.

CRK!

Joyce tried to pull her saber back, but Arc had it firmly in his grasp.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Joyce activated several different Elements with her saber to break free, but they were all easily canceled by Arc.

She simply couldn't remove her saber from Arc's claws.

Step.

That was when Mortis also arrived in the Opposer's room.

The portal behind him closed as Mortis' eyes immediately fell on Joyce.

Mortis' insides shook when he saw her.

Her hair.

Her violent demeanor.

Her power.

She was… stunning!

The cold Mortis immediately became nervous when confronted with Joyce.

When Joyce saw Mortis, she stopped moving.

This was Gravis!

This was the person that had captured her heart back in the lower world.

This was the person she had been chasing for her entire life!

He was still the same.

He still looked the same as back then.

His eyes were still as emotionless and cold.

He was just like she remembered!

However, when Joyce remembered the words she had heard, her eyes narrowed again in hatred.

SHING!

Joyce let go of her saber and got another one.

Gravis, Mortis, and Arc were a bit surprised for a second but remembered that not every Cultivator put their Avatar in their weapons.

If a Weapon Cultivator let go of their weapon like this, they would lose their Avatar, which would basically be a death sentence.

However, Joyce hadn't come from a battle world but from an elemental world.

Arc had seen Gravis' life, and he also knew who that person was. That was one of the reasons why he didn't launch a counterattack. Another reason was that Joyce hadn't launched a killing blow.

BRRR!

Joyce's saber was loaded with Blaze, the level six Law of Fire.

Obviously, Joyce focused on the lightning Element, but she also remembered that Gravis was immune to lightning. That was why she was using the Blaze Element.

Then, she slashed at Mortis with her burning saber.

BANG!

Mortis exploded, bathing the entire room in Blaze.

Yet, what kind of room was this?

Who was the owner of this room?

Even if Joyce did her best, she couldn't damage a single thing in this room.

The fire vanished quickly, and everyone could see what had happened.

Gravis' and Arc's eyes widened in surprise.

Mortis' left hand was currently outstretched in an attempt to catch the saber, but he had… missed?

This resulted in Joyce's saber hitting Mortis' shoulder, burying deeply into his body.

Mortis had quite a shocked look in his eyes.

Then, a bitter expression appeared on Mortis' face.

"That's not funny," he said.

Arc and Gravis didn't exactly know what he meant.

Funny?

Joyce obviously didn't intend that attack as a joke.

"A man should let his woman vent her anger!"

Gravis' mother had appeared close to Mortis as she looked at him with a rebuking expression.

"I thought, as your mother, I had taught you better!" she said with a displeased expression.

Now, everything made sense.

It was impossible for Mortis to miss such an attack. Sure, the attack had been powerful, but nothing in comparison to what they fought normally. Stopping the attack should have been easy for Mortis.

The reason that he had missed was that their mother had gotten involved.

She had moved Mortis' arm slightly to the side without anyone noticing.

Well, Mortis still noticed.

Mortis had immediately known that someone had interfered, and his mind went through all the possible culprits.

Gravis didn't have the power to do something this subtle.

Arc wouldn't have done that. He was too busy looking at the new world.

The Opposer? Nah.

That only left their mother.

When Mortis heard that his mother referred to herself as his mother, some worry disappeared from his heart.

His mother also acknowledged him as his son.

However, Mortis' eyes still narrowed.

Mortis grabbed the saber buried in his body.

CRACK!

And broke it in two.

Then, he threw it to the side as he glared at his mother.

"And what does this have to do with you?" he said coldly to his mother. "This is between her and me. I'm thankful that you acknowledge me as your son, but I want you to keep out of things that don't concern you."

The Economistress' eyebrows rose in surprise.

Her newest son was very different from Gravis.

Gravis would have only sighed and would have indulged her mischievous mindset.

Yet, Mortis had directly told her that she should mind her own business.

SHING!

Surprisingly, their mother teleported away.

Why?

Because she was too embarrassed to stay here.

She had only wanted to joke around, but her newest son didn't take this joke very well.

She wasn't really hurt by Mortis' words since he was in the right.

Maybe she had acted a bit too willful.

"Pft."

At the side, the Opposer snorted with satisfaction.

Finally, his wife also got played.

She had lorded over Gravis and him all this time. Maybe he should get Mortis to come into contact with her more in the future.

"Joyce, can you be a bit more careful? Your attack nearly killed us!"

Gravis looked over at the other side of the room, and his eyes widened in shock.

A group of people was there, and they were huddled near a wall.

Joyce's attack had buried the entire room in Blaze, which wasn't easy to resist, but the group had been defended by a widely smiling man in red.

Gravis knew all of them!

Chapter 1028 - 1028 – Worthless Promise

There were seven people currently near that wall, and Gravis recognized all of them.

As soon as he saw them, he was filled with disbelief and excitement.

Nearly everyone was here!

Nearly all the friends Gravis had made during his life were in this room!

They all still remembered him?

They had all remembered where they could find him, and even after such a long time, they had come to greet him when he came home?

"You… you're all here?" Gravis asked with shock.

BANG!

The man in red robes with red hair jumped forward and stopped just before Gravis with excitement.

"Hey, Gravis! Have you seen how powerful I became? Look! Look, I blocked Joyce's attack! Isn't that great? Are you powerful, Gravis? How powerful have you become? How many Laws do you know, Gravis?" he quickly said with excitement, bopping up and down in front of Gravis.

Gravis smiled widely.

"I'm glad you're doing well, Ferris, and yes, I have seen that you've gotten quite powerful," Gravis said.

This was Ferris, the wolf that had accompanied him for a long time in the middle world.

Ferris grinned with excitement as he circled Gravis, inspecting him from all angles.

BANG!

The sound of a collision came from behind Gravis as Mortis caught another one of Joyce's sabers.

CRACK!

Mortis broke the saber in half and grabbed Joyce by the throat.

Gravis took a deep breath through his teeth when he saw that.

Mortis sure was vicious.

"And what makes you think that I will just stand here and take whatever attacks you decide to launch?" he asked coldly, looking into Joyce's eyes.

Joyce only glared back. "You?" she said as she spoke for the first time. Her tone was filled with disdain. "A mere clone? A fake?"

Gravis cringed in discomfort as he heard that.

These words were vicious.

However, Joyce's words unveiled the fact that she already knew about Mortis' existence.

That also explained why she was so angry.

She had probably heard it from Stella.

Yet, Mortis' expression only remained neutral.

He hadn't lied when he had said that he didn't care about what other people thought of him.

These words had no effect on him.

"A fake, huh?" Mortis repeated coldly.

CRACK!

Mortis' grip tightened around Joyce's throat as her neck nearly broke. A human of the same Realm couldn't compete with a beast when it came to physical power.

BANG!

Then, Mortis threw Joyce at a wall, breaking her spine in the process.

The walls of this room were not things that just anyone could break.

Joyce's being was shaken with pain, but physical pain was not something that could stop someone of her caliber.

"Don't sit on your righteous horse," Mortis said coldly, not looking at her. "Your promise with Gravis was made when you guys were barely 20 years old. We are all far older now. Don't take a careless promise made as children as a binding contract for eternity."

Mortis glanced at Joyce coldly. He might have been stunned by her beauty, but he wouldn't allow himself to be played.

"If you believe that such a promise holds any weight after having lived for so long, you are truly na?ve. Is your show of brutality only there to convince yourself? Are you still as na?ve as you have been in the lower world?" Mortis asked coldly.

Joyce glared at Mortis with hate.

"What?" Mortis asked coldly. "Will you now complain about me striking you? You just attacked me twice with your saber. Am I supposed to just take something like that?"

Joyce's body had already healed as she glared at Mortis.

Then, her gaze traveled from Mortis to Gravis.

Gravis only smiled with discomfort.

BANG!

Joyce charged forward with all her speed as she attacked Gravis with her saber.

BANG!

Gravis easily caught the saber in his hand, just smiling at Joyce with discomfort.

"Hey, we can talk about this, alright?" he said. "We don't have to immediately grab our weapons and attack. We're all adults here."

Joyce was doing a good job in hiding her true feelings right now.

In reality, she was frustrated beyond belief, and this, surprisingly, had nothing to do with their promise.

She was frustrated with her power.

She had been the most powerful Cultivator in her higher world, even in Battle-Strength.

She had been known as a timeless genius!

She had been able to fight three levels above herself nearly the entire time!

Yet, as soon as she came to the highest world, she met one powerful Cultivator after the other.

All the previous Ascenders could already fight one level above themselves, increasing the average power of Cultivators as soon as only those Ascenders were left.

Joyce's power had fallen from being able to jump three levels to only being able to jump maybe one or two levels, depending on the person.

Then, she had met Liam and Stella.

Liam's power was about the same as her own, frustrating her even more.

However, Stella's power was ridiculous.

Joyce hadn't even had a chance against her.

Then, when she heard about what had happened in Gravis' higher world, she became frustrated again.

This lowlife Gravis wanted to hand her off to a mere copy of himself!?

Was she just some commodity!?

Then, when the Opposer had called everyone over to receive Gravis, she had immediately unleashed an attack.

She would show Gravis that she wasn't just some commodity!

Yet, the first person she struck hadn't even taken her attack seriously.

On top of that, it wasn't even Gravis.

Even worse, Joyce couldn't even feel the combat power of that person, only his Realm, which confused her quite a bit.

She had never experienced anything like that.

Then, she had attacked Mortis, but his mother had gotten involved, making her even angrier.

She wasn't someone that needed help!

Even worse, when she struck Mortis, she also couldn't feel his combat power.

What was going on!?

And now, even Gravis stopped her attack like it was nothing!

All these Cultivators on her level didn't even take her seriously!

Joyce only glared at Gravis, who smiled back with discomfort.

"Wow, Gravis! You've become really powerful!" Ferris said from the side, completely ignoring the awkward and oppressive atmosphere in the room.

"Just take your saber back, and we can talk about this, alright?" Gravis repeated, lightly pushing the saber away.

"Talk about this?" Joyce repeated with a cold tone.

"Yes," Gravis repeated.

BANG!

Joyce attacked again, and Gravis blocked again.

By now, Gravis' expression turned into a frown.

He could tolerate one attack, but two was going a bit far.

Clink!

Another one of Joyce's sabers was broken as Gravis frowned at Joyce.

"Stop acting like a child," Gravis said. "What are you trying to accomplish by attacking me?"

Gravis had way more scathing remarks in his mind, but he didn't voice them.

Joyce's glare transformed into disdain.

"What happened to you?" she asked with disdain. "You've let me attack you twice, and you didn't even voice anything at the first attack. The Gravis I knew would never have allowed something like that."

"You know, I could use these exact same words to criticize you, but I'm not that childish," Gravis said. "I can understand your anger, but you should also realize that you're acting out of line. Yes, we made a promise, but over 270,000 years have passed for me. I don't know how much time has passed for you, but it should be comparable."

"The promise of children holds no weight when they become adults," Gravis said. "I admit that I hold some amount of guilt for breaking my promise to you, but I'm not the same Gravis anymore. I found my partner, and I won't betray her for a promise I made when I was a kid."

Silence.

"You asked what I wanted to accomplish by attacking you," Joyce repeated as she pulled back her saber. "I'll tell you."

"I don't care about our promise. I'm not some na?ve child that believes that we are meant to be together or anything," she said neutrally.

"By attacking you, I wanted to see if you were worthy of me."

"I wanted to see how you have changed, and I have to say that I'm disappointed with you."

"You are more powerful than me, yes, but instead of attacking back, you only smiled at me submissively and tried to dissuade me from performing another attack."

"Someone that lets himself be trampled on by anyone is not a man."

"Did you not dare to strike back because I am a woman? A man is someone that shows his power whenever challenged, but you only spoke to me in a friendly and humble tone. Then, when I attacked you the second time, you only spoke in a displeased tone."

Joyce huffed.

"Someone like you holds no attraction to me."

"You don't need to feel bad about breaking our promise. I also don't hold any importance to it."

"I just wanted to see if you're worth it, and you're not."

"Hmph! Disgusting weakling!"

SHING!

With that said, Joyce teleported away.

Gravis only lifted an eyebrow.

He didn't chase her.

Why would he?

Joyce had changed by quite a bit, and she was no longer the Joyce he knew.

On top of that, Joyce also put no importance on their promise.

Gravis had still cared about her opinion before he had met her again, but now, that feeling vanished.

In Gravis' eyes, Joyce was truly a child.

So what if she thought he was weak?

Her opinion held no weight.

Gravis glanced over at Mortis.

"So, still interested?" he asked.

Mortis' eyes narrowed.

SHING!

Then, he also teleported away.

Gravis blinked a couple of times in surprise.

Mortis had chased after Joyce.

'I guess that's a yes,' Gravis thought as he scratched his chin. 'I mean, Mortis also feels a bit like a child to me. Maybe they truly fit together in a way? Weird!'

WHOOOM!

'Another attack!?'

Chapter 1029 - 1029 – Dorian's Unique Power

THUNK!

A cane hit Gravis' head.

Gravis didn't attempt to stop that attack.

As the cane struck Gravis, nothing happened.

Gravis' head didn't even move.

A teenager with silver hair had unleashed that strike, and Gravis only grinned at him.

"I have a beast body now, Old Man," Gravis said. "If you want to achieve anything, you gotta put your back into it."

The teenager that had just unleashed the attack was Dorian, also known as Old Man Lightning by Gravis.

"Old Man?" Dorian said with an offended tone. "Do I look old to you!? You're the old man! Your entire family are old men!"

SLAP!

"Who are you calling an old man!?" Gravis' mother shouted as Dorian slid down the wall.

Dorian rubbed his cheek with a pained expression. "It was a reflex, sorry!" he shouted. "I'm used to talking like that!"

Gravis burst out into laughter as he saw Dorian's sorry figure.

"That's what you get for running your mouth, old man," Gravis said with a smirk.

"Stop calling me old man! My name's Dorian!" Dorian said with an offended tone as he stood up.

Gravis only chuckled a bit. "Were you that bothered by being an old man in the lower world that you are now assuming the look of a teenager?" he asked.

"Hell yeah, I was!" he said, puffing out his chest. "I was always a hotblooded youngster at heart, but the disgusting Heaven Sect forced me to become an old man. Now that I'm young again, I swear that I will never become old again! I will be a hotblooded youngster for my remaining life!"

Gravis had to admit that Dorian truly acted like a teenager.

He even directly insulted Gravis' family after being offended.

"You know, your conduct has been way cuter when you were an old man. Now, you just seem like a spoiled teenager," Gravis said with a smirk.

"Spoiled!?" Dorian repeated.

Then, he jumped around a bit in an effort to get himself pumped for a fight.

"Oh, you'll regret these words, beastman!" he said. "You think you can just insult this daddy however you want? Daddy has plenty of ass-whoopings to hand out! You can get yours today, free of charge!"

BANG!

Dorian charged forward with impressive speed and punched Gravis' shoulder, the speed and power of his punch being increased by an explosion of lightning behind his elbow.

Gravis' shoulder moved back a bit from the hit.

CRACK!

However, Dorian's fist broke.

Dorian jumped back and shook his broken fist.

"Yo, that body is unfair!" he said. "Having that body is cheating! How am I supposed to abuse you in the future with that body!?"

Gravis only snickered.

SHING!

Gravis grabbed Dorian's stick and appeared before Dorian in a flash.

THUNK!

"Ow, fuck!" Dorian shouted as Gravis struck Dorian's head with the stick.

"Doesn't feel great, does it, old man?" Gravis said.

"I'm not an old man!" Dorian answered.

THUNK!

"Alright, I'm an old man!" Dorian shouted.

"That was quite a fast turnaround," Gravis said with a smirk. "Show some backbone!"

THUNK!

"What do you want from me!?" Dorian shouted as he ran away. "Stop that! It hurts!"

THUNK!

"Yes, it sure does," Gravis said. "Now you know how I have felt while you abused me in the lower world!"

THUNK!

"Okay, I'm sorry!" Dorian said. "Just stop beating me!"

Gravis only had to laugh loudly as he joked around with Dorian.

Gravis had never reached the power to beat the old man in the lower world before he had left.

Now, Gravis was the more powerful one, and he could repay him all the beatings he had to endure!

"Okay! I'm sorry, okay!?" Dorian shouted as he stopped moving.

Gravis arrived in front of him, stick in hand.

Suddenly, Dorian smirked.

WRRRR!

Gravis' entire body seized as a disgusting stench entered his being.

He had never smelled anything this disgusting!

BANG!

Then, Gravis' eyes widened as Dorian kicked him in the balls with his full power, even breaking his own leg in the process.

Gravis took a deep breath through his teeth, absorbing more of that disgusting stench.

"Ha! Taste the power of my Law of Fart!" Dorian shouted with excitement. "Not so tough now, are you?"

BANG!

Dorian kicked Gravis' head, throwing him to the ground.

"Wheeeew! That felt great!" he shouted.

"Anyway, gotta go! See ya later, Gravis!"

SHING!

And Dorian teleported away.

Gravis was stunned.

He wasn't stunned out of pain, but because Dorian had managed to actually land a hit on him.

Gravis had been a bit careless since they were only playing around, but this "Law of Fart" had actually managed to take him by surprise.

A Cultivator in the same Realm as Gravis had managed to hit him with an attack without Gravis letting them.

That surprised him quite a bit.

All of this might have appeared ridiculous and comedic, but it had been effective.

Dorian actually managed to hit Gravis twice!

Gravis narrowed his eyes as he activated his Law of Primordial Force, increasing the power of his Law of Time and Space to the power of level seven Laws.

"You think you can get away?" Gravis said.

SHING!

Gravis teleported away with a violent explosion of space.

…

SHING!

"Hey, I have somewhere to be!" Dorian shouted in Gravis' grasp.

Gravis had caught him in no time at all.

"Law of Fart?" Gravis asked. "Are you serious? You simply combined some Fire Laws with some Matter Laws to create this disgusting gas."

"But it's a real Law!" Dorian shouted in Gravis' grasp.

"How is this a real Law?" Gravis asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It is!" Dorian repeated. "Look!"

Dorian released more of the gas, but Gravis was prepared for it this time.

Yet, even though Gravis blocked all his orifices, the gas somehow still managed to enter his being, creating an overwhelming feeling of disgust.

Gravis also felt the Law fluctuations this time.

Gravis' eyes widened.

It was actually a Law!

How was this a Law!?

Yet, Gravis also managed to see all the components of the Law of Fart.

"Are you serious?" Gravis asked with shock, letting Dorian go.

"You condensed a Form Law for a Fart!?"

"Impressive, isn't it?" Dorian asked with a proud grin. "Why create more offensive attacks when I have a ton of them? I don't need more of them! Instead, why not make a Law that breaks your opponent's defense?"

Gravis was actually incredibly shocked.

He had never seen any attack like this!

It was ridiculous and embarrassing, but fuck, it was effective!

Dorian even managed to hit Gravis with it!

Involuntarily, Gravis got reminded of the time when he had stabbed his opponents' asses. That had been just as ridiculous. Yet, it had been effective.

Dorian had created something similar with his Form Law of Fart.

Sure enough, if not even Gravis had been prepared for that attack, no other Cultivator could be prepared for that.

Gravis almost felt like this couldn't be real.

'Well, creativity and originality are also parts of power, I guess,' Gravis thought. 'I think Dorian has reached the peak in that regard. I couldn't come up with such an attack.'

"Honestly, you surprised me quite a bit," Gravis said. "You actually managed to get a hit in while being on my level."

Dorian smirked arrogantly. "We old men still have things to teach you youngsters," Dorian said. "Don't underestimate anyone, even if you know for certain that they are weaker than you."

Gravis nodded. "Thanks, Dorian," he said.

"No problem, Gravis," Dorian said with a warm smile. "I would like to ask you how you have been, but you should first meet the others. Joyce and I have taken up enough of your time."

Gravis nodded and looked at the others in the room.

Chapter 1030 - 1030 – Friends

"Dorian even managed to hit you, Gravis. I guess my loss to him is not unjustified," a beautiful woman with azure-colored hair said as she stepped forward.

"Hey, Azure," Gravis said. "Glad you're still alive. How have you been?"

Azure smiled slightly as she gestured to the old man with white hair to her said. "Styr and I have been quite well. We also became quite powerful, but we both couldn't beat Dorian, which was surprising. We had both been sure that we were more powerful than him, but, somehow, he still won."

Styr also nodded. "His techniques are varied, bizarre, and incomprehensible," Styr said with praise. "He is impressive."

"Did you guys all fight each other before I came here?" Gravis asked with a lifted eyebrow.

Azure and Styr nodded. "We met each other when we waited for you, and we all got talking since we know you. In the end, after seeing that we are all on the same level, we decided to fight each other to compare our power."

"Oh? How many joined the fight?" Gravis asked.

"Twelve."

"So many?" Gravis asked in shock.

Azure nodded. "You built up quite a circle of connections in your life, Gravis," Azure said.

"Who won?" Gravis asked, looking at the group.

Silence.

"You know who won," Azure said with a frown.

Gravis thought about this for a bit.

"Was Stella part of the fight?" he asked.

Azure nodded.

"Okay, that explains it," Gravis said with an uncomfortable smile. "Where is she?" he asked, not seeing her in the gathered group.

"She wants to give you some time to meet your old friends first. She is currently spending most of her time with your three children," Azure said.

Gravis rubbed the back with discomfort. "You mean our children," he said.

"I don't really care. You should know that, Gravis," Azure said evenly.

Gravis had to sigh again as he got to know Azure again.

It still felt weird to Gravis that Azure didn't care about her children.

However, Gravis' three kids also must have had quite a lot of children since they managed to become Nascent Nourishing Beasts in the middle world. Yet, they had never even talked about them.

The familial ties of beasts still felt alien to Gravis.

"I guess they are all somewhere else right now," Gravis said.

Azure nodded. "They all know that you would want to spend the most time with them, which is why they're waiting somewhere else."

Gravis nodded with a weak smile.

This was probably Stella's idea.

Gravis sure had made the right decision when choosing her as his life partner.

"Your friends have become really powerful, Gravis," Arc said from the side with a smile.

He had seen Gravis' life, which meant that he also knew Gravis' friends.

"They have," Gravis said with pride.

"You think I should fight them?" Arc asked.

Gravis groaned. "Arc, this is not funny," he said.

Arc only grinned as he saw Gravis' uncomfortable expression. "Yes, it is."

Gravis lightly shook his head as he looked at the people that haven't said anything yet.

Joyce, Dorian, Ferris, Azure, and Styr had already spoken to him, leaving three people that haven't talked to Gravis yet.

Gravis went to the first person.

It was a beautiful woman with green hair and a terrifyingly stunning body. She looked like a seductress that could wrap any man around her fingers.

"I'm a bit surprised to see you here. We've only met one time," Gravis said. "However, I'm happy that you didn't forget me after such a long time."

The woman looked with bedroom eyes at Gravis as she looked him up and down. "Don't talk too much to me, or your woman might get jealous," she said.

Gravis' entire body shook again as he saw her true body with his Spirit Sense.

It was a humongous, green snake.

This was Sary, the Life Ultimate, Meadow's friend.

She had been the one that had initiated the conflict between the Ultimates in the middle world and also the one that had taught Azure about having children to learn more about the Laws of Life.

Sary was very open with her desires, and she had also hit on Gravis back then.

"Where's Meadow?" Gravis asked.

"Still in the higher world," Sary said. "Meadow takes her time in cultivating, and she plans to use up nearly her entire longevity. She will probably remain in the higher world for another 1.8 million years, their time. I can't live that long, and I don't want to wait that long, but you don't need to worry about her. From what I've heard, her status and power are similar to the one called Narcissus in your higher world."

Gravis nodded. Narcissus was basically unkillable in the higher world. However, the total power of Narcissus and Meadow still couldn't be compared.

Meadow was nearly unkillable in her world.

However, Narcissus was nearly unkillable in the most powerful higher world.

There was a huge difference between these two worlds.

But one also had to keep in mind that Narcissus was far older than Meadow.

"We can talk later," Gravis said. "Let me first go to the last two."

Gravis went over to a young man with green hair and a peaceful expression.

Gravis looked at him with a complex expression.

"I thought you were already dead," Gravis said.

The young man chuckled a bit. "The ways of the world are unchanging and unforeseeable. Sometimes, our goals change," he said.

"I see you have gotten more mysterious with age and power, Manuel," Gravis said with a smile.

This was Manuel.

Gravis had fought him in the lower world, but Manuel's master had unveiled Byron's deception. After that, they had become friends and had even entered the Heaven's Trial together.

Before Gravis had left for the higher world, his father had told him that Manuel had stopped cultivating after getting a family.

Obviously, things have changed.

Orthar probably managed to push Manuel back into cultivating.

After all, Orthar wanted as many of Gravis' friends as possible to survive to secure his cooperation in the future.

"What happened to your family?" Gravis asked.

Manuel's expression didn't change, but Gravis could see some sadness in his eyes.

"They all died of old age," Manuel said.

Gravis sighed and nodded. "As tragic as it is, it is the best outcome."

Gravis had feared that Orthar might have killed off Manuel's family, but that wasn't the case.

"Aion and Lazar have died, right?" he asked.

Manuel nodded. "We weren't close with Aion, but we've kept tabs on him. Apparently, he was not really interested in cultivating and simply stopped. Living like a rich merchant was enough for him."

"Lazar died while tempering," Dorian said from behind Gravis. "He tried to jump two levels above himself. The fight was even, but his opponent comprehended a Law during their fight and barely won."

"I took revenge for Lazar," Dorian said with narrowed eyes.

Gravis nodded with a sigh.

Not everyone made it to the top.

"I've also heard that Nero stopped cultivating," Gravis said.

Manuel nodded. "Nero was fine with teaching the disciples of our Sect."

"Our?" Gravis asked.

"Yes, Joyce, Dorian, Nero, Lazar, and I have made our own Sect. Everyone pushed the position of Sect Master onto my shoulders while everyone else had their fun. We basically never left each other's sides during this time, but we never forgot you. We also often talked about you."

Gravis could understand why everyone pushed Manuel into the position of Sect Master. Manuel had some kind of charisma that made other people follow his leadership.

"I bet controlling people like Dorian and Joyce was stressful," Gravis said with a smile.

"You have no idea," Manuel said with a sigh. "However, we can talk all about this later." Manuel gestured to the last person in the room. "She said she knows you, but she is the only one none of us know. Everyone knows someone else in some regard, but no one knows her. However, she insists that she knows you."

"She also says she is your big sister."

Gravis smiled widely as he walked over to the last person.

It was a girl in her twenties with short green hair and blue eyes.

She looked at Gravis with a wide grin.

"You haven't disappointed your big sister!" she said with a proud smile.

Gravis remembered the Hurricane Hawk that had followed Gravis in the middle continent in the lower world.

"Hey, Skye. How have you been? I'm glad you still remember me," Gravis said.

PACK!

Skye pulled Gravis over and pulled him under her right arm.

Then, she rubbed Gravis' head with her fist.

"Look at how many friends you have!" she said. "You think your older sister can't bully you anymore with such a social circle? Nobody here even knows me! Do your job and introduce us properly!"

Gravis only grinned widely.

Skye was still as playful as always.

"I'm not adopting another child," the Opposer said with a frown from the side.

"Who wants to be your child, old man?" Skye said with an offended expression.

The Opposer only looked at Skye but looked away again.

The Opposer liked Skye quite a bit.

Why?

Because she reminded him of his wife.

They were pretty similar.

On top of that, his wife and Skye were almost best friends.

They often went out and giggled all day long as they ruined businesses.

It was mere playing for them but the devastating crushing of dreams for other Cultivators in the city.

The Economistress' overtaking of businesses had become far more aggressive as soon as Skye had appeared.

The merchants lived in terror each day.