Ch. 1031..1040

Chapter 1031 - 1031 – Introducing Arc

Gravis looked at his friends with a wide smile.

Nearly everyone was gathered.

The only people missing were Stella, Liam, and his three kids, but they were all waiting somewhere else.

Meadow was also missing, but she would arrive later.

However, everyone else that was still alive was now here.

Memories shot through Gravis' mind as he saw all of them.

It was like no time had passed.

"You changed, you know," Manuel said.

"I know," Gravis answered with a wide smile. "You can say that I managed to see my true goal. Power isn't my goal. Freedom and happiness are."

Skye didn't think that her little brother had changed much. After all, she had only been in contact with him when he hadn't grown truly ruthless yet.

However, Manuel and Dorian felt the biggest difference.

Back then, Gravis had been a brutal teenager that only respected power. He even threatened the Freya Clan several times with annihilation just because they said some things he didn't like. He had also played with the lives of the Earth Sect due to their disposition, and he had no qualms in annihilating the Darkness Sect, even though it had only been Byron that had acted against him.

Gravis had been Mortis back then, and Mortis was quite different from the current Gravis.

Ferris didn't really think about these things. Gravis was his friend. Nothing else mattered.

Azure, Styr, and Sary had met Gravis when he was becoming more empathetic, but they hadn't met Gravis since the defining moment that completely changed him. That moment had been when Gravis had comprehended the level four Law of Freedom.

The last change had been when Gravis finally united with Stella.

His life was no longer filled with darkness, and he had even dreamed about stopping to cultivate at one point. Obviously, Gravis had only thought about that possibility. He wouldn't go through with it. It was simply an escape from the pressure and stress of Cultivation.

"Manuel," Gravis said, "did you know that you are the biggest reason why I've changed so much?"

Manuel was a bit surprised. "Me? What did I do?" he asked.

"You told me back then, in front of the Heaven's Trial, that I might not be as cold as I thought myself to be. These words made me realize that I had a lot of repressed emotions. I worked on them ever since, and this allowed me to become who I am today."

"Without you, I might have never realized that, and I would probably have become even more ruthless and cold-hearted," Gravis said.

Manuel looked with wonder at Gravis. "Really? I don't even remember saying something like that."

"Really," Gravis said with a laugh. "It might have been an unimportant comment to you, but it has changed my life."

Manuel only awkwardly rubbed the back of his head since he didn't remember. "Really? Then, you're welcome, I guess?"

"So, are you a good guy now?" Manuel asked.

Silence.

Then, Manuel and Gravis started laughing.

Was Gravis a good guy?

No.

No Cultivator with sufficient power was a good guy.

In order to comprehend Laws, Cultivators often created natural disasters that killed an uncountable number of innocent lives.

When Cultivators fought, their shockwaves would destroy every life for thousands of kilometers around.

Cultivators attacked other Cultivators and beasts just for the sake of tempering. This essentially meant that Cultivators killed other Cultivators just to kill them.

Cultivators that weren't willing to do these things would never reach their power. These kinds of Cultivators would have long since died.

There was no good or bad.

There were only shades of grey, at least 50 of them.

Then, Gravis remembered something and facepalmed.

"Hey, Arc!" Gravis shouted, turning around. "I forgot to introduce you."

"Oh?" Arc uttered absentmindedly. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. I'm just looking at all these powerful Cultivators in the city. I've never met such powerful Cultivators before. I think there are over 100 Ancestral Gods in this city alone. They sure feel incredibly powerful."

Gravis also stretched out his Spirit Sense, but he could only find around 20.

"Are the other 80 behind powerful Formation Arrays that go beyond the power of level eight Laws?" Gravis asked.

Arc nodded. "They're all just thinking about Laws. It feels really great to see so many people I can't beat. I almost feel young again."

Gravis found this a bit funny since Arc already looked quite young.

"Speaking of young, aren't you technically older than father because of the time dilation?" he asked.

Arc nodded.

The Opposer didn't care.

"But it doesn't really matter. After all, if you count age like that, there are actually trillions of beings older than your father," Arc said. "If you want to meet the truly ancient existences, you only need to look at the lower Heavens." Arc laughed.

Gravis' eyebrows rose.

That actually made a lot of sense.

Lower worlds had a time dilation of 1,000 to 1.

In essence, lower Heavens would be the most ancient existences in the Cosmos.

THUNK!

Gravis' eyes widened as he felt a tap on his head.

His head snapped back as he saw Dorian with a smirk on his face.

That guy managed to hit him again!

Sure, Gravis hadn't been careful, but it was still hard to hide such an attack from him.

Dorian's smirk vanished as he assumed the posture of an old man again. "You got sidetracked, youngster! You wanted to introduce us."

Gravis furrowed his brows.

"You're lucky I'm impressed with your weird powers, old man," Gravis said with a bit of annoyance.

Dorian's right eyelid twitched. "Who are you call-"

SHING!

Dorian's stick appeared in Gravis' hand.

"You shouldn't hit the elderly, Gravis," Dorian said with a serious tone. "Show some respect for your elders."

This guy.

'He immediately gets offended if I call him an old man, but he has no problem in assuming that role when it suits him,' Gravis thought.

'I bet the old man has been an absolute nightmare for his enemies.'

'He's shameless, slippery as an eel, unparalleled in enraging others and filled with creativity.'

'His power can't be measured by normal means. He's somewhat in a league of his own.'

'Honestly, I have no idea how powerful he actually is.'

"Now you know how we felt," Manuel said. "We've had to deal with him for over 200,000 years."

Gravis looked at Dorian, who still had an expression of an admonishing elder on his face. The expression was absolutely perfect. His face was young, but he still felt like an old man.

Gravis threw the stick back to Dorian. "Anyway, back to the topic," he said as he turned to the others in the room. "This is Arc. He's also one of my friends. I think you have heard of him from Stella and Liam."

The group looked at Arc with a complex expression.

"I just want to make sure of something," Styr said as he slightly stepped forward, looking at Arc. "We've heard of someone called Arc, but I must still make sure. Are you really the higher Heaven of your world?"

Arc smiled widely. "Ex-Heaven," he said. "Right now, I'm a Cultivator, just like all of you."

The group took a collective deep breath.

They had refused to believe it, but Arc had confirmed it.

They had heard of Arc, the Heaven of the higher world.

However, something like a Heaven was too elusive, distant, and mysterious for all of them.

Not a single person of their group had ever seen a Heaven.

Gravis had killed the lower Heaven in a dying world, away from all prying eyes. Everyone had only been able to see the destruction they created.

None of them had actually seen the lower Heaven.

In their eyes, Gravis had basically fought the world itself.

It was like the magma, mountains, land, and oceans rose up to battle him.

They hadn't seen any kind of central area for where Heaven had been.

In the middle world, Gravis had been the last remaining living thing.

There had been no one to witness his fight with the middle Heaven.

They had no idea how a Heaven looked like. They didn't even know what a Heaven even was. Was it some kind of lifeform? Was it some kind of Law? Was it the sky?

And, right now, a Heaven was just standing there, like anyone else.

They hadn't been able to fuse the concept of Heaven with this normal-looking guy. Sure, he had five eyes, which made him look rather special, but there were a lot of beings that looked weird.

The illustrious, mysterious ruler of a world, unsurpassed in power, was just standing there, smiling at them.

It was so incredibly normal that it seemed surreal.

Chapter 1032 - 1032 – Rankings

The room fell into silence for a while.

"You can just call me Arc," Arc said with a smile. "No reason to be so nervous. I'm a Cultivator, just like anyone else now. You're acting familiar and friendly with Gravis, even though his Battle-Strength is immeasurable. I'm just a bit more powerful than Gravis. So, there shouldn't be much of a difference."

Arc was very good with placating feelings of nervousness, but it was still hard to placate feelings of disconnection due to such a massive gap in power.

"Hi, Arc! I'm Ferris!" Ferris shouted as he arrived in front of Arc with an excited smile. "You smell like a good guy! I like you!"

Of course it would be Ferris that took the first step.

"You can smell that I'm a good guy?" Arc asked with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah," Ferris said.

"That's quite an interesting power. It has probably served you well on your journey," Arc said with a smile.

Ferris nodded several times. "Friends are nice!"

Styr, Azure, and Sary looked at Ferris with complex expressions.

Ferris was genuine and excited whenever he was with someone he liked.

However, his image horrifyingly shifted whenever he talked with someone he didn't like.

As soon as Ferris met someone he didn't like the smell of, his eyes were constantly narrowed, and he spoke with a terrifyingly cold disposition.

It was even worse when he actually fought. Whenever Ferris fought, he basically transformed into a terrifying, blood-thirsty monstrosity. He appeared like a hegemon of fire that burned everything and everyone that dared to go against him.

He even knew the Laws of Rage, Pride, and Calm.

As soon as he unleashed his powers, the sky would turn red with the power of blind rage and unsurpassed pride. Everyone would be suppressed by him, and his attacks had an insane intensity to them.

Yet, right now, Ferris only smiled widely in excitement and happiness as he met a new friend.

Ferris was outstanding, even amongst this group of outstanding beings.

One had to remember one simple fact when thinking about Gravis' friends.

Were they powerful because they were Gravis' friends, or were they Gravis' friends because they were powerful?

No friend of Gravis was simple.

Manuel had had an astonishing maturity for his age back then, and he had been a terrifyingly powerful Cultivator.

Joyce had had a Unity Will before she had even entered the Heaven's Trial.

Skye had managed to comprehend the Law of Freedom on her own.

Azure had comprehended one of the Emotional Laws in the middle world.

Styr was very smart, and he managed to comprehend a level three Law in the Early Law Comprehension Realm.

Sary had been ancient in the middle world, and she had managed to fight three Ultimates at the same time.

All of Gravis' friends were monsters in their own right, and as long as they didn't meet with terrifyingly bad luck, it would only be natural for them to become this powerful.

Yet, even among this group of monsters, Ferris stood out.

"You're quite powerful, Ferris," Arc said with a smile. It was not difficult for him to see through all of Ferris' Laws. After all, Arc knew the Law of the True World. This meant that he could know everything about everyone under the Star God Realm.

Arc could even see what Ferris would do several years in advance, assuming Arc had access to all the information of Ferris' surroundings all the time. Something like this would have been possible if they were still in Arc's world, but that was obviously no longer possible.

"No, everyone else is way stronger than me," Ferris said with an excited smile, pointing at the group.

Arc chuckled a bit when he heard that.

He knew why Ferris said that.

Did Ferris lie?

No.

Ferris truly believed that he was the weakest of the group.

Why?

Because he had the worst placing out of everyone present in the tournament.

Why?

Because Ferris didn't see anyone in the group as his enemy.

He didn't activate his Law of Pride since he wasn't prideful in front of his friends.

He didn't activate the Law of Rage since he wasn't angry.

He didn't use the Law of Calm since he was excited to spend time with his friends.

He didn't even truly attack them since he was afraid of hurting them.

Because of that, Ferris got a horrible placing in the tournament of Gravis' friends.

Azure snorted when she heard Ferris' words.

She found these words ridiculous.

She knew exactly that, if Ferris went all out, he could have achieved third place in the tournament.

Arc wanted to get to know Gravis' friends more, which was why he continued talking to Ferris. "Ferris, you're basing your power on the tournament you guys had, right? Tell me, how did the tournament go?"

The group had mixed reactions to that question.

Some of them smiled with pride, while others looked away.

"I came in second-to-last!" Ferris shouted with excitement. "Everyone else is so powerful!"

Gravis was also interested in the results.

How powerful had his friends become?

He only had Liam as a reference since he knew how powerful Liam was.

He wondered what rank Liam achieved.

"Didn't you say you were the weakest?" Arc asked. "Who's the last place then?"

Surprisingly, Ferris frowned.

"It's a beast I don't like," he said. "She was surprisingly weak. She couldn't even resist me for a second, even though everyone else won against me."

Gravis' eyebrows rose with interest, but he also found it a bit funny.

If Ferris didn't like someone, he could use all his power.

It was understandable that his opponent would lose against him.

However, one shouldn't forget that this beast had also lost against everyone else.

"Who was it?" Gravis asked with interest.

"She's called Cera," Ferris said with an excited grin as he looked at Gravis. "I think she's your daughter."

Gravis cringed.

Gravis knew Cera very well, and he knew that Cera was very prideful.

Coming in last probably hurt her pride immensely.

He had to talk with her later and check up on her.

However, it was still surprising that Cera came in last, but when Gravis looked at the group, he could accept that Cera came in last.

Every single one of them was powerful.

There was not even a single weakling among them.

"Who came next?" Arc asked.

"Me!" Ferris said.

"I know," Arc said with a laugh. "I mean above you."

"Oh!" Ferris said as he seemingly remembered something. "It was Manuel!"

Gravis looked at Manuel, who only smiled slightly.

'Did Manuel truly go all out?' Gravis thought.

Gravis inspected Manuel closer, and his eyes shone.

'He knows the level five Law of Humility,' Gravis thought. 'No one else can tell his true power just by looking at him.'

Gravis hadn't inspected everyone closely, which was why he had not noticed Manuel's hidden power.

'He definitely didn't go all out.'

'If he went all out, none of their group can resist him.'

Why was Gravis so certain of Manuel's power?

Because Manuel knew four of the five Laws of Perceived Reality.

He was only missing the Law of Freedom.

He also had two Emotional Laws.

"Don't tell them," Manuel transmitted to Gravis. He had noticed Gravis' eyes light up when he had looked at him. "Let them have their fun. It's better that way."

Gravis nodded slightly.

Arc also noticed Manuel's hidden power, and he smirked a bit.

'What a nice guy,' Arc thought.

"Who's next?" Arc asked Ferris.

"Grandpa Styr!" Ferris said with excitement.

Gravis looked at Styr, who only smiled embarrassingly.

"Young people are quite powerful nowadays," he said.

Gravis laughed when he heard Styr's words.

"Next is Big Sister Sary!" Ferris said.

"I just don't want to ruin my image as the big sister," Sary said with a sexy grin.

Gravis' body shook a bit.

'I'm not attracted to snakes!' he thought.

"Dorian came in seventh," Ferris said.

Dorian coughed awkwardly. "I just wanted to let the juniors have some of the spotlight. The time of us old men has passed."

Gravis only smirked at Dorian.

Sure, Dorian was uniquely powerful, but he wasn't the strongest in a direct confrontation without retreat.

Dorian's strengths lay somewhere else.

Also, every single person above him was a monster.

"Sixth was Joyce," Ferris said with a smile.

"Oh?" Gravis uttered in surprise.

Joyce was already pretty powerful, and she only came in sixth place?

Sure enough, there were some terrifying monsters in that group.

"The next places are a bit weird," Ferris said, scratching the side of his head. "We had a three-way-tie. We basically have three third spots."

"How did that happen?" Gravis asked.

"Well, Big Sister Azure fought Liam and lost. Liam's Will-Aura suppressed Azure too much," Ferris explained.

"Then, Big Sister Azure fought Big Sister Skye and won."

"But when Big Sister Skye fought Liam, she won!" Ferris said with wonder. "Big Sister Skye knows some kind of Law that makes her immune to Liam's Will-Aura!"

Gravis nodded. 'It's basically rock-paper-scissors. Skye suppresses Liam with her Law of Freedom. Liam suppresses Azure with his Will-Aura. Azure suppresses Skye with her Battle-Strength and Emotional Laws.'

Skye showed a victory sign to Gravis with a proud smirk.

Azure also smirked at Gravis with pride.

Being at the same level of power as Liam was already impressive.

After all, Liam was very powerful, even for the standards of the most powerful higher world.

Gravis went through the remaining two contestants and became quite surprised.

"So, since Stella is in the first place, Aris came in second?" Gravis asked with surprise.

Ferris nodded. "Aris is super powerful! His Will-Aura alone is insanely powerful!"

Gravis' eyes shot open in shock.

"Will-Aura!?" Gravis asked in shock.

What Will-Aura?

Aris was a beast!

He couldn't have a Will-Aura!

Chapter 1033 - 1033 – The Opposer's Warning

Gravis was stunned.

He knew for a fact that Aris had a body that was just as powerful as a normal beast's body. If he had been born with a Spirit, he would have also been born with a weaker body. A Will-Aura required a Spirit to be used, which meant that Aris needed to have a Spirit.

Yet, Gravis would have noticed something like that.

So, how was it possible that Aris suddenly gained a Spirit?

"How does he suddenly have a Will-Aura and Spirit?" Gravis asked Ferris. "The last time I saw him, he hadn't had a Spirit or Will-Aura."

Ferris only smiled at Gravis with excitement. "He ate something," he said.

"Ate something?" Gravis asked in surprise.

"Gravis," Arc transmitted to Gravis. He made his transmission fluctuations obvious to show the others that he was talking to Gravis right now, but he hid the contents to the best of his ability.

"It's possible for humans to get a body as powerful as a beast body, right?" Arc transmitted. "You should have already noticed that Stella's body is more powerful than normal. So, it's only logical that there would be something similar for beasts."

Gravis looked at Arc with furrowed brows. "Sure, but why have I never heard of these kinds of things?" Gravis asked.

"Because I didn't use them in my world," Arc explained.

"Why?" Gravis asked.

"If I created a large quantity of natural treasures that allows humans to get bodies just as powerful as beasts, the humans would overwhelm the beasts. If I created a large quantity of natural treasures that allows beasts to build a Spirit and expand their Energy storage, they would overwhelm the humans."

"If I created both of them, the natural differences between beasts and humans would shrink considerably. At that point, it would be more difficult for the two sides to go to war. The war in my world is based on a difference of species. Other worlds have different reasons for their wars."

"On top of that, you have to realize how much it costs to condense these natural treasures and the benefit they would bring for my Creator. Creating some natural treasures that increase the physical power of humans doesn't cost much Energy. Making something like a physical body stronger isn't that hard."

"However, expanding the Energy storage of a beast costs many times more Energy, and condensing a Spirit takes even more. If the cost of giving a human the advantages of a beast is 1, the cost of giving a beast the advantages of a human would be 10,000. I could give 10,000 humans beast bodies for the Energy I would invest by elevating a single beast to the same level."

"Even more, you have to keep in mind that these changes don't give immediate rewards. None of these changes have any real significance to the amount of Energy the being pulls in. It, essentially, only increases their Battle-Strength."

"Yet, to increase their Battle-Strength, us Heavens have to invest a lot of Energy," Arc explained.

Gravis scratched his chin in thought.

Arc's words made a lot of sense.

However, he still had questions.

"Does it cost more to change these fundamentals as the being grows more powerful?" Gravis asked.

"Of course," Arc answered. "Giving a Body Tempering Cultivator a beast body doesn't cost much at all."

"Then why not give everyone a Spirit at birth?" Gravis asked.

Arc to chuckle a bit. "Gravis, that has already been explained to you in the past."

Gravis furrowed his brows but then remembered that he already knew that.

Beasts were used as a tool to increase the power of humans. Creating a beast was many times cheaper, which allowed Orthar to create a ton of them, giving the humans more opportunities for tempering. If Orthar gave all these beasts the advantages of humans at the very beginning, they would just be more humans, and they would cost just as much Energy.

"But then why am I only now hearing about this?" Gravis asked. "It sounds like these things don't exist for lower and middle worlds."

"That's true. They don't," Arc answered. "Every one of these natural treasures takes a lot of Energy to condense, and if the recipient of the natural treasure dies, all that Energy will go to waste. After all, they would have never reached a magnitude of power that makes them relevant to my Creator."

Gravis scratched his chin more.

"The reasons why humans are more important than beasts to your Creator is because of their Spirits, Energy, and Will-Aura. So, if there is a way to grant beasts the same thing, wouldn't that make them just as important as humans?" Gravis asked.

"It would, yes," Arc answered. "Beasts have to live their entire life with zero Karmic Luck, giving them a severe disadvantage over humans. However, if they manage to slog through this horrible time and manage to come out the other end, they show that their talent and Battle-Strength are incredibly powerful. At that point, it would be worth the investment of Energy."

"At what point is it worth it to invest in beasts for your Creator?" Gravis asked.

"You keep referring to my Creator with 'your Creator'. Usually, you call him the highest Heaven," Arc transmitted. "I guess the way you address my Creator has changed because you met him, right?"

Arc had been frozen in time when Orthar had talked with Gravis, and Gravis hadn't told him yet.

Gravis felt a bit uncomfortable.

Arc had guessed the truth this easily.

"Yes, I've met him, but I can't tell you anything about it," Gravis answered.

Arc only smiled. "Understandable. I only wanted to tease you. Anyway, back to your question. The point that decides if it's worth it to invest in a beast or not is when they are about to- "

WHOOOOOOOOM!

Arc's eyes opened widely in terror as his head violently shot to his right.

Arc was the only one that felt this apocalyptic pressure.

Arc and the Opposer looked into each other's eyes.

"Arcerius," the Opposer said, referring to Arc with his full name. "You are my son's friend, which is why I'm stopping you right there. You are no longer in your world. You might be able to hide the contents of your voice transmission in your own world, but this world has beings that can still decipher them."

"One of these beings is my wife."

"Be careful of what you're saying at all times because, if my wife heard your next words, your Creator and I might have another falling out."

"I won't just sit here as he kills my wife."

"Before this situation has a chance of occurring, your existence will have long since become an unknown part of history for this Cosmos," the Opposer said coldly.

The Opposer hadn't transmitted his thoughts but had voiced them.

Everyone in the room heard him, and they gulped nervously.

The Opposer always kept himself out and simply sat there like a decoration, but when he said something, people immediately remembered what kind of existence he was.

He was kind to his family, but that already encompassed all the kindness the Opposer had.

Arc took a deep breath.

Arc was insanely powerful, but in front of the Opposer, he was nothing.

"I apologize," Arc said with a bow. "I was too used to being in my world. I need to learn that I no longer have full control. I will never speak of any of these matters again until I have sufficient power to hide my transmissions from everyone."

The Opposer nodded. "It's better that way."

"I will continue the explanation from here on out," he said.

Arc nodded as he took a step back.

The Opposer looked at his son.

Gravis only furrowed his brows.

"You could have worded it a bit nicer," Gravis transmitted. "There's no reason to threaten Arc with annihilation, you know?"

"The severity of my words assures that he will not make this mistake again," the Opposer transmitted.

Gravis rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"Sure," he said, but he obviously didn't fully mean it.

"What I told Arcerius also counts for you, Gravis," the Opposer transmitted. "Don't repeat the things I will say, even as a question. If you have a question, word it vaguely."

Gravis nodded.

"The point where beasts are considered to be worth the investment of Energy is the Star God Realm."

Chapter 1034 - 1034 – Falling Battle-Strength

Gravis immediately noticed the correlation between Energy investment and the Star God Realm.

Gravis wanted to ask if it had something to do with the Brand, but he remembered his father's warning. He had to word his questions carefully.

After all, he didn't want his mom to die.

Or the Black Magnate. Gravis wasn't sure if he was also listening.

"I know what you mean," Gravis transmitted. "To word it vaguely, would you say that the investment of elevating a beast to the level of a human is significant in comparison to similar investments?"

"It's insignificant," the Opposer said. "The Energy investment for the Brand is incomparably higher than the elevation of a beast to have a Spirit and greater Energy storage."

The Opposer didn't need to word things vaguely. After all, who had the power to hear the Opposer's transmission if he didn't want them to be heard?

"When a beast becomes a Star God, the Old Bastard has to invest an insane amount of Energy anyway. Might as well make it worth it by essentially transforming beasts into humans in terms of relevance to his Cosmos."

"The reason why humans are so much more important than beasts to the Old Bastard is due to their Energy density and Spirit. The Energy density is no longer relevant when someone becomes a Heaven's Magnate since they would all have the same Energy density regardless."

"However, the most important thing is the Spirit since the Spirit allows the usage of a Will-Aura. A Heaven Breaker can harness the Will-Auras of everyone in their Cosmos, which is a significant increase in power. You can guess how useful a Will-Aura is in a fight," the Opposer explained.

Gravis nodded. "So, there is basically no difference between humans and beasts anymore as soon as one becomes a Star God?" Gravis asked.

"There's no difference anymore," the Opposer confirmed. "Every human that reaches the Star God Realm will receive a Heavenly Treasure that increases the power of their body to the power of a beast body. Every beast that manages to become a Star God receives a Heavenly Treasure that allows them to condense a Spirit, and it will also increase their Energy density."

"Your advantage of being a human with a beast body was a big source of your Battle-Strength in the past, but this advantage is no longer relevant from this moment forward."

Gravis took a deep breath.

One of his most significant advantages had vanished just like that.

It was quite frustrating, but it was only logical.

Heaven's Magnates knew all the Laws of the Cosmos regardless. If Gravis managed to reach the level of a Heaven's Magnate, he would also lose the advantage of his Laws.

It was a natural course of events. The closer Gravis got to the peak of power, the smaller the difference between the average Cultivator was to the peak geniuses.

After all, which Heaven's Magnate wasn't a genius that could only be seen once in ten million years?

The closer Gravis got to the peak of power, the more advantages he would lose.

As a Heaven's Magnate, Gravis could only rely on his Will-Aura, Major Law of Death, and Void Lightning.

Heaven's Magnates could still have an insanely powerful Will-Aura, but they didn't have the other two advantages Gravis had.

At the very peak, Gravis would still become the most powerful Heaven's Magnate thanks to these two things, but the power gap between him and the others would shrink considerably.

Could Gravis still jump six levels now?

If the enemy didn't have a beast body, Gravis' Form Law and Major Law of Death would be powerful enough to injure and kill his enemy under the effects of the Law of Sentience.

However, everyone had a beast body in the Star God Realm.

Gravis' offensive power wasn't nearly high enough to injure a beast body six levels above himself.

Jumping six levels had already become impossible.

Gravis had to sigh.

The Law of Sentience was irreplaceable for these fights. A beast six levels above Gravis already had a severe speed advantage just due to their body. If the beast also had the Energy storage of a human, they could use several Laws to increase their speed even more.

At that point, Gravis wouldn't even be able to react anymore.

That was why Gravis' power relied on the Law of Sentience from this moment forward.

Sadly, the Law of Sentience also made it impossible for Gravis to use any Laws that weren't the Major Law of Death or his Form Law.

Yet, the offensive power of his Form Law wasn't powerful enough to break through his opponent's defenses.

No matter how Gravis thought about it, it was impossible to jump six levels now.

Gravis' Form Law had the power of a level seven Law thanks to all the Emotional Laws he had put into it. If he wanted to increase his attacking power, he would need to upgrade the Battle Laws that created the base of his Form Law.

Gravis' Form Law was created of 14 different level five Laws.

If he could replace them with 14 different level seven Laws, he could push his Form Law to the level of a level eight Law.

That would be enough to slightly injure his opponent.

Slightly injuring an opponent would have never been enough in the past, but with the Major Law of Death, things had changed. Every single injury would be permanent and would weaken the Realm of his opponent.

However, how long would it take for Gravis to learn 14 level seven Laws?

On top of that, Gravis would also need to learn the level seven Law of Pure Elements, which was created by comprehending all the level six Law Elements.

Even more, the equipment of everyone in the highest world would be far better. This meant that Gravis also needed to learn the True Hard Pure Law, another level seven Law.

On top of that, Gravis would need to earn a ton of money again to comprehend these Laws and buy the materials.

The list of tasks and preparations that Gravis needed to jump six levels grew bigger and bigger the more he thought about it.

'There's so much to do,' Gravis thought with a sigh. 'All these preparations would have pushed my Battle-Strength another full level in the higher world, but here, I need to do all of this just to keep my current Battle-Strength. It's actually insane.'

'I mean, if I knew a level nine Law, it would be able to ignore the restriction of the Law of Sentience. At that point, I would have enough offensive power to break through a beast body six levels above me.'

Gravis snorted.

'How would I even go about comprehending a level nine Law? Is that even possible at my level?'

Gravis looked over at Arc.

'I wonder how many levels he can jump with this new dynamic.'

'I mean, he essentially has two level nine Laws. One is the Law of the True World. If I want to learn that Law, I would need to work hard on the Law of Life, but I don't have such a great talent regarding that Law.'

'The other Law is-'

Gravis' eyes widened in realization.

Chapter 1035 - 1035 – Lower World Story

Gravis' eyes widened as he looked at Arc, and an excited gleam appeared in them.

'Of course!' Gravis thought. 'Arc knows the Law of Heavenly Lightning, which is a level nine Law! Comprehending that Law won't take very long since I'm still somewhat one with lightning.'

'I can use the Law of Heavenly Lightning to increase my offensive capabilities by a lot, allowing me to injure beasts even six levels above me. Of course, it won't completely kill them immediately, but that's fine. As long as I have the Major Law of Death, there's a chance.'

Gravis released a sigh of relief.

One of his biggest problems had just been solved.

However, he would still need to, at least, comprehend the True Law of Hard Pure Materials. Otherwise, his own saber would completely break apart under the pressure of Heavenly Lightning.

Arc noticed Gravis' gaze, and he only smiled back.

However, he had no idea what Gravis was thinking.

Arc could see through everyone, but he couldn't see through Star Gods, Gravis, or Mortis.

'Anyway, I should ask him later. Right now is not the correct time to go back to cultivating. On top of that, Mortis should also quickly realize this possibility, and he will immediately search for Arc.'

"So, Aris managed to achieve second place?" Gravis asked Ferris.

Ferris nodded with excitement. "He is really powerful! He even managed to resist big sister Stella for a while, which was incredible!"

Gravis nodded with a smile.

Gravis looked at his gathered group of friends, and a feeling of warmth spread throughout his heart again.

These were his friends, and they had all still remembered him after such a long time.

They had even remembered that they were supposed to search for the Opposer in the highest world to find him.

Every being Gravis valued was here, except for Meadow, but that was just because she hadn't arrived in the world yet.

For a second, Gravis felt a bit guilty. In the middle world, Gravis had effectively cut off his relationship with his friends from the lower world, thinking that they would have changed so much that they would have long since become different people.

Yet, the core of their personalities hadn't changed.

They had simply grown older.

"We have a lot to talk about," Gravis said with a smile.

Everyone smiled back at him.

"Mom, you always have a table and beverages ready," Gravis said as he looked at his mom. "Do you want to join us?"

Gravis' mother smirked and summoned a table big enough for everyone to fit.

Then, everyone shared their stories.

Manuel and Dorian were the first ones to tell their story. Most of their stories overlapped since they were in the same Sect, but the feeling was completely different whenever they spoke of something that happened.

Dorian elaborated on all the different people and organizations he had angered with excitement.

Dorian didn't like it one bit when people underestimated him, and he liked it even less when people used their background to intimidate him.

Just two years after arriving in the middle world, Dorian had already offended three different Sects that were far above his strength.

Yet, Dorian was as slippery as an eel, and the Sects never managed to catch him.

Whenever someone more powerful appeared, Dorian used all kinds of methods to escape, but when someone of comparable strength to him appeared, he fought them directly.

Even more, Dorian wasn't a passive person. He was very active in this enmity.

As soon as he realized that the Sects really tried to kill him, he also tried to kill them.

Dorian would appear seemingly at random in different important locations of the Sect and annihilate all the people there.

He didn't care who these people were.

Everyone that was in these locations that belonged to the Sects was his enemy.

Over 50 years passed just like that.

Eventually, the Sects capitulated.

It wasn't that they were weaker than Dorian, but that Dorian had completely severed their future.

They had no more low-ranking disciples to man the different locations.

The number of new people joining their Sects had dropped significantly since everyone had heard that no weak disciples of these Sects survived.

Everyone that was part of these Sects was an enemy to Dorian, no matter why these people were in the Sects.

Dorian was ruthless in that regard.

When the Sects capitulated, Dorian didn't accept it.

They had hunted him for 50 years, and he wouldn't stop until they no longer existed.

Eventually, just when Dorian was about to annihilate the Sects, the superior Sect of these three appeared.

Dorian nearly died while fighting against the agent from that superior Sect.

However, something shocking happened next.

An Elder of that Sect appeared.

That Elder had immediately killed the agent of his own Sect.

Then, Dorian and the Elder embraced.

It was Lazar, Dorian's grandson.

Lazar brought Dorian to their Sect.

Joyce, Manuel, Nero, and Lazar had ascended at similar times, and they had created this Sect. Under Manuel's leadership, they quickly got access to a ton of low-ranking Law Comprehension Areas, which increased their power by a lot.

Lazar was keeping everything in order in the Sect as an Elder.

Nero was teaching and raising the new disciples to strengthen the Sect.

Joyce acted as a striking force. Manuel used her to attack the valuable locations.

One had to remember that, due to the time dilation, these four reached the middle world only about two years later than Dorian, essentially making them start at the same time in the middle world.

Dorian hadn't had a Sect behind him, which meant that his Laws were one of his major weaknesses.

Out of the five of them, Dorian knew the least number of Laws. Additionally, Dorian's Realm was also lower due to a lack of resources.

However, Dorian's Will-Aura was the most powerful one out of everyone.

Dorian quickly joined the Sect, and with access to more resources, Dorian very quickly became one of the most powerful members of the Sect.

What was Dorian's job?

He would hide his identity and strike other Sects.

These Sects would ask for help from Manuel's Sect, and he happily gave them the help for a lot of resources and land. Dorian would then always be "pushed back" and vanish.

Dorian acted as a form of secret force.

However, things quickly changed.

When Lazar died, Dorian went crazy and charged into the Sect of the person that killed Lazar.

Manuel was put before a major decision.

Banish Dorian and let him die for the well-being of the Sect, or declare war.

Manuel declared war.

The war had been bloody, and a ton of members of their Sect died.

However, they had won in the end.

How?

The entire war had hinged on a single battle.

Joyce versus the Sect Protector.

This had been Joyce's most dangerous and most difficult battle up to that point, but she had won after comprehending another Law.

As soon as Joyce won, she massacred everyone from the other Sect.

Several similar occurrences had happened while the group of friends shot through the Realms.

Eventually, Nero died of old age.

Near the end of his life, he was even weaker than the new disciples the Sect accepted.

He had simply watched the Sect thrive with a smile until he died.

Eventually, the four of them reached the higher world at the same time, and they had created another Sect.

No other Sect of similar power could resist them, but everything changed when they came into contact with the Sects harboring Immortal Kings.

Manuel's Sect had to be disbanded several times in the face of annihilation, and all the friends scattered.

Everyone searched for refuge in different organizations while Dorian continued doing his thing in secret.

When everyone became Immortal Kings, they met up again after communicating in secret.

The Sect Manuel was part of would be their target.

Why?

Because the Sect Master was rather selfish, which angered a lot of the members of the Sect. Sadly, the members of the Sect didn't have the strength to go against the united upper echelon of the Sect.

Manuel staged a rebellion, and with the help of his friends, he overthrew and killed the old Sect Master.

All the other Sects immediately got angry at the betrayal of some of their most powerful members and declared war.

Then, a long and arduous war took place.

Many things happened, but eventually, they managed to triumph.

At that point, their Sect had become powerful enough to be a direct subordinate to one of the most powerful Sects of the world.

Eventually, they disbanded their Sect and directly joined the powerful Sect.

This continued until they ascended.

And now, they were here.

Chapter 1036 - 1036 – Middle World Stories

Gravis listened to their story with interest.

He learned a lot about how to manage a Sect from Manuel, and he had to laugh a lot when Dorian told of his exploits. Gravis could very well imagine the headache Manuel had while trying to handle someone like Dorian.

After they were done telling their story, over a day had passed.

Mortis had returned a couple of hours after Manuel started telling his story, and he simply sat at the table like everyone else.

"So? How did it go?" Gravis asked Mortis.

"It will take a while to close the gap, but she's definitely interested, even if she didn't immediately admit it," Mortis said.

Gravis nodded.

He had expected something like that. After all, Mortis was exactly the person that Joyce had been searching for. Even if Gravis wanted to chase Joyce, she would still choose Mortis over him.

After Manuel and Dorian were done retelling their story, it was Skye's turn.

Apparently, Skye had quickly become a pretty powerful beast, and she established her own Tribe.

She lorded over the Tribe for a long time, but at some point, Kingdoms became interested.

Yet, instead of simply joining a Kingdom, Skye wanted to fight a war.

It wasn't even a battle.

Skye very quickly lost, and she was forcefully enslaved as food.

She was used as a training partner for weaker beasts, but she was always stopped as soon as she tried to kill them.

Skye was attacked by beasts on her level for years without being allowed to really retaliate.

This had gone on for over 20 years, but Skye never gave up. She knew that her chance would come, eventually.

And eventually, it did.

Skye managed to comprehend the level two Law of Suppression, which she used to kill the beasts overseeing her captivity.

After that, she ran away.

Sadly, the Kingdoms were rather united in that part of the world, making it impossible for her to find refuge anywhere.

She felt like a wild animal that was hunted by a group of humans. No matter where she went, she would be quickly found and attacked.

Skye was on the run for a long time, and eventually, she managed to comprehend the level two Law of Freedom.

With the Law of Freedom and Law of Suppression combined, Skye managed to turn the tables somewhat.

The Law of Suppression increased her Battle-Strength, and the Law of Freedom allowed her to ignore the pressure of beasts above her Realm. This gave her the ability to fight with her full power against more powerful beasts.

Her story, at this point, became very similar to Dorian's story when he had just arrived in the middle world. Skye went through a lot of fights and, eventually, a lot of other beasts were willing to follow her.

From that point onward, she was mostly in control of her life. She was always able to carve out a place for herself in the world with quite a big following.

However, in comparison to most other beasts, Skye didn't manage her beasts in any form.

Skye felt that responsibilities restricted her freedom, and she didn't want to have any responsibilities. The beasts were free to follow her or not. It was their decision.

Yet, most of the beasts still followed her, which eventually led to an impromptu nomadic Empire of Beasts.

Skye and her beasts traveled throughout the world, killing the strongest beasts they could find. However, they would never claim any land. They would simply kill the strong beasts, occupy their land for some years to check out the Law Comprehension Areas, and then leave again.

Surprisingly, the other Empires didn't attack Skye's nomadic Empire.

Why?

Because they knew that the Empire would quickly move on, which would mean that the territory of an old Empire would become unoccupied. This meant that the Empires could expand their borders without sacrificing any power.

On top of that, no one wanted to attack Skye's Empire. Battling them meant using a lot of resources, which could very well result in them dying to a third Empire.

So, they bribed Skye's Empire. They paid Skye resources so that Skye would choose a different Empire.

Similar things happened in the higher world, but Skye had to regain all her lost respect since no one in the higher world knew her.

Yet, even in the higher world, Skye eventually just walked around, battling beasts.

She had truly lived as free as it could get. She battled whomever she wanted. She went wherever she wanted. She did whatever she wanted.

When Gravis heard Skye's story, he smiled warmly.

He and Skye truly had similar mindsets.

Skye valued freedom highly, just like Gravis.

The only difference was that Skye was truly free, while Gravis had responsibilities.

Gravis had to care for Stella, Liam, and Mortis.

Yet, that was the difference between a beast and a human.

Gravis could be just as free as Skye.

He only had to cut off his feelings for everyone close to him.

Yet, as a human, Gravis couldn't do that. His friends and Stella were more important to Gravis than living this free, at least for now.

Gravis knew that, eventually, he would become powerful enough to have both.

He simply had to grow more powerful.

Then, it was time for Azure, Styr, Ferris, and Sary to tell their story.

The four of them had quickly met in the higher world, and they created a Tribe.

Their story was very similar to Manuel's story, but with more direct war and fewer schemes.

Styr was the one that assumed the leadership.

In a way, Styr and Manuel were very similar.

Manuel was a mysterious, kind, and intelligent Sect Master.

Styr was an experienced, powerful, and awe-inspiring leader.

Manuel managed to gain the support of his Sect by being kind to the Sect, bringing more resources to the Sect, and being fair to everyone.

Styr managed to gain the support of his Tribe by impressing all the beasts with his bearing, experience, and power.

If one had to paint a picture of the two of them, Manuel would seem like a Heaven-chosen talent, illuminating his surroundings with light. Styr would be a middle-aged king with a thriving kingdom.

Manuel would be associated with the color white.

Styr would be associated with a regal purple.

Azure took up a similar position to the position Joyce had taken up in Manuel's Sect. Azure was the most powerful fighting force in the Tribe, at least openly.

Ferris was mostly busy helping beasts he liked or comprehending Laws, but most of the time, he was only looking at Laws.

Sary managed the beasts in the Tribe, and she personally populated the Tribe with impressive results.

Eventually, Sary found Meadow, and she quickly led her to the Tribe.

Meadow was the most powerful being in the Tribe for a time, but her slow growth meant that she was quickly overtaken.

In the end, Meadow basically only sat in the Tribe, doing absolutely nothing.

Sadly, not everything was smooth sailing.

One time, a Kingdom attacked their Tribe.

The battle between the two forces was incredible, but the Kingdom had made a devastating oversight.

Styr wasn't stupid.

He knew that they would be attacked at some point, and he had prepared for that occasion since the very beginning.

Ferris.

Ferris had only been looking at Laws all this time. Sometimes, he was also tempering himself, but that was the extent of what he was contributing to the Sect.

This meant that Ferris had completely focused on becoming more powerful, and when the Kingdom attacked their Tribe, Ferris unveiled his fangs.

Ferris won the war on his own!

After that, Ferris went back to comprehending Laws with excitement as the Tribe continued.

The Tribe became a Kingdom and eventually an Empire.

That was when things started to slow down.

It took a really long time to comprehend level six Laws for any beast at this stage, which meant that the power of their Empire was growing only very slowly.

They hadn't made much progress in 100,000 years.

And then, everything changed.

The hidden weapon of the Empire was finally finished!

Meadow had been far behind everyone in power, but as the Law Comprehension of other beasts stagnated, Meadow's Law Comprehension remained steady.

Meadow had comprehended several powerful level five Battle-Laws for her body, and she also comprehended the level six Law of Supreme Speed.

The ruler had returned!

As soon as Meadow comprehended the level six Law, the Empire funneled an unreal amount of resources into her, allowing her to become a Peak Immortal Emperor.

Meadow became unrivaled.

There were only two other beasts in the entire world that knew a level six Law, but they were helpless in front of Meadow.

Meadow had been protected by the Empire for a long time, but now, she was paying them back.

The world was theirs!

Gravis smiled as he listened to everything, but he also noticed some things.

'Only two beasts that know level six Laws?' Gravis thought. 'That's really different from Arc's world.'

In Arc's world, there were probably 10 – 20 humans that knew a level six Law, and there were probably just as many beasts.

This meant that Arc's world probably had around 40 beings that knew level six Laws.

On top of that, the average Battle-Strength of an Immortal Emperor in Arc's world was already one level higher than the average Battle-Strength of another world.

Meadow might have been able to reign supreme in her world, but in Arc's world, she would maybe not even have entered the top ten.

The difference was striking.

All the stories of Gravis' friends were finished.

Now, it was time for Gravis to share his story.

Chapter 1037 - 1037 – Orpheus

Now, it was Gravis' time to tell his story, and he started by telling everyone how he had started cultivating. He started this early because he had kept a lot of his life a secret from them.

Why?

Multiple reasons.

First of all, if his friends from the lower world heard that there were actually three levels of worlds above them, they might have become demotivated by the gigantic mountain they had to climb. Just hearing that Unity Realm Cultivators, legendary existences in the lower world, weren't even allowed to enter Gravis' home city, they would feel like trash.

Something similar was true for the beasts of the middle world. After all, if they heard that Immortals, people that could teleport, could only be beggars in the city, they might also get demotivated.

Another reason why Gravis kept a lot of his life secret was that he didn't want the beasts to feel horrible. After all, Orthar only cared about humans, not beasts.

Now, that dynamic had changed. Orthar gave every beast a Spirit when they became a Star God, effectively raising them to the same level as humans.

Gravis started telling them this story without keeping anything secret, except for the stuff that Orthar didn't allow him to say. Yet, Gravis quickly stopped his narration as he arrived at the spot where Orpheus had appeared.

"Right, father," Gravis said, looking at his father. "Where is Orpheus?"

The Opposer looked at Gravis with an unreadable expression.

No one was able to see the subtle emotional fluctuations in the Opposer's eyes, but Gravis had known him for long enough.

He noticed that his father was unsure how he should feel right now.

"Gravis, something happened," the Opposer said with a heavy voice.

Gravis felt like his heart had stopped.

Something happened?

Was his big brother dead?

"What happened?" Gravis asked.

"When you left for the higher world, Orpheus only had 20,000 years left before his next tribulation would take place, and his Battle-Strength wasn't strong enough to get through that tribulation," the Opposer said.

Gravis took a deep breath.

More than 20,000 years had passed since then.

"Orpheus wasn't exactly honest with you," the Opposer started.

"Let me tell him," a new voice said.

SHING!

A black-haired, middle-aged man appeared in the Opposer's room. Stars seemingly shone inside his eyes as his gaze told of incredible knowledge and experience.

It was Orpheus!

Gravis released a huge sigh of relief.

Orpheus was still alive!

For a second there, Gravis had been afraid that Orpheus had died.

"I was the one that lied to him, and I will be the one that will tell him," Orpheus said to his father.

The Opposer nodded.

Then, Orpheus looked at Gravis and sighed.

Gravis waited for Orpheus to explain with a complicated expression.

"Gravis," Orpheus said slowly. "Do you remember how I have told you about my family?"

Gravis nodded.

"Well, what I have told you isn't a lie, but things that have really happened. Yet, I wasn't honest with the time."

"In fact, my family had passed away a long time ago," Orpheus said.

Gravis felt pain inside his chest.

Orpheus had always been so happy when recounting the events with his family. Orpheus had truly shone with happiness whenever he told Gravis about things that his sons and daughters did.

"Was that even before I met you?" Gravis asked.

Orpheus nodded. "Long before that," he said. "I only had father and mother left, but that was it. Sadly, that wasn't enough to motivate me to continue living. So, I simply waited for the end of my life for around 300,000 years."

Orpheus sighed again. Talking about this topic wasn't easy for him. "I'm going to be honest with you here. The reason why I even met you back then was because I didn't care about my life anymore. Having one more person die wouldn't make a difference."

"I just didn't care."

Gravis also released a sigh.

"I didn't particularly care about you since I just expected you to die in the lower world. I just wanted to meet you and relive a part of my youth through you. That was also why I didn't see you off when you left. I simply didn't care," Orpheus said.

Gravis felt hurt.

When Gravis had met Orpheus for the first time, he had felt the unfamiliar feeling of brotherly love from him.

However, Gravis had been far too young back then. He hadn't been able to see through Orpheus' actual feelings.

In truth, Orpheus didn't care very much for Gravis.

Hearing that Orpheus hadn't really cared about him hurt Gravis quite a bit.

"Yet, you returned rather quickly," Orpheus said. "Your power surprised me a lot. I was especially shocked when I heard that you managed to attune your Spirit to lightning. On top of that, you managed to kill a lower Heaven while never having left the lower world. Something like this had never happened before."

Gravis nodded.

It was natural for Orpheus to be surprised.

How difficult was it to kill a lower Heaven?

In fact, it was impossible.

Why?

Because the lower Heaven knew a level three Law, the Law of Punishment Lightning.

It didn't matter how powerful the Ascender was. As long as they were in the lower world, they would be in the Initial Unity Realm.

No being in the Initial Unity Realm could be fast enough to evade the speed of Punishment Lightning, and no being in the Initial Unity Realm could resist a strike from Punishment Lightning.

Killing a lower Heaven was impossible.

The only reason why Gravis managed to accomplish this feat was due to his immunity towards lightning.

Gravis had become a perfect counter to Heavens.

"As soon as I heard of your accomplishments, I knew that your life wouldn't simply end," Orpheus said. "I realized that you were here to stay and that it was very likely that I would die before you."

"When I realized that, my feelings for you became genuine," Orpheus said. "Why? Because I knew that I wouldn't feel the pain of loss again since I would be the first one that died."

Orpheus sighed again. "However, I was too ashamed to tell you the truth about my life. When we spoke again, I was shocked that you remembered so many details about my family. This showed me how much you value me, making it more difficult for me to come out with the truth."

"I decided that I would tell you when you returned from the middle world since you would be more mature by then."

Orpheus sighed another time. "Yet, it became even more difficult to tell you the truth. You comprehended a Law that allowed you to easily sever emotional connections. I feared that the feeling of betrayal would make you sever our emotional connection."

Orpheus had referred to the Law of Freedom, but he didn't want to ruin the present people's chance of comprehending the Law by telling them the name. After all, it was easier to comprehend the Law of Freedom when one didn't know about its existence.

"So, in the end, I decided to run away from this pain," Orpheus said with difficulty. "I decided that I would die while you were away."

Gravis had no idea how he should feel right now.

The lies definitely stung.

Orpheus had essentially lied about everything.

At this point, Gravis also realized why his father held such complex emotions regarding Orpheus right now.

Did the Opposer care about Orpheus' lies towards Gravis?

No.

This was something between his two sons, and both of them weren't so fragile that something like this would break them apart.

No, the Opposer cared about something else.

How was Orpheus still alive?

How was someone that had nothing to live for still alive after being confronted with certain death?

Gravis had guessed why.

It was the same reason why Manuel was still alive.

Orthar.

Orthar was pushing Gravis' friends and family towards power.

Something like this seemed manipulative and horrible at first glance, but Orthar was doing these things perfectly.

Orthar wasn't forcing them to do anything.

He simply gave them a reason to live.

In essence, Orthar was giving them something that they valued so much that they would continue on their path to power.

One could even say that Orthar filled their life with happiness.

This was why the Opposer felt so conflicted.

The Opposer's feelings were no longer detached and cold, which made him care about his children. Yet, his greatest enemy was making the lives of his children far richer and more beautiful.

Even worse, the Opposer couldn't find anything bad about this.

Orthar essentially made them more powerful and happier.

What was there to complain about?

Fairness?

Who cared about fairness when one's family and friends were involved?

"However," Orpheus said. "I found someone new. I found someone that reminded me of my dead wife. It was love at first sight, but I was still unsure if I could enter the path of Cultivation again. After all, I had abandoned it for so long."

Orpheus looked at Gravis. "Yet, I remembered you. I remembered how you would feel when you heard about my betrayal and my death."

"You gave me the last push that I needed to enter the path of Cultivation again."

"At the same day I made my decision, I sought out my new wife, and we quickly fell in love with each other."

"When I fully let go of my emotions, I realized the worth of so many things. I realized what I had abandoned by giving up, and I regretted ever stopping on my path to power."

"I managed to comprehend two very powerful Laws, and these Laws allowed me to get over my tribulation and reach the Ancestral God Realm," Orpheus said.

Orpheus looked with a complex expression into Gravis' eyes.

"I don't deserve any forgiveness, but I still ask for it regardless. It's shameful of me to ask for something like that, but if it increases my chances of you forgiving me, I'm willing to be this shameless."

"Gravis, I'm sorry."

Chapter 1038 - 1038 – Accept Or Not?

Silence.

For several seconds, no one said a thing.

Gravis' friends kept themselves out of this since this had nothing to do with them.

Mortis looked at Orpheus coldly.

Orpheus had betrayed him, and it hurt Mortis deeply.

"Worthless."

As soon as these words were spoken, it was like the entire atmosphere had changed.

These words were spoken coldly and with hate.

Mortis had completely cut off Orpheus from his life.

This betrayal had hurt him deeply, and he had to repay Orpheus for that pain.

One should never forget that, while Mortis' personality had changed a lot, he was still one with lightning.

A betrayal from one of his family members was unforgivable to him.

However, Orpheus was quite clever while apologizing.

He had specifically lowered himself and had shown that keeping the Emotional connection between him and Gravis was important to him.

Severing this connection was enough for Mortis.

If Orpheus hadn't put much value on their emotional connection, Mortis would have found a different way to repay Orpheus for this pain.

One should never forget that Mortis was nice to his friends but absolutely ruthless to his enemies.

If Orpheus didn't feel sufficient pain by severing their emotional bond, Mortis would have grown more powerful until…

He would kill Orpheus.

Mortis was very similar to Gravis but very different in some regards.

However, Orpheus wasn't stupid.

He knew everything about Gravis' and Mortis' lives in the higher world, and he had planned accordingly. He knew that he had to get emotionally invested in Mortis.

Orpheus knew that he had to feel sufficient pain.

Otherwise, he would die.

Could Orpheus kill Mortis?

Yes, he was more than powerful enough.

However, that would bring problems upon problems.

Gravis would forget the Law of Sentience when Mortis died.

Heaven wanted Gravis to become powerful.

The Opposer wanted Gravis to become powerful.

Essentially, it was impossible for Orpheus to kill Mortis, and even if he managed it, this would make Gravis hate him.

Orpheus knew that if he offended Mortis, he would die.

However, this didn't mean that it hurt any less.

Orpheus had seen Mortis like another brother, just like Gravis. In essence, Mortis was a younger version of Gravis.

Orpheus grimaced as he heard Mortis' cold words.

The Opposer didn't say anything.

This was between the three of them, and it was their decision to make.

Gravis also didn't say anything.

Mortis was his own being, and Gravis would let him make his decisions.

As long as Mortis didn't try to kill Orpheus, everything would be fine.

However, Gravis also noticed how deliberate Orpheus had apologized.

In essence, this took away quite a bit from the purity and honesty of the apology. After all, Orpheus went in with a plan that increased the chances of success.

Depending on the viewpoint, one could even argue that this counted as a form of emotional manipulation.

Orpheus looked at Mortis with pain. "I'm sorry, Mo-"

"Shut up!" Mortis snapped with hate. "Don't play this stupid game with me. You know exactly why you haven't drawn my killing intent. You planned for everything, and I see that you are just as shrewd and scheming as all these hypocritical Sect Masters I met."

"Don't talk to me ever again. From this day forth, you are nothing more than a random person with a personality I despise."

Orpheus took another shaky breath.

He had expected this, but it was still difficult for him.

Orpheus wanted to apologize more to Mortis to regain their emotional bond, but he knew that it was too late.

Mortis was not a forgiving person.

This was also the reason why Orpheus had been so afraid of telling Gravis the truth in the past.

When Gravis had returned from the lower world, he had just gone over an emotional hurdle, which made him emotionally fragile. On top of that, Gravis had also been influenced by the temperament of lightning.

If Orpheus had told the truth back then, Gravis would have reacted very similarly to how Mortis had acted just now.

Gravis probably wouldn't have wanted to kill him, but Gravis would have hated Orpheus.

Orpheus looked away from Mortis with regret and concentrated on Gravis.

Gravis hadn't said anything yet.

Gravis was rubbing the bridge of his nose in stress.

Gravis would have had no issues in forgiving Orpheus if he hadn't apologized in such a planned and deliberate manner.

This took away a lot of the sincerity.

It felt less like an emotional apology and more like a scheme.

Gravis hated schemes.

"You planned this very thoroughly," Gravis commented after a while of silence.

"Yes, because I don't want to lose you," Orpheus said.

"It's like you don't want to come clean but want to keep our emotional bond alive," Gravis said.

"I know, and I'm sorry for that. This is too important to me, and I can't give up on our connection. Our connection is more important to me than coming clean," Orpheus said.

Gravis sighed with frustration.

"If you had told me after I returned from the lower world, we wouldn't have met another time in our life," Gravis said. "You knew that, which was why you didn't do so. In essence, you could even say that you took advantage of my naivety."

Orpheus didn't say anything.

"If you had told me after I returned from the middle world, I would have been forced to abandon you due to the issue with my lightning. I wouldn't have wanted to anger my lightning even more."

"However, this wasn't the reason why you didn't tell me. The main reason was that you wanted to flee from the pain of seeing our connection severed."

"In essence, you have acted like a weakling that flees from any form of justified retribution," Gravis said.

"Yes," Orpheus said. "I ran away from the pain because you are too important to me as a brother and friend."

Gravis sighed again in frustration.

"However, now, none of these dangers apply. I'm a true adult now, and I'm not influenced by the temperament of lightning. This gives you the best shot at success."

Gravis rubbed his temple as he tried to make a decision.

It wasn't easy.

He knew how Orpheus felt, but one shouldn't forget that Gravis also had emotions.

Orpheus' actions had hurt him deeply.

Gravis thought long and hard about what he should do.

Gravis specifically thought about the Emotional Laws and his goal of being happy.

Right now, Gravis definitely wasn't happy at all, but did it always have to be this way?

Accepting Orpheus' apology would still sour Gravis' feelings towards him but denying Orpheus' apology also wouldn't be easy since Gravis still saw him as his brother.

Both decisions had their advantages and disadvantages.

In the end, Gravis sighed.

"I'll accept it for now," Gravis said. "However, I would ask you to not look for me again. I need some time to get over this whole thing."

"When I'm ready to talk things over, I will contact you," Gravis said.

Orpheus' body shook slightly, and a sad smile appeared on his face.

"I know that it isn't easy, and thank you, Gravis. You don't know how much this means to me," Orpheus said.

In a way, Orpheus was looking at Gravis more like he was his son instead of his brother. After all, Orpheus had seen how Gravis had grown up from being a kid to being a powerful and mature Cultivator.

This was also one of the reasons why Gravis meant so much to Orpheus.

"Go," Gravis said, not looking at Orpheus.

"Yes, thank you, Gravis," Orpheus said.

SHING!

And then, Orpheus teleported away.

Mortis looked at Gravis with a raised brow.

He had expected Gravis to simply accept Orpheus' apology outright.

However, Gravis hadn't done so.

Instead, Gravis had gone a middle-way.

Sure, he had still somewhat accepted Orpheus' apology, but it wouldn't be so easy.

In essence, Orpheus and Gravis would have to start over from scratch, slowly mending their relationship over time.

Subconsciously, Mortis often saw Gravis as a bit of an emotional pushover. He was not nearly ruthless enough to his liking, which made Gravis appear a bit weak.

Mortis knew why Gravis had acted like this, and he knew that he was doing the right thing.

However, his subconscious feelings were still hard to eradicate.

After all, feelings often didn't follow logic.

When Orpheus was gone, Gravis only sighed.

Then, he looked back at his group of friends.

"Where was I?"

Gravis tried to not let this issue sour the mood.

Chapter 1039 - 1039 – Friends' Talents

Gravis tried to ignore the entire issue with Orpheus since he didn't want to sour the mood.

Everyone else also didn't talk about it anymore.

It was like nothing had happened.

Gravis continued his story after he had left for the lower world, but he kept all the details regarding Orpheus out.

He didn't want to talk about him right now.

Gravis' friends had already talked to each other a lot, which meant that even his friends from the middle world knew what Gravis had done in the lower world.

However, they still didn't know everything.

Hearing it from his perspective was quite different than hearing it from the perspective of his friends. On top of that, Gravis could now be far more honest with everything since they all arrived in the highest world.

When Gravis told everyone about how he had met Skye and why he had been willing to become close with Skye, everyone received a massive shock.

Some of them knew about the concept of Karmic Luck, but none of them knew why beasts had less Karmic Luck.

Gravis told them that the highest Heaven didn't care about beasts since they were only supposed to be fodder for humans.

The beasts among the group felt like they had received a hard hit.

They only existed to make humans more powerful?

Their destiny was to die to humans?

However, Gravis quickly informed them that every beast that managed to reach the Star God Realm would become just as valuable as humans since they would be able to condense a Spirit.

When they asked for more specifics, Gravis only told them that he couldn't answer.

These things had to remain a secret.

Arc also confirmed that they couldn't know.

Gravis could tell them, but they would immediately die.

In front of such opposition, Gravis' friends could only give up.

It seemed like they would never be able to learn these secrets.

However, in their mind, they knew that they still had a chance to learn these secrets.

They only had to become as powerful as the Opposer.

As long as they grew more powerful, they would eventually learn of these things.

Sadly, none of them knew that this was an empty dream.

They would receive the Brand, making it impossible for them to ever reach the Opposer's level.

Additionally, even if everyone had an insane amount of Karmic Luck, becoming a Heaven's Magnate was already far too difficult.

How many Heaven's Magnates were there in this world?

Not that many.

There may not even be ten.

Gravis wanted to believe that all his friends could become Heaven's Magnates, but it was an empty dream.

Gravis doubted that every single person in this room had the ability to become a Heaven's Magnate.

A lot of Gravis' friends already had issues in comprehending level six Laws. After all, nearly all of them only know a single one after having lived for over 200,000 years. This already constituted the longevity of a Peak Immortal Emperor.

They had all managed to comprehend the relevant Laws to reach the next Realm before their longevity ran out but comprehending the level six Laws was already cutting it close.

Most of them would need to go through at least one tribulation to comprehend a level seven Law. Sure, they would probably be able to survive one tribulation, but what about level eight Laws?

Level eight Laws were so ridiculously complex that hard work wouldn't be enough anymore to comprehend them.

One also needed talent.

Even if they managed to comprehend level nine Laws, they would need to condense the Law of the True World to become Heaven's Magnates.

This meant comprehending the Law of Control, Suppression, and Freedom.

These three Laws were already insanely difficult to comprehend.

Gravis' friends were already very powerful, which made it very unlikely for them to receive so much suppression that they would be able to comprehend the Law of Suppression.

Without the Law of Suppression, comprehending the Law of Freedom was nearly impossible.

In fact, Gravis only saw a slight glimmer of hope in six of his close ones.

Skye already knew the Law of Freedom and Suppression.

Stella also knew the Law of Freedom and Suppression.

Azure knew several Emotional Laws and had some insights into the Laws of Perceived Reality.

Manuel knew four of the five Laws of Perceived Reality, and he also knew several Emotional Laws.

Gravis didn't know what Laws Aris knew, but he probably also had a good shot.

Everyone else?

The chances were very slim.

Not even a ton of Karmic Luck could help them.

Ferris' mind was too simple to comprehend such abstract and complex Laws.

Joyce's mindset was not fit to comprehend the Emotional Laws and Law of Freedom.

Dorian didn't know the Law of Freedom.

Styr was already one of the weakest ones, and he had a ton of problems in comprehending level six Laws.

Sary's mindset was fitting for the Laws of Perceived Reality, but she only knew the Law of Danger and Safety.

Gravis had no idea about Meadow.

Liam was a wild card. Gravis wasn't sure if he could comprehend the Law of Freedom or not.

From what he had heard, Cera wasn't very powerful, making it unlikely for her to have any insights into Emotional Laws or Laws of Perceived Reality.

Gravis couldn't judge Yersi since she wasn't even an Immortal Emperor yet.

It looked grim for most of Gravis' friends. However, they should still be able to become Star Gods.

As Gravis thought about these things, he realized something.

Why were none of his friends Star Gods yet?

They should have had enough time to become Star Gods.

However, Gravis would wait to ask this question until he was done telling them about his life.

When Gravis reached the middle world, he got reminded of someone.

"Father, what about the Inferno Emperor?" he asked.

This was the red hawk that had suppressed Gravis for five years to offer him to Azure.

The Opposer looked at Gravis, and Gravis could see a bit of mirth in his eyes.

"One of your friends killed him," he said.

Gravis' eyes widened, and he looked at his friends.

Surprisingly, none of his friends spoke up. They all looked at each other, but everyone was just looking at each other with questioning gazes.

When Gravis noticed that, he raised an eyebrow.

"So, one of you killed him, but the guilty party doesn't even remember killing him," Gravis commented.

"Apparently," Azure said with a frown. "It can't be me since I remember every relatively powerful beast I met. It also can't be the humans among our group since they weren't in our world."

"Can't be me," Styr said. "I'm like Azure. I don't forget powerful beasts. On top of that, we know of him. We would have remembered if we saw him."

"Can't be me," Sary said. "His image is burned into my mind. After all, he was the one that saved me from the Darkness Ultimate. I would have immediately recognized him."

"So that leaves…" Gravis said as everyone looked at the excitedly smiling Ferris.

"What?" Ferris asked as he saw everyone look at him.

"Ferris, do you remember a white hawk that uses the Inferno Element?" Gravis asked.

"There are tons of them!" Ferris said with an excited smile.

"Did you fight some?" Gravis asked.

"Yeah, but they all died so quickly. My fire is smarter than their fire, and my fire eats their fire," Ferris said with a proud smile.

WROOM!

An orange flame appeared beside Ferris.

It was made of the Blaze Element.

The Blaze went to Ferris' body and combed his hair. Ferris' feet twitched in elation as he released a content sigh.

Ferris had managed to infuse a soul into his Blaze Element.

When Gravis saw that, he realized that this was actually very similar to himself.

Ferris' Blaze was essentially a living thing, and as soon as it saw other fire, it could consume it and become even more powerful.

One had to remember that beasts didn't have Spirits. This meant that their Elements didn't have any will on them anymore as soon as they no longer had physical contact with the beast. Something like this wouldn't work against a human opponent, but against a beast, Ferris' Soul Blaze would have the ability to absorb every kind of fire as long as it wasn't too powerful.

"So, you killed a couple of hawks that used the fire Element?" Gravis asked.

Ferris nodded thrice.

"Did any of them spark any interest in you?" Gravis asked.

"Nope," Ferris answered.

Gravis blinked a couple of times.

Then, he looked at his father.

"Was it Ferris?" he asked.

"It was Ferris," the Opposer answered with an amused smile.

"It wasn't even a fight."

Chapter 1040 - 1040 – Unachievable Star God Realm

Gravis had to laugh quite a bit.

He still remembered the last time he and the Inferno Emperor had met.

Back then, the Inferno Emperor said that he would wait for Gravis.

Yet, who would have thought that he would die to Ferris, and he wouldn't even be remembered by him.

Gravis hadn't particularly cared about the Inferno Emperor anymore. After all, so much time had passed for him.

Time made enmities and friendships weaker, and Gravis hadn't really thought of the Inferno Emperor for a long time.

And now, he didn't need to think about him anymore. After all, Ferris just killed him like a chicken.

Everyone had a good laugh as they heard how the powerful King that had suppressed Gravis had died to someone like Ferris.

Gravis continued his story, and when he came to his "fight" with the middle Heaven, everyone had to take a deep breath.

None of them had heard of Gravis' fight with the middle Heaven.

When they heard of the middle Heaven's power, they realized how incredibly powerful a Heaven was.

When Gravis had fought the lower Heaven, it hadn't appeared that incredible, but everything changed as soon as Gravis described the middle Heaven's power.

The middle Heaven's Battle-Strength was insane!

Most of them had only reached that level of Battle-Strength when they were already Immortal Kings, which couldn't possibly be compared to the middle Heaven.

In fact, since the middle Heaven even knew the Law of Divine Lightning, everyone would only have reached its Battle-Strength as soon as they comprehended their own level six Law, which was in the late Immortal Emperor Realm.

Having the Battle-Strength of a powerful Immortal Emperor at the Early Minor Circulation Immortal Realm was unfathomable!

It was insane!

Everyone involuntarily looked at Arc.

And this was the most powerful higher Heaven out of them all?

How powerful was this friendly-looking man!?

Arc only smiled back.

"Hey, Gravis," Ferris said with a burning interest. "Who's more powerful? You or Arc?" he asked.

"Pfft," Gravis snorted. "I'm absolutely helpless in front of Arc. He could swat me away like a fly."

Everyone took a deep breath out of shock.

All of them had above-average Battle-Strengths, which meant that none of them had ever learned the feeling of not being able to sense someone's power when they were in their own Realm.

If an average Cultivator met a legendary genius of Arc's world, they wouldn't be able to feel the legendary genius' power.

Since a legendary genius could jump three levels in Arc's world, it meant that genius could jump four levels in a normal world.

In short, to make someone unable to feel one's power, one had to be four levels of Battle-Strength above the other person.

They had only learned of this concept when they saw Gravis since he was the first being that was definitely incredibly powerful but appeared weak in front of them.

This could only mean that they couldn't feel Gravis' power.

In terms of actual power, Arc was probably two or three levels above Gravis.

If Gravis wanted to fight Arc on equal footing, Gravis would need to become a Star God first.

Then, while Gravis was in the first level of the Star God Realm, he could fight Arc on equal footing while he was a Peak Immortal Emperor.

Arc could jump levels against Gravis.

Arc was just that powerful.

"Give it time," Arc said with a smile. "The gap between us will close eventually."

Gravis' friends weren't stupid.

They knew what being unable to feel Gravis' power meant.

Yet, a being so much more powerful than them was absolutely helpless in front of Arc.

It was insane!

It made no sense!

They just couldn't comprehend how powerful Arc was.

After talking a bit more, Gravis continued his story.

When they heard of Gravis' issue with his lightning, they realized how tricky such a situation actually was.

However, they all knew how Gravis solved that issue as they looked at Mortis.

Mortis remained silent since he didn't have much to tell everyone.

One could say that his story would be very similar to the Opposer's story.

When they heard how Gravis had managed to elevate his power more and more, they finally realized how powerful Gravis actually was.

Gravis had managed to kill a Peak Immortal Emperor as a Late Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor.

This was a jump of six levels!

Gravis was probably four or five levels of Battle-Strength above them.

Gravis' friends, who had been prideful of their power, immediately felt their pride being shattered.

It was impossible to compare themselves to him.

The gap was simply too wide.

When Gravis arrived at the Gate of Death, they all felt like something mystical was being unveiled before their eyes.

Gravis explained to them how Death wasn't actually the opposite of life but the opposite of Energy.

Sadly, without coming into contact with Death, it was impossible to fully grasp its concept.

It was just too alien.

When they heard how Gravis had torn apart reality, their eyes widened in horror and astonishment.

Something like that shouldn't be possible!

How would that even work!?

When they heard about the power of the Law of Sentience, they also almost couldn't believe it.

Gravis could neutralize all Laws below the ninth level?

How!?

How was something like that even possible!?

Gravis had to skip the next part of the story since it involved the deepest secrets of existence.

He could only tell them that he had a talk with the highest Heaven, but that was already enough to shock all of them.

Gravis had talked with the most powerful existence!

When Gravis was done with his story, the entire atmosphere had changed.

It was like Gravis was no longer Gravis.

He was something else.

They didn't know what, but it felt like they and Gravis lived in different worlds.

This was very similar to how normal Cultivators perceived the Opposer.

He simply couldn't exist.

However, after throwing a couple of jokes, Gravis managed to lighten the atmosphere.

So what if he was powerful?

He was still Gravis, and they were still his friends.

After Gravis was finished with his story, he finally asked the question on his mind.

"Why are none of you Star Gods yet? You should have had the time," Gravis said.

As soon as Gravis asked that, the expressions of his friends became conflicted.

Gravis raised an eyebrow as he saw their reactions.

Was there something special about the Star God Realm, well, apart from the stuff he already knew?

Dorian scratched the back of his head as he looked at Gravis. "We can't reach the Star God Realm yet."

Gravis' eyebrows furrowed. "How come?" he asked.

"Well, it seems like the Star God Realm is far harder to achieve than any other Realm we have ever experienced," Dorian explained. "In fact, it's so hard to achieve that I fear that I might never reach it."

"It's simply too hard."

"It's that hard?" Gravis asked in shock.

Everyone nodded.

"Over 99% of Peak Immortal Emperors that reach this world will never become Star Gods," the Opposer said.

Gravis' eyes widened as he looked at his father. "Over 99%!? But don't all of the Peak Immortal Emperors that reach this world already know a level six Law?"

"They do," the Opposer said.

"However to become a Star God…"

"You need to comprehend a level seven Law."