Ch. 1211..1220
Chapter 1211 - 1211 Human Cooperation
"I disagree," Gravis answered.
The Sect Master furrowed her brows.
She hadn't expected that answer.
"So, you're saying that you're justified in attacking one of my Vice-Sect Masters with the intention to kill?" she asked with a cold voice.
"No," Gravis answered.
The Sect Master waited for clarification.
"According to your standards, I wouldn't be justified. In the mind of the Eternal Fire Sect, I was basically a visitor that demanded something without offering something in return. It was a demand, nothing else," Gravis explained.
"However, I'm not part of the Eternal Fire Sect, and my priorities are not your priorities."
"Your priorities are material. You are interested in resources and people. You're right in the fact that my action is going against the optimal way of getting cooperation and profits."
"However, as I've said, my priorities are not your priorities," Gravis repeated.
The Sect Master looked at Gravis with narrowed eyes. "And what are your priorities?"
Gravis looked into the Sect Master's eyes.
"My priorities are whatever I want," Gravis said. "I want to meet my friends, and if you stop me, I will do everything in my power to change things."
"Yes," the Sect Master said, "and the best way to accomplish that is to discuss the matter and talk."
"I don't want to discuss the matter," Gravis said. "I will meet my friends, and I don't care how you accomplish it."
"That's unreasonable," the Sect Master said. "You can't just demand something without anything in return."
"I just did," Gravis said. "Additionally, I don't need to offer anything. After all, you are the very people that are stopping me."
"You act like you have the right to stop me from meeting my friends, but you don't. People can meet each other whenever they want. You say that it's for security reasons, but that doesn't matter to me. I'm a single person, and the only thing I want to do is to see my friends and family."
"That's one of the most basic things in existence, and I should have no problems in meeting them. Yet, you artificially put a blockade in my way and act like tearing down the blockade is a kind act from your part that demands compensation."
"The same thing is true for your Law Comprehension Areas. You own them, and you demand resources so that people can look at them. Yet, who decided that you are the owner of these Law Comprehension Areas?"
"Yourself, and why does no one disagree with that assertion? Because you are more powerful than the people that are actually interested in these Law Comprehension Areas."
"So, by that logic, if I have the power to declare that I own the entire Eternal Fire Sect, I should also have the right to do so."
"However, I'm not doing that. The only thing I want is the ability to visit my friends. Your people have stopped me from doing so. They've stepped into my way while I was minding my own business. This doesn't concern them, and it makes no difference to them if I see my friends or not."
"It's not their business, but they stepped into my path anyway."
"Because of that, I don't think that I have acted incorrectly, even if I had killed the Vice-Sect Master."
"I do what I want, and everything and everyone that stands in my path will be warned to go to the side, and if they don't comply, I will simply walk through them," Gravis finished.
"The fact that I'm warning them is already more polite than necessary."
The Sect Master had let Gravis finish his explanation while looking at him with cold eyes.
She had expected that Gravis would be rational, but he wasn't.
"Ownership and actions are common conventions," the Sect Master said. "Everyone agrees on how ownership works and what right the owner of said things has. Saying that we only own our Law Comprehension Areas because we have the biggest fist is undermining the very basics of how our society works."
"If everyone acted and thought like this, we would all be barbarians that continually kill each other for the most minor of infringements. At that point, Sects might as well not exist."
"Your assertions are anarchistic pure to the degree that everyone you don't agree with becomes your enemy, making basic human cooperation impossible from your end. Even the beasts have integrated into human society in this world, which shows that having basic human cooperation is more efficient than a mindset saying that everyone is reliant on only themselves."
"Your ideology isolates you from everyone, leading you to a lonely road which will lead to a dead end. At some point, you won't be able to advance on your own anymore. At some point, you will meet enemies with a quantity beyond of what you can handle."
Gravis looked at the Sect Master as she finished her sermon. "And that's why you're not a Divine God already," he said.
The Sect Master's eyes opened wide in angered shock.
What did he just say?
Was he criticizing her!?
"What about the Opposer?" Gravis asked.
"What about the Heaven's Magnates?"
"What about the strongest Divine Gods?"
"Which one of those cares about organizations and basic human cooperation?"
"Have you not heard of what had happened in the most recent Heaven Clash? The Peak Divine Gods handed over Peak Sects like they were nothing more than some fancy toys. The strongest organizations in the world are nothing more than fancy trinkets to these people."
"All of them don't need your basic human cooperation. The power of a single person is enough to overwhelm all other organizations, which shows the truth of what organizations actually are."
"They are a gathering of beings, which gives them protection against enemies that are beyond the individual's power. The very few Ancestral Gods that can fight three levels above themselves can't win against two Ancestral Gods of the same power as them, forcing them to find cooperation and protection."
"For over 99.99% of all beings, your idea of cooperation is the most optimal path to power."
"However, I'm not part of the 99.99%."
"My Battle-Strength is great enough that everyone that could threaten me doesn't attack me because whatever I own doesn't even enter their eyes. Additionally, I only go against the people and organizations I can fight."
Gravis looked at the Sect Master with a cold expression.
"Your Eternal Fire Sect is the home of my friends, which means that I don't want to go against you."
"However, the Eternal Fire Sect doesn't belong to my friends yet, which means that not everything is under their control. Even more, the Eternal Fire Sect is so big that a minor wave on one part of the lake doesn't reach the other side."
"Your Sect is too big and diverse, which makes it hard for your Sect to achieve Unity."
"The only ones that will care about the death of the Vice-Sect Master are his friends, family, and you."
"You can cling to your belief of basic human cooperation, but that won't change my mind and my actions."
"I will have the opportunity to see my friends whenever I want."
"Your cooperation isn't a requirement."
"I'm only letting you know out of politeness."
Chapter 1212 - 1212 Right And Wrong
The more the Sect Master heard Gravis talk, the angrier she got.
This was a level one Ancestral God!
Yet, he acted like he was a Divine God that could flatten the Eternal Fire Sect whenever he wanted.
The entire Eternal Fire Sect was nothing in his eyes, and he treated them like insects that had no choice in the matter.
They could only step out of his path or become his enemy.
The Sect Master could accept it if Gravis had the power to fight a level nine Ancestral God. After all, their Ancestor was a level nine Ancestral God, and the strongest person in a Sect dictated the Sect's overall prestige and power.
Yet, he was only a level one Ancestral God!
So what if he could fight a level six Ancestral God? That was still four levels below a level nine Ancestral God!
Someone like that was only equal to a Vice-Sect Master, and a Vice-Sect Master couldn't walk all over the Eternal Fire Sect like they were merely a pebble on their path!
"You're unreasonable," the Sect Master said with a voice that hid anger.
"I am," Gravis answered. "Nearly everyone in the world would believe me to be unreasonable. 99% of all perceptions see me as an unreasonable person."
"However, that doesn't matter. Their opinions don't matter, and their perceptions don't matter."
"Know why?"
"Because no matter how many perceived realities band together, they can't make a dent in objective reality."
"It changes nothing."
"I will do what I want."
The Sect Master was about to say something, but Gravis immediately stopped her.
"This conversation ends now," Gravis said.
The Sect Master's rage immediately exploded.
She was far more powerful than Gravis, but Gravis acted like he was her superior.
She had never been disrespected to such a degree by someone this weak!
"I will meet my friends whenever I want, and I won't pay any reparations for whatever you think I did wrong."
"I will do what I want, when I want."
"Step out of my path or get trampled."
"That's the extent of control you have over this situation."
"And if you decide to remain in my path, I will have no problems with going somewhere else, becoming a level three Ancestral God, and returning to kill you."
"And there's nothing you can do about it," Gravis slowly finished.
Gravis slowly turned around, intending to leave.
At that moment, the Sect Master's mind was going wild with rage and frustration.
Her mind was going through all possible scenarios.
She was confident that she could kill Gravis.
Even if Gravis had such a powerful Battle-Strength, he couldn't possibly escape from someone eight levels above him.
If Gravis took one step, she could take several thousand!
If Gravis had started one calculation, she would have already finished several thousand!
If Gravis had lifted one stone, she would have already lifted several mountains!
The Sect Master's confidence in her own power told her that she could kill Gravis right then and there.
However, the Sect Master's logical mind told her that it couldn't be that easy.
As she had stated previously, Gravis couldn't be stupid. That was impossible just based on his ridiculous Battle-Strength. Someone like that must have achieved things that everyone else in the world would have deemed as impossible.
So, even though it was impossible that Gravis could escape in the Sect Master's mind, she couldn't say that Gravis couldn't accomplish the impossible.
There was a 99% chance that Gravis would die in her mind.
However, what if the 1% chance happened?
If she killed Gravis, what would she get?
Relief of her anger.
What if she failed?
…
There were too many dangers to count.
Gravis hadn't even moved before all these thoughts had shot through the Sect Master's mind.
In the end, the Sect Master could only come to the conclusion that the danger was too great.
She couldn't possibly allow herself to put the Sect into such danger.
However, that only resulted in her rage and frustration exploding even more.
She was far more powerful than Gravis.
Yet…
Yet!
Yet, she couldn't do anything on her own!
She couldn't risk it!
She had too much to lose!
She wanted to attack and kill Gravis so very badly, but she couldn't possibly risk her Sect like that!
The Sect Master had a mind with a high affinity for the Law of Control.
Sadly, her mind didn't have an affinity for the Law of Freedom.
'However, even if I can't stop him, the Ancestor can!' she thought.
The Sect Master readied her emblem, but before she contacted the Ancestor, she stopped.
She remembered the last time she had called the Ancestor.
It had been when Orpheus had stood opposite her. Back then, Orpheus had broken a rule of the Sect, and he wasn't willing to accept any punishment.
Hadn't she been just as frustrated back then?
Wasn't this situation nearly identical to the situation back then with Orpheus?
Back then, she had also called the Ancestor.
What had the Ancestor done?
He had rebuked her and explained to her that using one's power wasn't wrong.
If someone had the power to break the rules, they could break them.
Yes, the Ancestor was the strongest being in the Ancestral Fire Sect, but if he weren't willing to act, the strongest person in the Sect would be the Sect Master.
That would be her.
What would the Ancestor say when she disturbed him over this level one Ancestral God?
…
He would rebuke her just like she had rebuked the Vice-Sect Master earlier.
Even more, he would throw the same words she had said to the Vice-Sect Master right back into her face.
He would ask what the potential risks and rewards were.
Emotional relief and honor.
Too many risks to count.
Then, he would ask her if that was a good risk-reward ratio.
She would say no.
Then, he would ask her why she had done that.
What would she answer?
The Sect Master's anger vanished as it transformed into frustration.
However, she wasn't frustrated with Gravis anymore, but with herself.
What would her answer be?
In comparison to the Vice-Sect Master, she knew her answer.
Vanity.
She wanted to deal with Gravis because he had completely overthrown her prestige, power, and control.
In her mind, she deserved to walk all over him.
However, in her mind, people vastly more powerful than her also deserved to walk all over her.
Yet, she hadn't seen Gravis as such a person.
She had only looked at this current power, not at his future power.
Even more, if Gravis could already escape from her, it meant that his future power was already enough to resist her to some degree.
She thought she had control over Gravis, but she didn't.
So, what could she do?
Nothing.
Literally nothing.
Attack him?
Too risky.
Threaten him with his friends?
That wouldn't work. Additionally, she would anger a huge part of the Sect with that action.
Call the Ancestor?
That would only backfire.
What could she do?
What options were available?
…
Step out of his path.
That was the only option.
Gravis was unreasonable.
He demanded something from them that belonged to them without offering anything in return.
He said what he wanted, and he would get what he wanted.
His behavior was hostile, uncooperative, unreasonable, and disgusting.
Yet, there was nothing the Eternal Fire Sect could do.
Fifty thousand years ago, Gravis hadn't even entered the eyes of the basic guards of the Eternal Fire Sect.
Now, he had grown to the point that the entire Eternal Fire Sect could do nothing but comply.
One of the most powerful Ancestral God Sects in the world was completely helpless in front of a mere level one Ancestral God.
Gravis teleported away, and the Sect Master did nothing to stop him.
The Sect Master deflated as she felt like she had become far weaker than before.
She had talked about so many things.
She had talked about cooperation, society, ideology, and so on.
She had been in the right.
All her words had been mature, planned, thought-through, and could stand against any verbal offense.
She had acted as the perfect Sect Master.
She had deescalated the issue, and she had acted correctly.
Yet, all of that didn't matter.
It was all worthless.
In front of power, all of that was absolutely worthless.
Right and wrong didn't matter as long as the other party was more powerful than oneself.
So what if they were wrong?
They would win anyway.
Being right didn't change a thing.
In the end, the Sect Master contacted some Elders.
"This person can come and go whenever he wants. No inspections are required."
Then, she left and went back home.
She had a lot to think about.
Chapter 1213 - 1213 Darkest Stygian Sect
Gravis left the Eternal Fire Sect without any fear.
He had known from the very beginning that he could do what he wanted.
Gravis knew the True Law of Control and the True Law of Freedom, which meant that he knew more about these two things than any Peak Divine God in existence.
He knew exactly how much control he had, and he also knew exactly how much control the other side had.
In a fight, the Sect Master of the Eternal Fire Sect could sneeze Gravis out of existence, but Gravis was still the one in control.
As long as she couldn't stop Gravis from escaping, he would be the one in control.
If she had decided to attack, Gravis would have simply activated his Law of Perceived Reality. Sure, the Sect Master would be able to see through it if she questioned her own perception, but she wouldn't do that.
In her perception, she would have killed Gravis.
Then, she would have left.
Gravis wouldn't even need to move.
Then, Gravis could simply come and go by keeping himself hidden with the Law of Perceived Reality.
He wouldn't even need to fight her at this very moment.
He could simply continue on with his life, find his next tempering opportunity, and after that, he could simply become a level three Ancestral God and fight her as his next tempering opportunity.
Nothing the Sect Master could do mattered to Gravis.
Gravis would be free to do whatever he wanted to do anyway.
The only difference would be the fate of the Sect Master.
She had never been a danger.
She had only been a minor hindrance.
However, the Sect Master quickly left Gravis' thoughts as he concentrated on something else.
Gravis arrived at the nearest city and went to the Teleportation Formation Array.
After paying a lot of money, Gravis was teleported to the southwest of the Core Region of the highest world.
After arriving at his destination, Gravis teleported a couple of times. All the different Ancestral Gods overlooking the Teleportation Formation Array didn't notice him.
After an hour, Gravis arrived at a building with unreasonable proportions.
Just the walls of the building were millions of kilometers tall. It was completely black, and it had no decorations. In essence, it only looked like a gigantic wall in Gravis' path.
Gravis paused as he admired the building.
It was ridiculously gigantic.
Even more, it was made of Hard Complex Materials, which was an indescribable waste of resources.
Formation Arrays littered the building with many different forms of restrictions.
Some of these restrictions even used the Major Laws of Control and Suppression to counter the Major Law of Freedom. This meant that the Major Law of Freedom wouldn't grant one access to circumvent the suppressive forces.
No one below the Divine God Realm could sneak into this building.
After all, no one below the Divine God Realm knew the True Law of Freedom, right?
Well, Gravis did.
Initially, Gravis had planned to enter this building via the official route. He could simply use his Major Law of Perceived Reality to appear like a normal Ancestral God, and he would be let in.
But hey, since he already knew the True Law of Freedom, why not use it?
Gravis went to the wall of the building.
The Formation Arrays ignored Gravis, even when he entered their area of effect.
Then, Gravis transformed into Void Lightning and used the True Law of Hard Complex Materials to silently move through the tiny openings in the wall.
A normal person would need to use the Law of Space to teleport through the wall, but the Formation Arrays would pick up the vibrations of space. Sure, Gravis could still hide with the Law of Perceived Reality, but why should he go through that trouble? Simply going through the wall was easier.
Gravis materialized inside the building, and he immediately saw his new surroundings.
Black.
Pure black.
Absolute darkness.
Gravis' eyes became completely useless in this overwhelming darkness.
Even more, Gravis' Spirit Sense also became nearly useless.
He could only perceive the surrounding 50 kilometers with his Spirit Sense, which basically meant blindness to someone that could normally perceive millions of kilometers of their surroundings.
Whoom!
Gravis activated his True Law of Freedom with his Spirit Sense, and the surroundings immediately cleared up.
Restricting one's perception counted as a form of suppression, and the True Law of Freedom didn't care about suppression. To the True Law of Freedom, suppression didn't exist.
Gravis looked at his surroundings with newfound clarity.
Emptiness.
There was nothing.
No grass, no trees, no animals, no mortals, no light, no earth, no water.
There was only air, the ground, which was made of the same material as the walls and ceiling, and darkness.
However, Gravis could see some Cultivators. Some were walking blindly in the darkness. Some were sitting down with open eyes. Some were even walking around with drawn weapons.
None of them could perceive their surroundings.
They were all blind in this place.
How powerful were all of these Cultivators?
They were all Ancestral Gods.
'The reports were pretty accurate,' Gravis thought. 'The Darkest Stygian Sect is really all about the True Law of Heavenly Darkness.'
This was the Darkest Stygian Sect, a Sect on the same level as the Eternal Fire Sect.
However, in terms of ideology and management, the Darkest Stygian Sect was the complete opposite of the Eternal Fire Sect.
The Eternal Fire Sect increased its power via faction-based conflict inside its borders. The Eternal Fire Sect valued clever and strategic leaders and united factions over individual power.
The individual adapted to the collective.
In comparison, the Darkest Stygian Sect increased its power via individual conflict inside its borders. It was forbidden to create groups or factions bigger than three members. Even more, members of the same faction were forbidden from helping their colleagues if they were in a battle.
The only safe place in the Darkest Stygian Sect was the very center. That was where the headquarters of the Darkest Stygian Sect lay.
Inside the headquarters, some Formation Arrays were used to make it easier to perceive one's surroundings. That was also the only place where fighting was prohibited.
Everywhere else was a land of pure hostility and destruction.
The only way to get resources, gain Law Comprehension, and gain a higher position in the Sect was to kill the other Sect Members.
Everyone would enter a darkness-filled land filled with hostility.
Seeing another human in this land was not an occasion for joy and companionship but for stress and fear.
If one saw another human, a fight would most likely break out.
If one side was stronger than the other side? The stronger side would simply kill the weaker side to gain resources and Contribution Points.
If both sides were equal? That would be amazing tempering.
If both sides didn't know each other? They would just fight.
If both sides knew each other and didn't like each other? They would fight.
The only occasion when no fight broke out was when two friends or allies saw each other, and even that wouldn't be without any danger.
After all, backstabbing and betrayal existed.
The building surrounding the Darkest Stygian Sect was only around ten million kilometers wide, which would normally be inside every Ancestral God's Spirit Sense. However, with this darkness around everyone, these ten million kilometers were absolutely gigantic.
Thousands upon thousands of years would pass between each conflict.
The only way to orient oneself in this darkness was a small emblem everyone carried, which showed one the way to the center of the Darkest Stygian Sect.
What would the disciples do between fights?
They would take out Virtualization Arrays and comprehend Laws.
The Darkest Stygian Sect only had a single Law Comprehension Area, but they had several very talented Formation Array Masters that knew to create an incredible amount of different Virtualization Arrays.
The Smart Cultivator couldn't even attempt to rival the Darkest Stygian Sect in terms of Virtualization Arrays.
Even more, the Virtualization Arrays were exceedingly cheap for the disciples. One dead disciple could pay for at least one Virtualization Array for a level seven Law, and that was without counting the personal wealth these disciples carried with them.
However, it was still dangerous to comprehend Laws here.
If two people met, they would see each other at the same time.
The one that was comprehending a Law would need longer to react than the person that was currently on the hunt.
That was why it was very risky to comprehend Laws here.
However, the disciples were forbidden from comprehending their Laws in the safe center of the Sect.
It was a land of danger, stress, fear, suppression, and apathy.
Many different Laws on the more apathetic side of the emotional and perceived reality categories were far easier to comprehend here.
It was also a fantastic place to increase one's Will-Aura.
Even more, every disciple got access to a Law Comprehension Area for a level nine Law, free of charge.
All this darkness?
At the center of the Sect was a Law Comprehension Area for the level nine Law of Heavenly Darkness, and it continually poured out Heavenly Darkness.
The building would isolate the Heavenly Darkness, essentially creating a gigantic Law Comprehension Area for the Law of Heavenly Darkness.
A disciple could sit down at any place in the Sect and try to comprehend the level nine Law of Heavenly Darkness.
Heavenly Darkness was everywhere.
In the Darkest Stygian Sect, the collective adapted to the individual.
Individual power was more important than everything else.
Chapter 1214 - 1214 – Meeting
Why was Gravis in the Darkest Stygian Sect?
Well, he was here to visit someone, and he had immediately found them.
At a random place inside the Darkest Stygian Sect sat a level four Ancestral God with pure black hair and an ominous, dark aura.
It was like the person had become one with the surrounding darkness.
He radiated danger and apathy without end, and everyone would flee from him as soon as he looked at them.
He was essentially the hegemon of this place.
However, Gravis only smirked when he saw him.
'Quite clever,' Gravis thought.
Gravis looked at the man from a distance.
'He hasn't even noticed me. Quite ballsy of you. Seems like you're pretty confident in your security. You essentially only concentrate on comprehending the True Law of Heavenly Darkness. You don't even care about your surroundings.'
'Bad idea.'
Gravis slowly moved closer to the man, keeping himself perfectly hidden with his True Law of Control and his Law of Perceived Reality.
Then, when Gravis arrived directly behind the person, his smirk widened.
Gravis slowly leaned forward as he prepared his saber.
"Boo!"
The person's eyes shot open.
BOOOOOM!
Heavenly Lightning exploded around him, destroying everything in his surroundings.
At the same time, he used the True Laws of Space and Time to move into the distance at ridiculous speeds.
He was shocked beyond all reason as he escaped.
How did someone attack him in here!?
He quickly turned around to look at his attacker, and his eyes widened.
Gravis only stood in the explosion of Heavenly Lightning as he absorbed it.
"Thanks for the meal," Gravis said with a smirk.
The person looked with shock at Gravis.
Then, he broke out into laughter.
Gravis also broke out into laughter.
"Man, you nearly startled me to death!" the man shouted with laughter as his aura and appearance changed.
The black hair gave way to blonde hair, and three additional eyes appeared on his face.
His Realm also dropped from the fourth level of the Ancestral God Realm to the first level.
It was Arc.
"You were a little too focused on comprehending the Law of Heavenly Darkness," Gravis said with a smirk. "I couldn't resist."
Arc walked back to Gravis and punched him on the shoulder.
"You've become incredibly powerful," he said.
In fact, Arc was still in shock because of the power he felt from Gravis.
Arc had expected that Gravis would one day catch up to him, but he hadn't expected that it would happen this quickly.
At the moment, Arc felt a feeling of mortal danger emanating from Gravis.
Arc had never seen anyone with such a powerful Battle-Strength, and he knew that a fight with Gravis could go either way.
Gravis had truly caught up to him.
Even more, this was only Gravis. Mortis wasn't even here, and Arc already felt like Gravis had a real shot at killing him.
If Mortis was added to the mix…
"A lot of stuff happened since we last talked," Gravis said with a smirk.
Then, Gravis took out some coffee and sat down.
Arc also sat down opposite Gravis, and they shared a cup of coffee.
"I'm honestly shocked that you managed to catch up to me in only a million years. Your speed of growth is ridiculous," he said.
Funnily enough, everyone else would think that Gravis' speed of growth was only average.
Sure, he was getting through the Realms without tribulation, but he always only reached the next Realm shortly before his tribulation would take place.
There were definitely people in this world that were younger than Gravis that could fight him.
However, these people only looked at the absolute power of the Cultivator, not only at the Battle-Strength.
In terms of absolute power, Gravis was only growing with average speeds, but in terms of Battle-Strength, Gravis was growing at impossible speeds.
How long would a normal Cultivator need to gain the ability to jump only three levels?
They would need to comprehend several level eight Laws as level one Ancestral Gods.
How long would that take?
Long.
Very long.
Even more, every additional jump in level would take several times longer, and in order to reach Gravis' power, one needed to know several level nine Laws.
How long would a normal level one Ancestral God take to comprehend several level nine Laws?
Impossibly long.
How long had the Opposer taken to reach Gravis' Battle-Strength?
Ten million years!
How long would a normal person take?
Longer.
Yet, Gravis had managed to catch up to Arc in only about a million years.
It was ridiculously fast!
"So, you're comprehending the True Law of Heavenly Darkness, right?" Gravis asked.
Arc nodded with a smile. "Yes, it's amazing! I can finally actually look at Laws! I no longer need to just randomly guess. The difference is astounding!"
Gravis sighed. "I still can't believe that you managed to comprehend so many Laws by simply guessing. I can't even imagine how tedious, frustrating, and annoying that must have been. No matter how much I think about it, it still feels impossible to do something like that."
"Time, Gravis," Arc said. "With enough time, you can do everything, but you already know that. After all, I already feel the power of the True Law of Time on you."
Gravis nodded with a smirk. "You would be surprised how I managed to comprehend it."
"How?" Arc asked.
"By fighting you."
Arc became shocked and confused.
Fighting him?
How?
Why?
He didn't remember fighting Gravis.
When Gravis saw Arc's expression, he broke out into laughter again.
"Let me explain."
Then, Gravis narrated his experiences in the Heaven's Trial, but he kept the sensitive things to himself. In the Heaven's Trial, Gravis and Mortis had learned of things that no other being in this Cosmos was allowed to know.
"Man, Mortis really got the shaft in the Heaven's Trial," Arc said with a laugh when Gravis told him about the third trial.
Gravis laughed and nodded. "Yeah, but he managed to get through it."
Then, Gravis narrated his fight with Arc's copy.
"Huh, my copy even summoned Charlie," Arc said.
"Charlie?" Gravis asked.
"The general you fought," Arc clarified. "I call him Charlie."
"Charlie," Gravis repeated with a laugh. "The name is so incredibly normal. It doesn't fit that imposing general at all."
"Hey, Charlie is cute. Don't insult him!" Arc said.
After hearing about the end of the fight, Arc nodded. "Yep, that copy was about as powerful as I have been at that level."
Then, Arc smirked. "However, I became more powerful in the meantime."
WHOOOM!
An oppressive force of gravity wrapped around Gravis, and Gravis' eyes opened wide in surprise.
"The True Law of Gravity?" Gravis asked.
Arc nodded with a smirk. "Powerful, isn't it?"
Gravis also nodded. If Arc's copy had known that Law, Gravis and Mortis would have died.
Then, Gravis smirked. "However, I have also grown substantially since then."
"I noticed," Arc said. "If you were still as powerful as you were back then, I wouldn't feel such danger emanating off you. I presume your growth comes from the fifth trial?"
Gravis nodded. "Yep, in the fifth trial, I fought a copy of my father when he had been a level nine Star God."
That surprised Arc.
Arc was ancient, and he knew a lot of things.
However, the Opposer had come to power even before Arc had been born.
So, Arc had no idea about the Opposer's power.
"How powerful was he?" Arc asked.
"Very powerful," Gravis said with a smile.
Gravis narrated his fight with the Opposer, and Arc nodded in shock and appreciation.
"Honestly, I think he could have beaten me. His True Law of Freedom would have made him immune to my Laws of Space, Time, and Gravity. Even more, his Will-Aura together with his Laws would have made it nearly impossible for me to move."
"Even Charlie wouldn't have been able to do anything to him. Your father would have simply suppressed him. Then, he would have shot past him, and he would have killed me with one explosive strike."
"It wouldn't even be a fight, and the main reason for that is his True Law of Freedom. I mainly fight by keeping everyone at bay until my Law of the True World can create enough living beings to make Charlie basically invincible."
"However, your father would have killed me before that could take place."
"Now, if I had some preparation time, I would definitely win, but I can't ask for preparation time in a fight."
"Your father is really powerful, Gravis," Arc said with a smile.
For some reason, Gravis felt happy when Arc praised his father.
"I know," Gravis answered.
Chapter 1215 - 1215 – Eternal Fire Sect
Gravis and Arc talked about many different things for a long time, but eventually, Gravis left.
It was nice to see Arc again, and Gravis felt quite proud of his new power.
Gravis still remembered how he had evaluated Arc's Battle-Strength back in the higher world.
At that time, Gravis hadn't been that long in the higher world, and he had thought about how powerful Arc had been. Back then, Arc already had access to the Major Law of the True World and the Law of Heavenly Lightning. This meant that he had had access to at least two level nine Laws.
When Gravis had thought about these things, he had just become an Immortal King, and he hadn't even comprehended a level five Law yet.
A ton of level four Laws versus at least two level nine Laws.
The difference couldn't be overstated.
Defeating Arc while being on the same level had seemed absolutely impossible.
And now?
Now, Gravis could fight Arc equally.
He had made the impossible possible.
On the path of Battle-Strength, Gravis had walked past all the Cultivators to reach the illustrious Heavens. Then, he had walked past them and stood at Arc's side at the very front.
Only the Opposer and Orthar were left in the distance.
There was nothing between Gravis and the two of them.
This would be the last sprint.
'But for now, I have to visit someone else,' Gravis thought with a smirk.
Gravis left the Darkest Stygian Sect and traveled back to the Eternal Fire Sect.
When Gravis reached the border of the Eternal Fire Sect, a couple of Ancestral Gods looked at him, but they didn't stop him.
They didn't even interact with him.
It was like Gravis didn't exist to them.
Gravis wasn't surprised by this situation. After all, he had known exactly what would happen as soon as he talked with the Sect Master.
Gravis went back to Manuel's faction.
"Hey, do you know where Orpheus is?" Gravis asked.
"I think he's focusing on the Mixed Elements," Manuel answered. "He should be in some Law Comprehension Area."
Gravis nodded and left Manuel's faction again.
Then, he traveled to the core of the Eternal Fire Sect.
'I've never actually been at the true headquarters of the Eternal Fire Sect,' Gravis thought. 'Wonder what it looks like.'
After a couple of hours of traveling, Gravis saw the headquarters of the Eternal Fire Sect for the first time, and he thought that the name fit the Sect quite well.
Fire.
So much fire.
There was so much fire that it was ridiculous.
The houses were made of a material that looked like obsidian, and violent fire columns and firewalls shot out of the side of the streets.
There was a street going through the middle of the Eternal Fire Sect, and at its edges, the violently burning firewalls shot high into the sky. It was like someone had poured a line of gasoline along the road and lit it up, except for the fact that the fire here was burning with absolutely unreal intensity.
There were some gaps in the firewalls whenever the street split into different streets. There were also some small gaps for the houses on the side of the street.
The houses were also surrounded by violent fire coming out of the earth, only leaving the entrance open.
From the sky, the firewalls looked like thin and brightly shining lines going through the Eternal Fire Sect. It was almost like the lines created Formation Arrays.
'Wait, they actually do!' Gravis thought with surprise. 'They are actually Formation Arrays!'
The sky had been completely darkened by the overbearing black smoke coming out of the burning Sect, but the surroundings definitely couldn't be described as dark. The fire was simply way too bright.
When Gravis looked at the fire more closely, he felt its sheer power.
The fire was way more powerful than he had believed.
'If I touch any of the firewalls, I will die,' Gravis realized with shock.
This fire was Heavenly Fire, but the power of higher tier Elements and Laws were always capped by the quantity of Energy they used. The surrounding Heavenly Fire on Gravis' fight with the younger version of his father had been at the level of a level nine Star God. That was why Gravis had been able to resist it.
However, the Heavenly Fire in the Eternal Fire Sect was way more powerful. According to Gravis' estimate, the Energy this Heavenly Fire burned was equivalent to a level six Ancestral God.
So, the power of the Heavenly Fire here equaled the power a level six Ancestral God would be able to unleash while not using any fancy attacks. The Ancestral God would only unload their Element.
It was a very rudimentary way of attacking, but it was still an attack with a level nine Law. If Gravis wanted to survive touching the fire, he would need to reach the level four or level five Ancestral God Realm first. Then, he would need to use all of his defensive Laws, and then he could finally resist the Heavenly Fire.
However, a normal Cultivator wouldn't have it that easy. In fact, if someone shoved the Sect Master into the fire, she would probably get severely injured if she didn't die.
Only the Ancestor would have the power to ignore the Heavenly Fire.
This meant that not a single person in the Sect, except for the Ancestor, could allow themselves to touch the fire.
It was ridiculous.
Every part of the Sect was a death trap. One wrong step and one would die. One slightly disgruntled person and one would be shoved into the fire on the side.
Every single person in the Sect had the ability to kill someone else by just shoving them to the side.
In a way, this entire thing was unreal.
Individual power didn't even matter that much in this place. If someone weaker took someone stronger by surprise, it wouldn't be difficult to shove them to the side. Weaker people had the opportunity to kill far stronger people.
So, how could one survive in such a place?
Don't offend anyone.
Always be careful.
Join a faction.
Background and loyalty were more important than individual power here. What did individual power matter if someone far weaker than you could kill you?
'The polar opposite of the Darkest Stygian Sect,' Gravis thought.
"Hey! Flying is forbidden!"
Gravis furrowed his brows and looked down to the streets. A young man with red hair was currently glaring at Gravis.
"It's forbidden?" Gravis asked.
"Yes, it's forbidden! Come down here!" the man shouted.
Gravis scratched the side of his head and looked around.
Then, Gravis noticed something and smirked.
"Is it really forbidden, or is it just that you can't fly?" Gravis asked.
"Both!" the man shouted with annoyance. "Get down here, or I'm telling the Elders!"
Gravis only smirked.
Gravis had noticed that there were several Formation Arrays suppressing the Sect. They stopped teleportation by freezing space with the Major Law of Space and the Major Law of Time, and they stopped flying with the Major Law of Gravity.
This was why it was impossible to fly and teleport in this place. One could only walk.
Well, except for Gravis.
The True Law of Freedom wasn't bound by anything.
That was why Gravis was the only flying person in the entire Sect right now.
Chapter 1216 - 1216 – Public Opinion
Gravis looked at the person standing on the street, glaring at him.
He was a level three Ancestral God, and his power was above average.
"The Elders aren't blind," Gravis said with a smirk. "If I broke any rules, they would have already contacted me."
The man really didn't like Gravis' answer.
How did this mere level one Ancestral God dare to question him!?
"Get down, or you might run into an accident later," the man said with a threatening voice.
Gravis only smirked at the man on the ground. "Excuse me, you're a bit far away, and it's difficult to hear you. Could you come up here and tell it to me face to face?"
Their exchange had already drawn a lot of other people over, and they were watching Gravis with shock.
How could he fly?
Only Vice-Sect Masters and higher could fly here, and also only because they were exempted from the Formation Arrays' effects.
The man on the ground became quite angry when he heard Gravis' taunt, but he kept himself in check.
"You won't even have the opportunity to regret your arrogance. Just wait," the man said with a cold voice.
Then, the man walked away.
"Did you know that your threat is already enough for me to not receive any repercussions to my Karmic Luck if I kill you?" Gravis asked.
The man only snorted as he stopped walking away. "I don't recognize you, which means that you don't have a powerful faction backing you. Additionally, killing someone else is forbidden in the Eternal Fire Sect. By saying that you can kill me, aren't you ignoring the combined power and prestige of the Eternal Fire Sect?"
"Oh, political games," Gravis said with surprise. "It's been quite a while since I joined a political game. Are you trying to interpret my words in a way that makes me appear like I look down on the entire Eternal Fire Sect?"
Gravis' response took the man by surprise.
Things didn't go like this usually.
Usually, the other side would counter the man's argument by saying something along the lines that the man was actually not putting the Eternal Fire Sect into his eyes. After all, by saying stuff like that, he would subconsciously say that the Eternal Fire Sect couldn't discern the truth from the exchange.
Then, the man would counter again, and the other person would counter again.
Eventually, one of two things would happen.
If one side won, the other side would walk away without saying anything else.
If no side won, the two of them would bury their differences on the surface and shake hands. They would publicly apologize to each other.
And then, the hidden warfare would begin between the two.
The factions backing the individuals would covertly join, but they wouldn't make their involvement public.
It was a complex game of schemes, public opinion, and suppressing the other person without directly attacking or harming them.
Yet, Gravis pulled the veil of the hidden political game down and directly addressed it.
People like that were very unpopular in the Eternal Fire Sect.
The different factions warred with each other, but they all warred in secret, and if someone pulled the veil down, it would make it harder for factions to war with each other.
Because of that, directly addressing the political game was taboo.
If one did so anyway, all the factions would quietly go against that person.
The veil must not be addressed, or it would be harder to keep up the suspension of disbelief.
Because of that, Gravis' words surprised everyone. Was the guy suicidal?
However, every person here was an experienced strategist and politician.
"We don't play any of these games here. He only wanted to uphold the rules," another guy said.
"Are you trying to deflect from your blame by saying that the other guy is just playing some game? Grow up!" yet another guy shouted.
"Imagine literally flying above someone's head and talking down to the entire Eternal Fire Sect. He obviously has issues with his mind," a girl said with a snort.
"Look at him, standing up there in the sky and looking down on the entire Eternal Fire Sect. He is obviously someone that doesn't know how to spell respect, and we shouldn't give him the time of day," a strict-looking woman said.
In just a moment, the entire Eternal Fire Sect had banded together to deal with Gravis.
Every person was severely criticizing Gravis and saying that he was only talking nonsense.
Gravis had been right when he said that all of this was just a political game, but that didn't matter.
If all the masses said the same thing, it was accepted as the truth.
In the biggest castle in the middle of the Eternal Fire Sect, the Sect Master looked at what was happening with calm eyes.
If it had been a couple of years ago, she would believe that everything was normal. The Sect would band together and keep up the fa?ade, which allowed them to increase their capabilities regarding planning and strategy.
She would have also believed that Gravis would have learned a valuable lesson today. Sometimes, it was necessary to play the game if everyone else wanted to play. If he didn't, he would be ostracized and killed.
However, these beliefs would have held true only a couple of years ago.
At the moment, the Sect Master's mind had changed quite a bit.
When the Ancestor had said that the Sect Master had been so occupied with planning that she had forgotten what power actually meant, she had gotten a reminder of what power actually was. Back then, Orpheus had broken an important rule of the Eternal Fire Sect, and the Sect Master had been forced to capitulate.
However, this lesson hadn't hit home until her confrontation with Gravis.
Gravis had shown her that all of her planning didn't matter.
Any Vice-Sect Master could probably kill Gravis, and she could probably easily kill Gravis.
Yet, the Eternal Fire Sect had still been helpless.
All the Sect Master's scheming abilities had been worthless.
Why?
Because she couldn't guarantee that any of her schemes or plans would work out.
If only one of them failed, she would have created a calamity for the Eternal Fire Sect.
Wasn't that exactly what power was?
If someone was weaker than everyone, one didn't need to fear them, and they could do whatever they wanted with them.
However, if someone was stronger than everyone, no one could afford to anger that person.
In the past, the Sect Master would have believed that Gravis was an amateur in strategy and politics based on the outcome of the current situation.
But now, her mind had changed.
Public opinion was imperative in these kinds of political games, but when the power difference was too vast, public opinion was worthless.
A good example was the Opposer.
The entire world absolutely hated the Opposer. He had killed so many people, and many people were afraid that he would suddenly kill them for no apparent reason.
The highest world despised and hated the Opposer with all their being.
Yet, what did that matter?
It didn't.
It didn't matter if everyone hated him or if everyone loved him.
Nothing would change.
When the Sect Master saw everyone gang up on Gravis, she came to a decision.
She took out an emblem. "Ancestor, at the moment, a very powerful level one Ancestral God is being publicly denounced by everyone in the Eternal Fire Sect."
Then, she told the Ancestor about her encounter with Gravis a couple of years ago.
"And why did you contact me?" the Ancestor asked at the end.
"I have a plan, and I want to know if you are fine with it. It is very risky," she said.
"Oh? Do tell."
Chapter 1217 - – Bonk
The Eternal Fire Sect kept denouncing Gravis in public, and Gravis only looked at them with a curious expression.
He found it quite funny that they were publicly insulting him while being in such a place.
If they were anywhere else, Gravis could understand it. After all, in their perception, Gravis wasn't very powerful since they couldn't perceive his Battle-Strength.
But here?
Why would they talk down to someone in such a place?
What if the person they were insulting lost control over themselves?
What then?
However, Gravis also noticed that not everyone was insulting him. There were also some people that kept themselves out of this clash. These people only looked on with interest, but they didn't reveal any of their thoughts with their expressions and gestures.
'They see that they don't have to involve themselves. They can simply stay on the sidelines while other people take risks for them.'
'Quite smart.'
"Why are you still here? Apologize or leave! We don't allow disrespectful people in our Sect!" one person shouted.
"Yeah, we aren't narrow-minded people, and we can accept apologies. Apologize or leave!"
More and more people echoed these sentences, but Gravis looked at the ones that were not shouting.
Some of these onlookers only frowned. Some of them looked at Gravis with evaluating expressions. Some of them even straight-up entered their home without saying anything. Others were only looking away as if all of this had nothing to do with them.
"I'm willing to pay 100 million God Stones if you can overlook what this person has done."
Gravis had just received a voice transmission from one of the onlookers.
Gravis looked over, and he saw a young man with white hair and intense eyes. He had been the one that had just made an offer to Gravis.
'Interesting,' Gravis thought. 'He's smart. He realized that I can't be a simple person, and he immediately offered me money to overlook his servant's actions.'
'He is probably one of the leading members of one of the factions. From what I can see, he probably ordered his person to join in on the tirade to appear compliant with public opinion, but he knows the risk of it. In essence, he offered me money so that his faction wouldn't receive any damage while some other factions would lose some members.'
"I can offer you a set of any level seven Law Comprehension Life Fruit if you ignore this member," another onlooker transmitted to Gravis.
Then, a third onlooker contacted Gravis.
Gravis only smirked as he scratched his chin. 'Three onlookers, three offers. Seems like they all had the same thought.'
Gravis used his Law of Freedom to spy on some other people in their building.
It was rather easy for Gravis to find the true leaders of the factions. These kinds of people had a certain aura of authority and prestige around them. It wouldn't be easy for a normal Cultivator to spot these subtle signs, but they were evident in Gravis' eyes.
The people in the buildings only looked with furrowed brows into empty space.
Planning and troubled expressions could be seen on their faces.
It was like they had just received a setback, and they had to adapt their plans.
'Interesting,' Gravis thought with a slight smirk.
Gravis hadn't been around such profound schemers and politicians before, which made this entire experience novel.
"He's ignoring us! Look at how grand and majestic he is! He doesn't even deign to look at us!" a person shouted after realizing that Gravis hadn't reacted to their insults.
When Gravis heard that, he looked back at the people on the ground with a smirk.
"You know, you are quite rude for someone in bonk distance," Gravis said.
Silence.
The people in the Eternal Fire Sect tried to comprehend what Gravis meant.
Bonk distance?
What's a bonk?
Gravis slowly extended his right hand.
And then, he flicked.
"Bonk."
In an instant, all the complainers were thrown to the side by a sudden force.
They all fell into the fire at the side, which incinerated them in an instant.
There was no explosion.
There was no clash.
There was just silent movement and the short and quiet sound of something vanishing in fire.
35 people had been turned to dust.
32 of them had been the people that had insulted Gravis, while the remaining three had been the ones that had offered Gravis something.
In Gravis' mind, he classified these people into three categories.
One, the peons that had been sent by their leaders and the people that got involved on their own.
Two, the three people that had offered Gravis compensation.
Three, the people that had not gotten involved at all.
Gravis had killed the attackers for one reason.
He wanted to.
They were insulting him anyway, which meant that he wouldn't receive any damage to his Karmic Luck if he killed them. Gravis wasn't some holy saint that simply let people badmouth him without retaliating.
What about the three people that had offered Gravis compensation for their underlings?
In a sense, Gravis found them to be even more stupid than the ones that had actually insulted him.
Why?
Because by offering Gravis compensation, they had involuntarily told him that they were responsible for some of the people attacking him.
If they had simply shut up, Gravis wouldn't have been able to tell who had sent these people.
Also, if they actually wanted to save their underlings, they could have simply apologized or told their people to apologize. Gravis wasn't afraid of killing people, but he could also accept apologies. Admitting one's mistakes was a commendable trait, and Gravis could respect that.
Yet, instead of apologizing, they only offered Gravis resources to spare their members.
Even more, the others hadn't stopped insulting him.
This meant that these three people had essentially told someone to beat Gravis up and then thrown money at Gravis to overlook the incident.
Gravis wasn't some common whore or servant, but these three people had essentially treated him as such.
They had been so used to solving everything with money that it hadn't even occurred to them that someone might not be interested in money.
However, to a certain degree, Gravis could understand how these people had become like that. After all, they were all surrounded by people that had gone through hundreds of thousands of years of training to become the most intelligent strategists. These people all only looked at gains and losses.
Yet, the real world was filled with different kinds of people.
Gravis hadn't thought about his actions, and he simply looked at the onlookers with interest. Killing these people hadn't been difficult at all. He only had to shove them to the side with his Spirit. Everyone could shove someone for a little bit as long as they took them by surprise.
It wasn't very hard for an Ancestral God to push someone else a couple of meters to the side.
As Gravis evaluated the remaining members, silence descended on the Eternal Fire Sect.
Absolute, shocked silence.
Had… had he just killed 35 members of the Eternal Fire Sect in public!?
Was he insane!?
Could he do that!?
How could he do that!?
It was like the place they had called home had crumbled around them.
Things that had made sense no longer made any sense.
This wasn't how this was supposed to be!
WHOOOOM!
Then, an apocalyptic pressure suppressed everyone in the Sect.
The Sect Master had made her appearance.
Chapter 1218 - – Sect Master's Plan
For a second, the Sect remained in silence as the Sect Master appeared.
Then, everything broke out.
"He killed people!"
"He killed members of our Sect!"
"He killed our members in public!"
"Let me at him, Sect Master! I'm going to take revenge for- "
Bonk!
And the last person was also thrown into the fire.
Of course, it had been Gravis that had done that.
The Sect was thrown into silence again.
Gravis only smirked at the Sect Master while he had done that.
The Sect Master only frowned at Gravis.
The two of them exchanged gazes for a couple of seconds.
As the members of the Sect saw Gravis and the Sect Master exchange glances, they became confused.
Why wasn't their Sect Master killing him?
A level one Ancestral God had just killed over 30 of their own Ancestral Gods!
Why wasn't the Sect Master doing anything!?
Why was she just looking at him!?
After some seconds, the Sect Master turned away from Gravis and looked at her Sect.
"What am I supposed to do?" she asked the Sect with a serious tone.
The members were shocked when they heard that.
What was up with that question?
"Just kill him-"
Bonk!
And that guy was gone too.
Silence again.
The others looked with horror at the place where the previous person had just stood.
"S-Sect Master," a woman with luxurious attire said nervously. "Don't you have the power to… do something against him? You're the strongest member of our Sect! It's your responsibility to protect us!"
Gravis hadn't unleashed his terrifying bonk ability on that person since she hadn't directly threatened him.
The Sect Master looked at the woman who had just spoken.
Bonk!
The woman was thrown into the fire, but this time, it hadn't been Gravis.
It had been the Sect Master.
Everyone looked with shock at the Sect Master.
Had… had their Sect Master just killed someone of her own Sect!?
Just like that!?
Silence.
"This person can jump at least four or five levels," the Sect Master declared. "The reason why you can't feel his Battle-Strength is because your own Battle-Strength isn't high enough to perceive it."
Silence.
"As a level one Ancestral God, he can fight level four, level five, and maybe even level six Ancestral Gods," the Sect Master continued.
Silence.
"Would someone like that throw their life away in such a stupid way?"
Silence.
The members of the Sect had been beyond shocked by the revelation.
Jumping four, five, and maybe even six levels?
Jumping four levels was already something only the absolute geniuses of the Peak Sects could do, and this person was even more powerful?
He must have a very powerful background!
"As far as I am aware, he doesn't have a powerful background," the Sect Master announced as if she had read their thoughts.
This took the members of the Sect even more by surprise.
Then, if he didn't have a powerful background, why wasn't their Sect Master just killing him!? What was wrong with her!?
"He is not stupid," the Sect Master said with severity. "Just based on his Battle-Strength, he can't be stupid. If you are able to think of the possibility that I might attack him, he can too."
"So, why did he do these things?"
"It's because he doesn't fear the Ancestor nor me."
"He might not be able to fight or injure me at this moment, but he is confident enough in escaping."
"Tell me, if I attack him now and I fail, what will happen?"
Silence.
Several thoughts went through everyone's heads.
What if she failed?
They hadn't thought of that at all.
They had believed that Gravis' death would be a certainty. After all, the Sect Master was eight levels above him!
How could one escape from that?
It was impossible!
However, hadn't Gravis already proven that he could do the impossible?
So, what if he succeeded?
The members didn't take long to come to a conclusion.
If Gravis truly had such a powerful Battle-Strength, it probably wasn't very difficult for him to earn enough money to rise a couple of levels. At that point, wouldn't he be powerful enough to directly fight the Sect Master or maybe even the Ancestor?
What then?
"He can fly in a place where not even the Ancestors or I can fly without the permission of the Formation Array," the Sect Master explained. "That should give you enough clues to come to a conclusion about his extraordinary power."
"Some of you were blind and thought that there is safety in numbers. You ganged up on him, thinking that he couldn't possibly kill all of you, right? He wouldn't be that insane, right?"
"However, public perception is only relevant to people that lead factions. People without factions don't need to care about public perception as long as they are powerful enough."
The Sect Master took a deep breath.
"I've committed a mistake," she said.
"I created this Sect to foster as many smart Cultivators as possible, but while doing so, I became lost. I was so focused on schemes and status that I have forgotten the most fundamental truth of the world."
"Power is everything."
"However, power isn't only one's Battle-Strength, but also one's ability to escape and grow. At the moment, this person can't fight me, but if he escapes and rises some levels, I will be the one that has to escape."
"Attacking him now is too risky, and I see that action as throwing my life away. I might be the leader of the Eternal Fire Sect, and you might believe that it's my duty to sacrifice myself for everyone."
"However, I won't," she said with a serious tone. "I won't throw my life away for my Sect. Everyone here knows that a Sect is only a place to further one's own power. None of you actually believe in undying loyalty and dying for a greater cause."
"We all want power. We all want to survive. The only reason why we are in a Sect is to protect ourselves from external threats and to gain resources faster."
"That's it."
The Sect Master took another deep breath again. Obviously, it wasn't easy for her to say these words.
"I have created an army of strategists, but an army has to be filled with soldiers. The strategists are not good soldiers, and good soldiers are not good strategists."
"I have made a mistake. I shouldn't have fostered the mindset of strategists to such a degree."
"I went too far."
"However, that doesn't mean that the Sect can't change for the better."
"From this day forth, we will focus our attention to both soldiers and strategists."
"And today, you receive your first lesson."
The Sect Master gestured to Gravis.
"Power ignores rules. All your scheming is useless if someone directly attacks you with overwhelming force."
"I'm not confident in taking him down."
"The Ancestor isn't confident in taking him down."
"If his potential for growth weren't so great, we could try. However, his potential for growth is too terrifying. Because of that, we can't look at his current strength and assume that this is all the power he will ever have."
"In such a case, you can only accept what comes."
The Sect had fallen into complete silence.
'Huh, so this was her plan,' Gravis thought with a smirk while scratching his chin. 'Who would've thought?'
Some minutes ago, the Sect Master had contacted Gravis.
What had she told him?
She had told him that if he wanted to kill someone, he could.
She wouldn't pursue these deaths.
Gravis hadn't been sure why the Sect Master had said that to him, but he had gone along with it.
She wanted Gravis to kill her Sect Members?
Sure, Gravis wanted to do that regardless.
What had the Sect Master discussed with the Ancestor a couple of minutes ago?
"I've realized that the Sect fosters too many strategists, and I fear that nearly everyone has forgotten what it's like to be on the outside. Everyone has spent their lives in controlled environments, only surrounded by other schemers."
"I fear that the Sect has forgotten what it's like to fight on the frontlines."
"We all want power, and scheming and strategy should only be a means to an end, not the goal. I fear that too many members have made it their goal."
"Because of that, I want to reshuffle the Sect and revolutionize it."
"I hope you agree, Ancestor."
This was what the Sect Master had said to the Ancestor when Gravis had arrived.
This had been her plan.
What had the Ancestor answered?
The Ancestor had only smirked.
"You are the Sect Master. I left the Sect in your hands. If you think that's the right course of action, go through with it."
"I won't interfere."
And thus, the great reshuffle of the Eternal Fire Sect had been decided.
Chapter 1219 - – Decision
Of course, the Sect didn't react with silent acceptance to the Sect Master's words.
What was she talking about!?
They had lived like this forever, and they had built their entire lives around living in such an environment, and suddenly, all of this was no longer important?
Criticism and complaints immediately rained down on the Sect Master.
The people were not happy.
However, after the first person that had actually made a threat had been thrown into the fire, everyone became more taciturn.
"Stay in the Sect or don't stay in the Sect. Things will happen this way. Accept it or leave."
Most of the disciples looked with frustration and anger at their Sect Master.
She could only suppress them because she was so much more powerful!
She wasn't able to defend herself with logical arguments, so she resorted to her power, forcefully suppressing all dissent.
This was so unfair!
After the Sect Master had made her stance clear, the Sect calmed down somewhat.
What did the disciples do?
Some of them continued debating in a calm tone with the Sect Master, trying to convince her that the old way was better.
That didn't work.
Some of them silently accepted the changes. They had been in the Eternal Fire Sect all their life, and it wouldn't be easy to join another Sect. After all, it was possible that they could be perceived as spies. Changing Sects was possible, but truly becoming part of another Sect took time and effort.
Some were quite happy about the changes. They had seen that the Sect was putting too much emphasis on strategy, and they rejoiced when the Sect finally changed.
Some straight-up left the Sect. This was not their home anymore, and they would search for a new home somewhere else. Some of them decided to make their own Sects, while others decided to join other powerful Sects.
These people swore to take revenge on their old Sect Master.
The last group of people went on strike.
They created some form of union and refused to do anything for the Sect until the old ways had been reinstated.
What could the Eternal Fire Sect do when nearly a hundred Ancestral Gods refused to help them?
…
After the three leaders of the strike had been thrown into the fire, the remaining Ancestral Gods joined any of the other camps. They didn't dare to continue going on strike for fear of their lives.
They could only accept the change or leave.
Gravis watched all of this while it was going on.
He actually found it incredibly interesting.
In Gravis' mind, he had only appeared, had done whatever he wanted, and the entire Sect somehow started to adapt a bit to his ways.
It was like Gravis had been scratching his balls while walking down the street when some teacher charged out of the building to show her class that they should also all scratch their balls in this way.
Gravis had never intended to help the Eternal Fire Sect. He also hadn't thought about teaching them anything.
The first time, he only wanted to guarantee his way back into the Sect to visit his friends.
This time, he only wanted to ask where Orpheus was.
That was it.
Yet, everything around him just suddenly started to change, and essentially, Gravis didn't even do anything.
He was just there.
After the Sect had calmed down somewhat, the Sect Master looked at Gravis.
"Thank you for your teachings," she said with a polite voice.
Gravis only blinked a couple of times.
'What teachings? I didn't do shit! I only want to visit Orpheus!'
Gravis scratched the back of his head as he looked at the Sect Master.
She was a weird one.
The first time they met, she and Orpheus nearly clashed, and she had believed that she could suppress Orpheus.
Then, her Ancestor had suppressed her, and Gravis believed her to be quite an ignorant person.
Then, she went against Orpheus several times with lots of different plots, making her appear even more narrow-minded.
After that, she stopped Gravis and wanted to punish him for his actions when she obviously didn't have the power to punish him.
And now, she had suddenly done the incredible smart thing of entirely changing the Sect to more accurately reflect the real world. In one swift motion, she had transformed the entire Sect.
And lastly, she had even thanked Gravis for his teachings?
It was like she had transformed from a blind idiot into a bright-eyed commander.
Gravis looked at the Sect Master for a bit longer and scratched his chin with interest.
"I want to know something," Gravis said.
The Sect Master looked at Gravis. She wasn't super respectful, but she also wasn't deferential. Her gaze was simply neutral towards Gravis.
"Yes?" the Sect Master asked.
Then, Gravis slowly landed in the Eternal Fire Sect and stopped beside one of the firewalls.
After that, he looked at the Sect Master with interest. "What if I stand right here? Will that change anything?" he asked with a smirk.
At the moment, the Sect Master's mind went wild.
All these changes and everything had been dependent on the fact that she couldn't kill Gravis. The chance of failure was simply too high.
Would all of this had happened if she could have killed Gravis?
If she could have killed him, this entire thing wouldn't have happened. Gravis would have simply died when he had left the Eternal Fire Sect some time ago.
No one in the Eternal Fire Sect would have died, and she wouldn't even have thought about changing the philosophy of the Eternal Fire Sect.
Everything had been based on the fact that power was absolute and that she couldn't kill Gravis.
But now, Gravis had walked to a place where power wasn't absolute.
Besides the fire, even a weaker person could kill a stronger person.
At the moment, the Sect Master was hovering in the sky, while Gravis stood directly beside the fire.
She could just shove him.
If she wanted to be sure, she could even explode the entire streets of the Eternal Fire Sect in case Gravis had some sort of illusion technique. Sure, that would kill a lot of disciples, but it would also be more likely to kill Gravis.
Killing Gravis wasn't a surefire thing, but shoving him slightly to the side?
As someone eight levels above him?
Gravis only looked at the Sect Master with interest.
He wondered what she would do.
The Sect Master wrung with herself.
Was there some resentment towards Gravis inside of her?
Of course!
Gravis had treated her like she didn't exist, even though he was only a level one Ancestral God.
Gravis had also attacked one of her Vice-Sect Masters.
Even more, Gravis had killed over 30 of her Ancestral Gods!
If Gravis weren't so powerful, he would have been branded as a life-and-death enemy of the Eternal Fire Sect.
The entire Sect would be sent to hunt him down.
Yet, the only reason why that didn't happen was that Gravis was so powerful.
Now, the Sect Master actually had an opportunity to end his life.
Had she done the correct thing?
…
Silence.
…
BANG!
Gravis was shoved into the fire, and he burned into nothingness.
Chapter 1220 - – Stop!
Silence.
The entire Sect fell into a stunned silence.
That one guy that had caused all of this had died?
Just like that!?
The Sect Master looked with shock at the place where Gravis had just been.
He was dead?
"Hahahaha! I've done it!" a disciple near the old position of Gravis shouted with wild laughter. "You were all so afraid of him, but you didn't realize that he was only bluffing!"
Then, the disciple pointed at the Sect Master. "Do you see that!? You've been fooled by this level one Ancestral God. Jumping five or six levels? Who would believe that shit!? Something like that is straight-up impossible."
"Yet, you all still believed him. You all thought that he was so invincible and powerful and that you were all helpless in front of him!"
"You have all been led on by some random level one Ancestral God! A mere level one Ancestral God had fooled the entire Sect!"
"It even went so far that he became overconfident. He believed that no one would dare to attack him!"
"Yet, I called his bluff, and I was right!" the man shouted with loud laughter.
The Sect only remained in stunned silence.
No, this was not how it was supposed to go down!
He died… just like that!?
"Anyway, you can all thank me later. Sect Master, I hope I will receive an appropriate reward for my services. I have something to do. See you later," the man said with a wide smirk.
Then he continued laughing as he walked away.
Right into the fire.
The eyes of everyone in the Sect widened even more.
…
Why?
Was this what he had to do?
Also, why did he say see you later before killing himself?
Was he cursing them, telling them that they would also soon die!?
"Hahahaha!"
Everyone turned to the person that laughed loudly, and their eyes widened when they saw Gravis.
At the moment, Gravis was wheezing from laughter.
Where did he come from!?
BANG!
Gravis was thrown into the fire again.
The Sect became shocked yet again.
Another person was currently glaring at the spot where Gravis had just been with nervous eyes. He was sweating nervously.
"Now, he has truly become too confident," the man said slowly. "He has cast an illusion on everyone, but when that illusion worked, he must have shown his true self just to gloat."
BANG!
Gravis appeared behind that person and kicked him into the fire.
"Fucking asshole! That was a billion God Stones!" he shouted with anger.
In a sense, the man had been right.
Gravis had become a bit too reckless, and he had unveiled his true body.
Or at least one of his two real bodies.
Just to be sure, Gravis had created a second body in case something went wrong.
However, Gravis had lost a billion God Stones now due to his recklessness, which made him quite angry and frustrated.
Sure, he had a lot of money, but a billion God Stones was still nothing to scoff at.
'Fuck! I shouldn't have become so reckless!' he thought with frustration.
BANG!
Gravis was thrown into the fire again.
This time, it must have been the real one!
After all, they had all seen how Gravis had kicked the person!
BANG!
"Stop that!" Gravis shouted after kicking the next person into the fire. "You can't kill me! Get that into your heads!"
…
BANG!
Gravis was thrown into the fire again, and another person immediately charged into the distance with all of her speed.
SHING!
Suddenly, she stopped in the air.
Her body was still in a moving position, and her gaze had frozen.
It was like she had been frozen in time.
SHING!
Gravis arrived beside her, grabbed her body like a statue, and threw her into the fire in the distance.
BANG!
Another person had caught the person before she had hit the fire. This was his lover, and he wouldn't watch as the love of his life would die just like that!
Gravis' left eyelid twitched.
SHING!
Gravis took out his saber and unleashed his Form Law from a distance.
In an instant, the shockwave hit the two of them, and they were turned into nothingness.
In the sky above Gravis, a man in white clothing scratched the back of his head.
'That was fast,' he thought.
Then, he broke his emblem and returned to The Heaven Company.
Quick job, quick money.
This had technically been a fight, and a Judge had to oversee all of these fights.
Luckily, Gravis had only used his Form Law, which had a very concentrated destructive effect, meaning nothing else was destroyed or damaged.
"STOP!"
Everyone took a deep breath as an apocalyptic pressure suppressed them all.
The Sect Master had watched all of this with a stunned expression, being shocked again and again by what was happening.
She had just lost several more Ancestral Gods to their own stupidity, and she couldn't afford to lose more!
She had already lost over 30 at the beginning, and now, there had been even more deaths.
Even more, a lot of Ancestral Gods had left!
The Eternal Fire Sect had lost over 20% of their Ancestral Gods!
They couldn't afford to lose even more to such ridiculous actions!
"You can't kill him!" the Sect Master shouted in fury. "Stop trying it! If you continue on like this, we will run out of Ancestral Gods!"
The Sect didn't answer but mainly because they simply couldn't due to her Will-Aura.
After some seconds, the Sect Master released a long sigh.
This had been too ridiculous for her to handle.
She still couldn't fully believe that all of this had actually happened.
Eventually, the Sect Master only looked at Gravis calmly.
'He had always been in control from the very beginning.'
'His control over the situation wasn't an illusion.'
The Sect Master's thoughts went through all the times she had interacted with Gravis, and she realized that she had done the right thing.
She was far more powerful than Gravis, but she had never been in control.
The only thing she could do was get out of his way.
It was difficult to come to terms with, but it was the truth.
This was the power of control.
BOOOOM!
And that's when the Sect Master's eyes widened in comprehension.
Control!
So, this was control!
The Sect Master had just comprehended the True Law of Control!
She had already known the Major Law of Control, but now she knew the True Law!
Was Gravis able to teach someone a level nine Law just like that?
No.
One had to remember that the Sect Master was a level seven Ancestral God.
In order to become a Divine God, one needed to comprehend a level nine Law.
The Sect Master had already led her Sect for over a million years, which had given her a lot of comprehension regarding control.
Even more, she was in the late stages of the Ancestral God Realm.
Comprehending one's first level nine Law was normal in these levels.
One could say that Gravis had only given her the last push.
Why had Gravis done so?
Because he had been impressed by her great change.
It was quite shocking and impressive how quickly she had grown.
So, why not give her an opportunity to comprehend the True Law of Control?
Now, the question was, why had Gravis done so?
Because he wanted to.