Ch. 1251..1260

Chapter 1251 - – Who's In Control?

Gravis looked at Zero's Essence, and he noticed that he could now see far more clearly what others were thinking. Gravis couldn't read the Law fragments yet, but he had a very good inkling as to what other people were thinking.

At the moment, Zero's Essence looked at Gravis like an annoying novelty.

On one hand, Gravis had caused a lot of issues, and he had even destroyed two Law Comprehension Areas for level nine Laws. On top of that, he had also killed several Cultivators and had put the Lightning Peak Sect at risk.

Yet, on the other hand, Gravis had shown incredible powers, and Zero's Essence was intrigued as to what Gravis would do next. She was also very interested in what Gravis could do and how his powers worked.

One could say Gravis was like an exotic animal in someone's home. It definitely was interesting to see such an animal up close, but it couldn't possibly remain in the home, and it had already ruined some pieces of furniture.

Zero's Essence didn't much care for the Lightning Peak Sect's fate, but she knew that, as the Ancestor, it was her responsibility to keep the Sect alive.

"The Ancestor of the Lightning Peak Sect, Zero's Essence," Gravis said with a slight smirk.

Zero's Essence furrowed her brows.

Ancestral Gods wouldn't recognize her, and it was even more unlikely that they knew her title.

Yet, this Ancestral God knew her position and title, even though they had never met before.

"You caused quite a ruckus," Zero's Essence commented emotionlessly.

"I did," Gravis answered with a slight smirk.

Zero's Essence intensified her Will-Aura. Yes, Gravis was unparalleled in his Realm, but he was still far below her in power and Battle-Strength.

In her mind, power was everything, and Gravis definitely didn't have the power to look into her eyes on equal footing.

Yet, he acted like he did.

Gravis felt the Will-Aura become more powerful, but he didn't care.

The Law of Perceived Reality was a level ten Law, and it boosted the power of the True Law of Freedom also to the power of a level ten Law.

Only true Heaven's Magnates could suppress Gravis.

Gravis slowly raised his hand and cleaned some hot iron from his shirt, which was a senseless action since he was currently surrounded by hot iron.

Yet, the action had still fulfilled its intended purpose.

Zero's Essence's eyes released a cold light as she looked at Gravis.

"How can you move under my Will-Aura?" she asked with a cold voice.

"Why should I tell you?" Gravis answered with a smirk.

Zero's Essence didn't react. "I'm not up for games."

"This is not a game," Gravis said. "I simply won't tell you."

"You should know how power works," she answered. "Your compliance isn't a factor."

"Does power change anything in the current situation?" Gravis asked.

This took Zero's Essence by surprise, but she didn't let it show on her face. It was like Gravis denied a fundamental truth of how the world worked.

"Yes, it does," she answered.

Gravis only smirked.

And then, he continued going downward.

Zero's Essence only snorted as she summoned a powerful cage of Heavenly Zero around Gravis, which forced Gravis to stop.

Or did it?

Gravis simply passed through the cage as if it didn't exist.

Zero's Essence narrowed her eyes.

"The True Law of Freedom, huh?" she commented.

WHOOOOM!

Suddenly, the space in front of Gravis expanded to a ridiculous degree. Gravis was still shooting downward, but it was like he didn't even move.

"Was that your reliance? The True Law of Freedom? I know that Law myself, so I know how to counter it. As long as I don't directly impede your movement, your Law of Freedom is useless," she said.

"So, we are at a stalemate now," Gravis answered with a grin as he stopped moving. "What now?"

"What do you mean with what now?" Zero's Essence scoffed. "I have the power, and I want to know about your powers."

"Or what?" Gravis asked.

"Or I will kill you," she said. "I won't miss the bit of Karmic Luck I will lose."

"Then, go ahead," Gravis said with a grin.

Zero's Essence's eyes narrowed.

"You think I'm bluffing?" she asked.

"Yes," Gravis answered.

"What makes you so sure?" she asked.

"Because of your current situation," Gravis answered.

She scoffed again. "What do you know about my current situation?" she asked.

"You know all of the Laws, but you are missing the True Law of Control," Gravis said, shocking Zero's Essence.

It was secret which Laws Peak Divine Gods were missing. Not even Silver Seer knew which Law Zero's Essence was missing. He only knew that she was one of the most powerful Peak Divine Gods in existence.

"Pfft," she snorted with derision. "Stop guessing randomly."

"That wasn't a guess," Gravis answered with the Law of Honesty. "I know that for a fact."

When she felt Gravis' Law of Honesty, she became shocked.

How could he know that for sure!?

Zero's Essence didn't have any real friends, and nearly no one else should know about this secret of hers.

Unless…

"Are you the disciple of a Heaven's Magnate?" she asked with furrowed brows.

"What's it to you?" Gravis asked with a smirk.

"So, that's what you're relying on," Zero's Essence said. "You're certain that your teacher or family will intervene if someone on my level acts against you."

"No," Gravis answered with the Law of Honesty. "They won't."

This took Zero's Essence by surprise again.

Gravis became more and more mysterious as more time passed.

The more she learned about him, the less sense it all made.

Why didn't he fear her?

"Then, why do you believe that my threat is empty?" she asked.

"I've already answered that question, but I will repeat it just for you. It's because of your situation," Gravis said.

As all of this was going on, Gravis remembered the time the Red King had caught Gravis.

Gravis had acted similarly back then.

"And what does my situation have to do with your survival?" she asked.

Gravis' smirk widened.

"Your freedom is suppressing you."

Zero's Essence furrowed her brows.

That sentence made no sense. Yet, for some reason, she felt like Gravis was talking about something very important.

"That isn't possible," she said.

"Depends on the viewpoint," Gravis answered. "Sure, you will do whatever you want, and in that sense, freedom isn't suppressing you. After all, it allows you to do what you want."

"However, if we look at freedom in a different way, it can also suppress you."

"After all, you're doing what you want, but you're not doing what you don't want."

"That's a nonsensical argument," she answered with a cold expression. "Freedom is doing what I want. Not doing what I want is not freedom but suppression."

"Correct," Gravis said. "In your mind, you are free."

"Yet, what about me?" Gravis asked.

"You don't want to kill me, and since you are doing what you want and not doing what you don't want, I won't die."

"You're not going to do something you don't want because you enjoy freedom, and your mind has a great affinity for freedom."

"And exactly because of that, you have no choice but to not kill me," Gravis said with a smirk.

Gravis' words appeared almost nonsensical to Zero's Essence.

It was like Gravis was warping logic to the extreme.

Because she was free to do whatever she wanted, she didn't have the freedom to choose to kill him?

That was incredibly contradictory.

"You make no sense," she said.

"If I do or don't will show itself as more time passes," Gravis said.

"You're delusional," Zero's Essence said with a dismissive tone. "Are you willing to die a senseless death?"

Gravis didn't answer.

He only smirked.

Silence.

More silence.

"You really want to die?" she asked again, her eyes narrowing.

Silence.

"Fine," she said.

SHING!

An icicle of Heavenly Zero formed, and she threw it towards Gravis.

Gravis only looked at the approaching icicle.

He didn't even move his body.

BANG!

Gravis' Will-Aura destroyed the will upon the icicle. However, it had still been launched by another Cultivator, making it impossible for Gravis to control it with his Elemental Synchronicity.

Essentially, Gravis made it impossible for Zero's Essence to pull her attack back.

Zero's Essence's eyes shot open in shock.

BANG!

An explosion of Heavenly Fire appeared between Gravis and the icicle.

However, Gravis wasn't the one that had unleashed it.

It had been Zero's Essence.

This entire exchange had thrown her into confusion and shock.

Meanwhile, Gravis only grinned at her.

Gravis knew everything about suppression, freedom, and control.

All of the concepts of control of the current situation made perfect sense in Gravis' mind, and they painted a logical picture.

Gravis felt the feeling of control, and by looking at it, he knew for a fact that Zero's Essence didn't want to kill him.

Gravis only looked into Zero's Essence's eyes.

"Who's in control?" he asked.

Chapter 1252 - – Evil Manipulator

Zero's Essence's mind went through an unimaginable number of thoughts in just an instance.

She had just saved this Ancestral God's life, and instead of thanking her, he had acted like all of this was only natural.

It was like he knew exactly that she would get involved.

Didn't the guy know that if she hadn't reacted in an instant, he would be dead right now!?

And now, he was grandly talking about control again!?

For the first time, she actually honestly thought about killing Gravis.

It had been an eternity since someone had managed to infuriate her to such a degree!

"If you can't see through an incomparably complex situation, does it mean that no one else can?" Gravis asked with a smirk.

These words irked Zero's Essence even more.

"You are a level one Ancestral God. Your Spirit and your perception are thousands of times weaker than mine," she commented with an icy tone.

"Yet, I know things you don't," Gravis said. "For example, I know that you still haven't realized where my power stems from, which is very unexpected."

"I don't try to comprehend how the minds of insane people work," Zero's Essence scoffed.

Gravis only chuckled. "Have you still not realized your own blindness? All the information is in front of you, but you still haven't managed to combine them into a full picture."

"I can ignore your Will-Aura, which is on the level of a Heaven's Magnate. The level nine Law of Freedom isn't enough. By now, you should also be sure that no one else is helping me."

"Meaning, for some reason, I am able to escape your Will-Aura with my own power. My own Will-Aura obviously isn't as strong as yours."

"So, what can allow me to ignore the suppression of something the True Law of Freedom can't even escape from?"

Zero's Essence only scoffed again. "What? Are you trying to tell me that you know the True Law of Perceived Reality?" she asked. "You are very talented, but you're also only a level one Ancestral God."

Gravis only grinned. "You saw me use the True Law of Freedom when I escaped your cage. You even commented on it."

"Additionally, I've constantly been alluding to the fact that I'm the one in control. I know freedom, but I also know control and suppression. Control alone can't bind someone that knows freedom since control doesn't know freedom. Yet, if you know freedom and control, control knows what freedom does and wants, allowing it to take control over freedom."

"Freedom is relative according to your perception," Gravis added. "You are free in your perception since you can do whatever you want, but I know that, as long as I don't step into the path of your desire, you won't see me as an obstacle."

"After all, I'm not standing in your way."

"I know what you want, which allows me to evade all the directions you might want to go."

Gravis slowly flew towards Zero's Essence. Due to her shock, she hadn't kept up the space expansion.

Gravis slowly circled her.

"You want to learn more about me, and you want to watch me since I'm the only interesting thing in forever. A major part of your path doesn't want to kill me. So, as long as I don't step into your path, you won't attack me."

"Even more, you want to comprehend the True Law of Control more than anything. You have heard how others managed to comprehend it, and you're trying to learn it the same way. You feel like I am angering you, and in a sense, you might even feel a slight desire to kill me."

Gravis appeared on her left side. "You don't want to kill me because I'm interesting."

Then, Gravis appeared on her right side. "You want to kill me because I'm angering you."

"What to do… what…"

Gravis' voice slowly took on a weird tone.

It was like he was suppressing something, which made Zero's Essence furrow her brows.

She had already felt that Gravis' current actions were so dramatic that they were ridiculous.

"Ahahahaha!" Gravis suddenly burst out into laughter.

It wasn't some kind of evil laughter as she would have expected, but honest laughter.

It was the typical laughter someone would have when they heard a hilarious joke.

"Ah, sorry, sorry," Gravis said slowly as he stopped laughing. "I can't keep it up anymore."

Zero's Essence lifted an eyebrow.

"I always wanted to act like some textbook villain. You know, like a snake in your ear that tries to pull you to the dark side or something. Holy shit, it's too funny!"

Zero's Essence wasn't certain about anything right now.

The conduct of this Ancestral God was beyond all reason.

He might actually be insane.

"Anyway," Gravis said as he slowly flew away from her. "Enough playing around."

Then, Gravis turned around and threw something at her.

Zero's Essence easily caught it and looked at it.

Then, her entire mind stopped working.

Obsidian Ring!

Only her family had these rings, and no one would dare to create an imitation!

Even more, she felt her father's power on it!

Gravis grinned widely.

"Hey! My name's Gravis, and I'm your little brother!" Gravis said with a wink.

Zero's Essence couldn't wrap her mind around the current situation.

Little brother?

Gravis?

Zero's Essence had had plenty of little brothers, but she hadn't talked with many of them. Additionally, most of them had been very mediocre, in her opinion. On top of that, she hadn't even heard of Gravis before.

"Wait, Gravis!" Zero's Essence suddenly said as a light of recognition appeared in her eyes.

"You were the reason why father killed all the Star Gods around 1.7 million years ago," she said with surprise.

"Yep," Gravis said with a smile. "I've become quite powerful in 1.7 million years, huh?"

Zero's Essence still couldn't get over the shock she had received.

"I've seen you once," she said. "Back then, you were only a little kid."

"Time sure passes fast, huh?" Gravis commented.

For some time, the two only looked at each other.

"You're so powerful," Zero's Essence said with a calm voice. Apparently, she had accepted her new circumstances.

"I didn't want to admit it, but one of the reasons why I couldn't accept that you have comprehended the True Law of Perceived Reality was because I felt inferior in some way to you," she said in a voice that made it appear like she talked to herself.

"I couldn't accept that some random Ancestral God already comprehended the very Law I couldn't comprehend."

Gravis nodded. "I actually only messed with you earlier. No one would believe that I know the True Law of Perceived Reality. After all, that Law is way too hard to comprehend, especially for a level one Ancestral God."

"However, you should keep in mind what the world must sacrifice to create an outstanding Cultivator. The most talented level one Ancestral Gods have been gathered, and they got reduced to around ten or so level one Ancestral Gods that could jump three levels."

"I can jump six levels, maybe even seven with my new Laws, and you should know that I couldn't have gotten there on my own. Without father and even Heaven, I would never have reached this kind of power. The opportunities they have granted me made it possible for me to reach such powerful Battle-Strength."

"For example," Gravis said.

SHING!

Mortis appeared beside Gravis, surprising Zero's Essence.

Where had he come from!?

Additionally, how was it possible that he felt just as powerful as Gravis!?

"A lot of stuff happened on my journey," Gravis said. "I don't think that anyone is searching for me down here. So, we have some time."

"You wanna hear about my life so far?" Gravis asked with a smirk.

Zero's Essence had come here to interact with the strange Ancestral God.

She wanted to see what else he could do, and apparently, he could do way more than she had expected.

Gravis had shocked her again and again.

Zero's Essence had never really cared about a family, and she still didn't. She talked with her father and mother some time, but that was it. Every other member of her family was practically irrelevant.

As a family member, Gravis also didn't matter to her.

However, as a Cultivator, Gravis interested her quite a bit.

Gravis had shown that he definitely wasn't mediocre.

"I'm interested," she said.

Why would she decline?

Hadn't her entire reason for coming here been to learn more about this Ancestral God?

Their status as family broke down the distant barrier between them, making it far easier to share secrets.

"Sure," Gravis nodded with a grin.

Mortis took out a can of coffee.

And then, the three of them talked for a long time.

Chapter 1253 - – Relationships

The three of them talked for several days. Gravis and Mortis were telling Zero's Essence about their entire life, and Zero's Essence was very intrigued by the story.

She had thought that her own story was very incredible, but it was nothing in comparison to Gravis.

Gravis had met several different Heavens while no one alive had even met one!

It was like the entire Cosmos was unfolding before Gravis and Mortis, breaking normal convention.

The entire time, Zero's Essence only listened, and she rarely spoke up. Gravis even asked several times if he was boring her, but she always gave a negative answer.

"No, continue. I'm very intrigued," she kept saying.

And then, she became silent again.

Gravis knew that Zero's Essence was probably a very introverted person, but her introversion was really something else. Gravis assumed that she saw Gravis' story as a show or entertainment, not a dialog.

In these days, it was basically only Gravis talking with Mortis adding some things at the side. Yet, even Mortis was talking more than Zero's Essence.

"And that's when you showed up," Gravis finished.

Zero's Essence didn't react.

Gravis looked at Mortis uncertainly, and Mortis just shrugged.

"So, is there anything else you want to know?" Gravis asked, trying to disperse the awkward atmosphere.

"Why did you tell me all of this?" Zero's Essence asked calmly.

That question surprised Gravis a bit. "Why not? We're family, and I like talking with people."

"You're not that na?ve," she said. "Family is only a bond by blood. However, it's worthless when considering powerful Cultivators. We have not grown up together, and this is the first time we are talking. We are strangers, and there are no emotions between us."

"So, why did you tell a stranger all of these things? Do you expect something in return?"

If Gravis hadn't already seen through a major part of Zero's Essence's personality, he would have assumed her comment to be derisive since she basically interpreted bad and selfish intentions into Gravis' actions.

However, Gravis realized that she was genuinely curious. She did not understand why Gravis was doing this, and she only wanted to learn the reason behind Gravis' actions.

Gravis had told her about his friends and family, and she even knew about the Eternal Fire Sect.

This was Gravis' biggest weakness, and he had unveiled it in front of her.

Why would he do that?

"Because I see you as a friend and/or sister already," Gravis said.

"How? You don't know me," she answered.

"But I do," Gravis said.

Zero's Essence raised an eyebrow.

"When I acted like an evil mastermind previously, I wasn't only speaking bullshit. The stuff about control and freedom is true. I only have to find out what it is that you desire and work around it."

"Additionally, you feel like a prideful person, but not unhealthily so. Lying and deceiving is not something you normally consider since you don't like it. Additionally, I am far weaker than you. If you wanted to kill me, you would just kill me. You wouldn't need to act all sneakily."

"Maybe you can see me telling you all of this stuff as a form of trying to gain goodwill from you, but that's just how normal human relationships work. People try to gain the goodwill of someone they like subconsciously or consciously. The only difference between their actions and my actions is that I actively know what I'm doing."

"So, even if I don't know much about you, I know that telling you my story won't be a danger to me. After all, you won't use it against me," Gravis said.

For a while, Zero's Essence only remained silent.

"Is it really that easy to analyze my entire personality?" she asked with furrowed brows. "It feels dangerous."

"I mean, the Law of Perceived Reality is the reason for the complexity in intelligent beings," Gravis explained.

"The Law of Life only supports life with the mental complexity of mortal plants."

"The Law of Emotions gives the life a subconsciousness and instinct. That life is essentially as complex as an animal or very weak beast."

"The Law of Perceived Reality is the understanding of consciousness and intelligence. Complex relationships and complicated thought patterns are part of that."

"So, since I know the True Law of Perceived Reality, I can watch your reactions and Law fragments from different perspectives, which slowly dispels their complex relationships with each other. When stripped of complexity, I only need to navigate your emotions and desire."

Zero's Essence fell into thought with furrowed brows.

It sounded very simple, but it definitely wasn't simple.

She knew that, even if she knew everything Gravis knew, she still wouldn't be able to navigate another person's mind to such a degree of mastery.

Gravis made it seem so easy.

There were so many complex and almost illogical connections in someone's personality. A good example would be a writer. That writer would want to earn money by publishing a story, and to support their endeavor, they quickly copied an artwork illegally.

However, that same writer would become furious when they saw someone else copying their own work while they themselves had done the same thing.

Yet, this obvious contradiction made perfect sense in that person's mind, and that belief was part of their mind.

Navigating these senseless connections in one's personality was basically impossible since there was no logic, rhyme, or reason on which one could base their feelings on. One would always go in completely blind.

The complexity and abstract nature of someone else's mind were impossible to see through in Zero's Essence's mind. There was an infinite number of variations.

"I think I know what you're thinking about," Gravis said. "You think that what I'm doing is simply too complex to do, but you're actually overcomplicating things."

Zero's Essence looked with a raised eyebrow at Gravis.

"You haven't comprehended the Law of Control yet. Everything that seems impossible in your mind is achieved with the Law of Control. You think I calculate everything perfectly and break someone else's personality down?"

Gravis snorted. "No, I can't do that. I simply look at the complex sea of emotions and relationships and focus on the feeling of control. When a string is all tangled up with tons of knots, you don't have to untangle the string. You only need to look at where it begins and where it goes."

"Of course, a person's mind isn't just a string, and you can't see where it goes. That's where the Law of Control comes into play. I see a complex and complicated mess of concepts before me. I can't understand that mess, but my feeling of control is roughly telling me what the purpose of that complex mess is."

Zero's Essence listened to Gravis' explanation, and she felt like she had learned something.

So, that was control, huh?

Of course, Gravis couldn't magically grant someone the True Law of Control, especially someone that had no affinity for it.

However, Zero's Essence felt like she had made some progress on her path to comprehending that elusive last Law.

"Thank you," she said. "Is there something you want in return?"

Gravis only grinned.

"No."

Chapter 1254 - – Genocide

"You do realize that six of the seven Peak Sects are currently out for your head, right?" Zero's Essence asked.

Gravis sighed. "I know, but it's necessary. I already told you how I had been unmasked. Sure, it feels a bit shitty that Arc was basically unveiling my existence without my consent, but I get where he's coming from."

"By remaining unknown to the world, I run the risk of being found out. Of course, I was also found out recently, but there is a difference between everyone finding out at once and only one power finding out."

"If only a single power found me, I might not even notice that they found me. Then, they would gather an irresistible net of powerful Cultivators while analyzing my background. Without me noticing, they would watch me and gather all the relevant information about my friends and family."

"And then, when they feel like they have prepared enough, they will catch all my loved ones and pressure me into joining their Sect."

"That's when my life would be over."

"On top of that, they wouldn't even be under any stress for time or anything similar to that. No one else knew about my existence, and they would have all the time to plan for my eventual capture."

"Yet, by being unveiled in public, all seven Sects start at the same position, and they have to compete with each other. In a sense, resisting seven rudimentary, hastily planned attempts at capturing me is easier than resisting one thoroughly planned out attempt."

"Even more, the Sects wouldn't want to directly anger me just yet. After all, I could join a different Sect out of spite, and that Sect would be in a lot of trouble in the future."

"Arc used the equilibrium of the Peak Sects against each other, and I would be the one benefitting from it."

Gravis smiled bitterly. "Sadly, he probably didn't realize that I would anger six out of the seven Peak Sects at once."

"However, even that isn't as bad as being found out secretly. After all, I know that everyone found out, which allowed me to hide my tracks and background."

Gravis took a deep breath. "I still feel guilty about doing it, but I had to eradicate the Eternal Fire Sect. They were the only ones that knew about me, and with them gone, the Peak Sects have no lead."

"Right now, as long as I don't contact my loved ones, the Peak Sects won't know where or who I am."

"That's already the best I can ask for. I just have to stay low and stay hidden. Additionally, I have plenty of tempering opportunities now. I don't need to search for my opponents since nearly all the Peak Sects are my opponents now. All these people looking for me are my enemies."

"I'm the one in the shadow while they are in the light. I can choose whoever I want."

Then, Gravis remembered something.

"Right, if you want to help me, could you check if the Eternal Fire Sect still exists and if the Sects found any of my friends and family?" Gravis asked.

Zero's Essence remained silent for some seconds.

"They didn't find out that you came with the people of the Eternal Fire Sect. They also have no idea about your background."

"As for the Eternal Fire Sect, the closest Sect found the territory of the Eternal Fire Sect completely destroyed, and they quickly entered to claim the Law Comprehension Areas."

"As far as everyone is aware, the Eternal Fire Sect's enemies had used the opportunity that the Vice-Sect Master was absent to stage a surprise attack against the Eternal Fire Sect. No one connected the death of the Vice-Sect Master with your actions since Silver Seer killed every Ancestral God that had been present anyway."

"The remaining members of the tournament joined the different Peak Sects. Exar joined the Lightning Peak Sect while your son joined the Mortal Sect. No one believes that these two know each other."

Gravis released a sigh of relief. "What about Cera?"

"She joined the Lost Wind Sect."

Gravis thought back to his daughter.

She had been the weakest amongst everyone around Gravis, but now, she was in a Peak Sect and an Ancestral God.

Gravis was glad that she managed to go that far.

He also wanted to meet her again, but that wasn't an option right now.

Gravis couldn't even see Stella or any of his other friends.

Several Divine Gods were probably overlooking all the different Sects and Teleportation Formation Arrays. They were probably constantly questioning their own perception while flying around and looking at every Sect.

Sure, to check all the Sects would take thousands of years, but that wasn't actually that long.

The entire world was searching for Gravis at this moment, and the only way for Gravis to protect his loved ones was to not come into contact with them.

This was probably the longest time Gravis would be apart from his loved ones.

However, this was still the best-case scenario.

Arc had given Gravis the best opportunity for his last push towards power.

"You know," Gravis said after a while. "I don't really like to target an entire organization just because their leaders decided to do something I don't like, but I think that Ancestral Gods should be smart enough to make their own opinions."

Zero's Essence looked at Gravis.

Gravis seemed rather calm.

"I think genocide isn't that bad of an option right now," Gravis said.

"Why are you acting like this is a special occasion?" Zero's Essence asked. "Destroying an entire Clan or Sect is standard practice. We can only allow the most unimportant members of a Sect to join us after winning in a war."

"It's normal to eradicate an entire Sect. It's not really anything special," she explained.

Gravis scratched the side of his head. "I mean, I get it. It feels so normal for all of you, but it's still something I'm not completely used to."

Zero's Essence blinked once without amusement.

"Do you have a selective memory?" she asked.

Gravis looked at Zero's Essence with confusion.

"Remember the incident with your Sin Aura? That was also a genocide," she said.

"Oh, right," Gravis said with embarrassment. "Okay, I forgot about that incident."

Then Gravis looked to the side. "Maybe I shouldn't act like some innocent person. After all, I had a Sin Aura once."

Then, Gravis put on a shining smile and gave Zero's Essence a thumbs-up with a wink.

"I'm going to eradicate six of the Peak Sects!" Gravis said with an encouraging voice.

Zero's Essence looked at Gravis for a bit in stunned silence.

And then, she actually chuckled a bit.

She had never seen someone talk about genocide with such a positive and encouraging tone and expression.

Gravis smiled with pride when he saw Zero's Essence chuckle.

They talked for a while longer, but Zero's Essence left rather quickly.

She was bored of talking, and she went back to think about the concept of control.

She had learned a lot about control from Gravis, and she felt like she had finally made some progress on that front.

When Zero's Essence left, Gravis turned to Mortis.

"We should test how useful Elemental Synchronicity is for comprehending Laws."

Chapter 1255 - – Normal Tempering

Gravis had initially planned to find another opportunity to temper himself. After all, that was the very reason why he had only become a level one Ancestral God.

However, everything had turned out differently from what he had planned… as always.

Gravis' Will-Aura had reached the level of a level four Divine God during Samsara. Gravis had been under an intense feeling of doom and danger for the ten million years of Samsara, which had done wonders for his Will-Aura.

This put Gravis in a very awkward position regarding tempering.

With his strengthened True Law of Suppression, no Ancestral God could possibly resist Gravis' illusions, making him unkillable in the Realm.

Yet, Gravis also couldn't kill level nine Ancestral Gods since he simply couldn't muster enough power to injure them, even if they simply stood there without doing anything at all.

That meant that Gravis needed to fight Divine Gods now, and for that, Gravis needed to increase his Realm and Law comprehension.

Talking about tempering, Gravis started to feel rather frustrated.

Everyone else found tons of opponents on their level. It was almost like they found someone they could temper themselves against as soon as they took a foot out of the door.

These people went to competitions, tournaments, wars, and whatever, and they always found great tempering. There were so many people to choose from.

And Gravis?

It was always one of two extremes. Either Gravis found people that he could crush with a thought or people that could crush him with a thought.

There was no middle-ground.

All of that had started to happen in the higher world.

Gravis had needed to actively search for his opponents back then, and he had to keep himself hidden because of his beast body.

He had actively searched for the turtle.

He had actively used Siral's tribulation to get an opponent.

Mortis had actively searched for that Black Demon.

Gravis and Mortis had actively sought out Nira.

Gravis hadn't conveniently met a good opponent ever since then.

The highest world was even worse.

Mortis had gotten that one opponent in the war, but that was it.

After that, Gravis had only met incredibly weak people, and when that passed, he was confronted with something he couldn't do anything against, his Sin Aura.

Then, when he finally managed to get past the Sin Aura thing, Eve had appeared with the desire to kill him. He had been helpless in front of her.

After that came the entire thing with the Eternal Fire Sect. Gravis couldn't just fight against the other members since there were basically no really powerful Star Gods back then.

The only time Gravis got some great opponents was in the Heaven's Trial.

And then?

Gravis wanted to temper himself against a level six Ancestral God, but instead, he got confronted with tons of Peak Ancestral Gods and Divine Gods that wanted to kill him.

How was he supposed to fight against any of them?

As soon as he clashed with one of them, they would call over everyone else, and Gravis' life would be over.

What was he supposed to do in that scenario?

He could only run.

In his downtime, Gravis had read some stories while being with Stella, and he had realized that the main characters always conveniently found opponents that were on their level.

These elders always only looked back and said that all of these fights were between the junior generation, whatever the fuck that meant.

The powerful people always seemingly ignored the main character until he became powerful enough to fight them.

The real world didn't work that way!

Did the Peak Sects act like Gravis was part of the Ancestral God generation and only send level six Ancestral Gods against him?

Of course not!

That would be idiotic beyond compare!

Instead, the Peak Divine Gods kept watch over him, and they directly took personal action.

'Can't I just get a normal opponent that wants to fight me for whatever reason?' Gravis thought with frustration. 'Do I always have to search through the entire world to find a good opponent?'

'Anyway, there's nothing I can do about it. I mean, being chased by someone far more powerful than me is also a form of tempering, and I got my tempering. After all, my Will-Aura is now on the level of a level four Divine God, and I have comprehended several powerful Laws.'

'Why can't I just have normal tempering?'

Gravis looked at Mortis. "So, you wanna increase our Realm first before we test out the Elemental Synchronicity?"

"Sounds good," Mortis answered. "How do you want to do it? We don't have any money right now."

Gravis only smirked. "But we have the True Law of Perceived Reality. We can essentially go anywhere."

"Why not look for a nice Law Comprehension Area for Heavenly Lightning?"

Mortis frowned. "That's risky. If a Divine God just so happens to be there when we surface, we're done for. We also don't have enough Energy to create a clone."

"Well, it's risky for me, but not for you," Gravis said with a smirk. "As long as you don't directly charge into a Peak Sect, no one can find you in your intangible state. There should be some Law Comprehension Areas for Heavenly Lightning in non-Peak Sects."

"Okay, which ones?" Mortis asked.

"I don't know! Just find out," Gravis answered with annoyance.

"How?" Mortis asked.

"I don't know. Go to like an Information Pavilion or something," Gravis answered.

"Where?" Mortis asked.

"Like some city…"

And then, Gravis realized what Mortis meant.

Divine Gods would overlook the major cities, and Mortis would need to become tangible to interact with the Information Pavilion. At that point, he would be found out.

Especially Opposer City, as the capital of commerce, would be overlooked heavily. Sure, the Peak Sects wouldn't make any trouble inside Opposer City, but they would surround the city as soon as Mortis was unveiled.

Mortis could become intangible, but the Peak Sects might have methods to unveil his location. At that point, Mortis would always have someone follow him, no matter where he went.

Gravis violently scratched the back of his head in frustration. "Why is this so hard!?" he shouted.

"Because the Peak Sects are the rulers of the world," Mortis answered calmly.

"I know that! That was a rhetorical question," Gravis snapped back.

"I know, but I am you, and with a rhetorical question, you are asking yourself, and you just answered your own question through me," Mortis answered calmly.

Gravis rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

"You were the one asking me."

Gravis groaned. "Fine, fine! You win! Now, how do we get to an Information Pavilion?"

"You know, you overlooked something else, Gravis," Mortis said. "Getting to the Information Pavilion is one thing, but we also have to find a way to pay them."

"We don't have any money right now."

Gravis' brows furrowed.

Whenever they had needed money, Gravis had simply opened a business.

But now?

For a business, Gravis needed customers, and to get customers, he would need to conduct his business in a public place. However, Divine Gods would overlook these places.

"What about killing someone?" Gravis asked.

"That would pull all the Divine Gods to that place, at least in this location. Sure, we can go somewhere else, but as soon as we reach the surface, any Divine God can find us. The Peak Sects are absolutely everywhere right now, and the only safe location is the deep underground."

"We can't kill someone for wealth. We can't interact with anyone. We can't find out where the natural resources are."

Gravis violently scratched the back of his head again.

He hadn't expected that the Peak Sects would be suppressing him to that degree.

Gravis couldn't even leave the deep underground without walking into danger.

After a while of silence, Gravis looked to the side.

"We are mole-people now."

Mortis raised an eyebrow.

"We live in the underground for our entire lives. As mole-people, we have to live like mole-people."

Mortis only looked at Gravis with a weird look.

"And you are suggesting what exactly?" he asked.

Gravis pointed in one random direction.

"Mole-people are blind, and they don't know where they have to go! So, as blind mole-people, we have to also blindly move around!"

"Eventually, we will come across something that can be converted into money!"

Mortis only blinked without amusement.

"You do know that the highest world is a bit big, right?"

"Mole-people don't question the world! They dig!" Gravis answered.

Mortis blinked once again.

Then, he shrugged.

"Sure, why not."

Chapter 1256 - – New Samsara

So, Gravis and Mortis began to fly in a random direction, searching for anything that could be converted into money.

The extremely hard ore this deep in the earth couldn't be used. First of all, it was hard but brittle. At best, it could be used for buildings. Additionally, this kind of ore was scattered all across the world at this depth, making the supply endless. The Peak Sects had already squeezed all the money out of this kind of ore.

Fortunately, thanks to their Elemental Synchronicity, getting through the ore wasn't harder than flying through air. They could even teleport.

Only very powerful Divine Gods could survive in such a depth. Additionally, not many of those existed. On top of that, their Spirit Sense would be suppressed by a significant degree by the gravity.

Because of that, the two of them were safe at such a depth.

Yet, there also wasn't anything valuable at such a depth.

So, the two of them charged in a random direction for around 20 years, and then, they slowly surfaced a bit.

They remained at a depth where only Late-Stage Ancestral Gods could survive, but thanks to their unsuppressed Spirit Sense, they could also see the area where only Mid-Stage Ancestral Gods could survive.

Some valuables could be found here.

However, the highest world was still far too gigantic, and the valuable places were rare.

After a century of searching, the two of them only found two tiny clusters of ore, and they weren't even that valuable.

Since they knew the True Law of Hard Complex Materials, they knew what kind of ore this was and how much it was worth.

They made about 50,000 God Stones.

In a hundred years.

That was essentially nothing.

However, they simply didn't have any other option, so they continued.

Twenty years later, they found another tiny cluster of ore.

Then, they found another one.

Then-

"Stop!" Mortis transmitted to Gravis.

"What's going on?" Gravis asked Mortis. Mortis had always traveled at the front in his intangible form as security.

"Roots," Mortis answered.

"Roots? There's a plant?" Gravis asked.

"Yes, and the roots don't seem to end at this depth. I think this is a Divine God plant," Mortis answered.

"A Divine God plant?" Gravis asked in shock. "Where the hell are we?"

"Probably near a Peak Sect. I don't think that normal Sects have Divine God plants."

"Wait," Gravis said. "So, we randomly just entered the headquarters of a Peak Sect?"

"I mean, searching blindly for valuables is luck-based, and you know our luck," Mortis answered.

Gravis took a deep breath.

If Mortis hadn't been at the front as insurance, Gravis wouldn't have seen the plant before it saw him.

And then, the plant would have simply captured or killed Gravis.

"That fucking luck again," Gravis commented with frustration. "Can I get a fucking break for once?"

"Also, how come we didn't find even a single Formation Array?"

"I guess the Peak Sects don't build Formation Arrays that far down," Mortis answered.

"Possible," Gravis answered. "Anyway, we should leave."

Mortis didn't answer.

"I think we can do something here," Mortis answered.

"Hm?" Gravis asked.

"What do you think about Samsara?" Mortis asked.

Gravis only snorted. "Dude, do you have any idea how long that plant must have lived? Additionally, it has been surrounded by thousands of Cultivators every second of its life. One Samsara will probably stretch for hundreds of millions of years, maybe even a billion years."

"I'm not going to survive that."

"Are you sure about that?" Mortis asked.

"What, you think I will survive a billion years of Samsara?" Gravis asked with a sneer.

"No, that's not what I meant," Mortis answered. "You have created Samsara with Minor Law of Perceived Reality as a basis, but now, you know the True Law of Perceived Reality."

"In my opinion, being pulled into your own attack sounds like a disadvantage and an imperfect usage of the concept."

"So, by that logic, shouldn't there be a way to transform Samsara into an attack that only pulls your enemy into it?" Mortis suggested.

Gravis furrowed his brows as he scratched his chin in thought.

"You know, that actually makes sense. You want to try? However, it should take a while until I'm done with creating the attack."

"Sure, I don't mind," Mortis answered. "You simply go further down and create your attack in peace. I will simply search for more stuff in the meantime."

Gravis nodded. "Alright, let's try."

Gravis went deeper underground while Mortis left.

Then, Gravis focused on Samsara and combined it with the True Law of Perceived Reality.

This was a Weapon Technique that combined peak-rank Laws, and it would take a long time to refine the technique.

Time stretched on and on as Gravis completely focused on his attack, and eventually, he finished it.

It took him 50,000 years.

When Gravis was done, he called Mortis back. Mortis had only found about a million God Stones worth of stuff, which was still essentially nothing for their current Realm.

"So, how do we test it?" Gravis asked. "Theoretically, I shouldn't be pulled into Samsara again, but I'm not certain. If I use it on the plant, I might actually die."

"Try it on me," Mortis said.

Gravis lifted an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"I've already gone through far longer Samsaras, and my conviction is incomparably stable. Additionally, we haven't lived for that long, and my Samsara should only take around three to five million years."

Gravis scratched the back of his head. "Alright, but I will only use the new base-version. I won't add all the extra Battle-Laws that increase the damage of Samsara."

Mortis nodded.

Then, Gravis took out his saber and loaded it with his new Samsara.

Gravis slashed his saber towards Mortis, and Samsara hit Mortis.

Gravis looked with interest at Mortis, and his excitement reached a new height when he saw Mortis lose his balance.

Gravis hadn't been pulled into his new Samsara!

It worked!

"Are you alright, Mortis?" Gravis asked.

Mortis appeared quite shocked by the whole ordeal. Sure, Samsara was powerful, but Gravis hadn't thought that Mortis would be that distraught.

"Samsara changed," Mortis said.

"In what sense?" Gravis asked.

"It now also includes my own perception, and it comes first. I felt all the feelings I have felt back then, and I even relived that part where my old version has killed himself."

"It was a dark place."

"Luckily, I knew what Samsara was there for, and I knew that my life would become far better, which allowed me to pull through."

Mortis took a deep breath.

"I underestimated Samsara," he said.

Gravis felt guilty when he heard Mortis' recounting of the events. "Sorry," he said.

"It's fine," Mortis answered. "All of this has reaffirmed my conviction to continue on my path, and it was necessary to test the new version."

Gravis nodded. "Alright. So, should I test it on the plant?"

"I'll do it," Mortis said. "It will notice you if you come close. I will simply take a pre-loaded Samsara from you, close in, become tangible, and use it. It's risky, but I think it should be worth the risk. You go down as far as you can. I will join you later."

"Okay," Gravis said. Then, he loaded another saber with Samsara and handed it to Mortis. Mortis couldn't create Samsara himself since he was made of Heavenly Lightning, which would interfere with Samsara.

Then, Gravis went as far down as he could.

Eventually, he reached the World Barrier.

Gravis had also been at the World Barrier in the higher world, so this wasn't anything new to him.

This was the silver wall that protected the Cosmos from the Primordial Chaos.

Only Heaven's Magnates could survive at this depth.

When Mortis saw that Gravis was at a safe place, he slowly closed in on the plant from deep below the ground, at the deepest part of its roots.

Its roots reached the depth where only Mid-Stage Divine Gods could survive, but it could probably stretch even further into the ground.

This plant was truly powerful, and it had probably lived for over 50 million years!

It was more ancient than any non-plant Divine God.

This plant was the core of a Peak Sect. Without this plant, the Peak Sect would find it incredibly difficult to keep up with the growth of other Peak Sects.

Every Peak Sect needed a powerful plant.

When Mortis reached the lowest part of the plant's roots, he readied himself mentally.

Then, he became tangible and immediately unleashed Samsara.

Chapter 1257 - – Windfall

Gravis waited for Mortis' feedback. Right now, Gravis was too far away to see everything for himself, so he had to wait for Mortis.

Just when Mortis had unleashed Samsara, he had felt an incredibly powerful Spirit Sense envelop him. However, that Spirit Sense quickly vanished after Mortis had hit the plant with Samsara.

Mortis immediately became intangible again and flew away for a bit.

And then, he simply watched.

The plant didn't move.

It hadn't changed in any way.

It was simply doing nothing.

Mortis furrowed his brows, used the Law of Perceived Reality to change into the form of Silver Seer, and contacted the plant.

"What happened!? Your Spirit fluctuations were chaotic just now!" Mortis transmitted to the plant.

The plant didn't answer.

Then, Mortis slowly flew closer and put his hand on one of the roots.

BZZZ!

Mortis unleashed some Heavenly Lightning, and parts of the roots were burned away.

Usually, Mortis wouldn't be able to injure someone so much more powerful than him, but when there was no will left in a living being, their resistance was far weaker.

Mortis smirked when he saw that he could easily turn the root into Heavenly Lightning.

"It lost its will!" Mortis transmitted to Gravis.

Gravis also grinned when he heard Mortis.

Dying to Samsara didn't mean that someone just died. No, they simply lost their will. In mortal terms, one could say that the living being had become brain-dead.

Their body would still live on, and their memories also remained, but the Spirit simply couldn't be used anymore since nothing was directing it anymore.

By all intents and purposes, the plant appeared alive and healthy, but it was actually dead from a Cultivation-perspective.

"Seems like a billion years of Samsara was too much for this plant," Gravis commented as he came closer to the plant.

"I expected as much," Mortis answered. "It has probably done nothing but simply wait here and cultivate with not much else to do. Living for a billion years without any progress was simply too much. I'm not even sure if Heaven's Magnates can live that long."

Gravis put his hand on one of the roots and moved it along it.

"Isn't it fascinating and frightening?" Gravis asked.

"What?" Mortis asked.

"Divine Gods can only live for ten million years before they have to undergo a tribulation. If we say that the strongest Divine Gods have only gone through one tribulation, it wouldn't be farfetched to say that this plant has probably gone through three or four different Sect Masters."

"This plant was probably the very foundation on which one of the Peak Sects built their prosperity and power."

"And now, we killed something like that."

"So?" Mortis asked. "If it found you, it would have simply eaten you like an annoying insect. After all, we would be seen as intruders."

"I know," Gravis answered. "I was simply marveling about how far we have come."

"Anyway, what do we do now?" Gravis asked.

Mortis only smirked. "Obviously, I'm going to harvest its fruits."

Gravis smirked back.

What was the status of this plant?

It had probably been a Peak Divine God, and it was probably as powerful as an Ancestor or even more powerful.

Would there be guards around it?

Of course not. The plant was more powerful than any member inside a Peak Sect. Why would it need guards? Probably not even Ancestors could kill it with just themselves.

Additionally, it wouldn't be the Sect Master or Ancestor demanding the fruit, but the plant allowing them to take the fruit.

This plant was the very foundation of a Peak Sect, and it probably was the most powerful being with the highest authority inside the Sect. The only reason why these plants were ignored by everyone was that they didn't care about politics, and they didn't move, which meant that they didn't fight anyone.

They simply sat in their Sects like eternal guardians.

Gravis and Mortis had just ripped out the deepest and most stable foundation of a Peak Sect.

If the other Sects got wind of the death of this plant, they would probably launch an all-out attack on this Sect.

A Peak Sect without its plant was not a Peak Sect.

Gravis and Mortis absorbed one of the roots to get some Energy, and Mortis created a clone with said Energy.

Gravis and Mortis retreated back to the bottom of the world while Mortis' clone went upward to check the fruits.

At some point, Mortis found the Formation Array, but with the True Law of Perceived Reality, all Formation Arrays could be ignored.

Mortis easily slipped past the Formation Array.

Then, Mortis surfaced.

Mortis was inside a grand cave.

It was absolutely gigantic, and a lush tree grew at its center. A lot more Formation Arrays were around the walls of the cave to protect the tree.

Before doing anything else, Mortis went to the entrance of the cave and went past the Formation Arrays.

Then, Mortis kept his Spirit Sense in check and only looked at the world around him with his eyes. He didn't want his Spirit Sense to be found by some fancy technique or something.

Up in the sky, Mortis felt a lot of Heavenly Lightning being created. It wasn't on the level of a Law Comprehension Area, but it also didn't feel like the Heavenly Lightning was used in a fight.

It was like someone was trying to dump Heavenly Lightning into this place.

Mortis already had an inkling as to where he was, and his suspicions were confirmed when he saw that the cave was in a gigantic mountain with a very flat top.

"Huh, turns out we're at the Lightning Peak Sect again," the Mortis in the underground told Gravis.

Gravis scratched the back of his head. "I mean, it makes sense. We only traveled for like a bit more than a century without any guidance. I don't think that the Peak Sects are that close together."

The Mortis above-ground went back into the cave and looked at the tree again.

It was filled with fruits!

There were over 100,000 Law Comprehension Life Fruits for level seven Laws, over 1,000 Law Comprehension Life Fruits for level eight Laws, and 25 Law Comprehension Life Fruits for level nine Laws.

Mortis looked at the beautiful array of fruits hanging in front of him with a smile and gathered them quickly.

Then, he went below the ground again and met up with Gravis.

The two of them looked at their loot with excitement.

Money?

What money?

That stuff he was swimming in?

"We should go," Mortis said. "If they find out what happened, they will turn everything around here into nothingness."

Gravis was pulled out of his thoughts and nodded.

"I know exactly where we should go next. Additionally, since we now know where we are, we can go there directly. However, it will take a long time. I guess we probably have to move at full speed for nearly 50,000 years or so."

Mortis and Gravis looked at each other with grimaces.

"Why does this world have to be so big?" Mortis asked with annoyance. "Not being able to use Teleportation Formation Arrays sucks."

"I know," Gravis answered.

Then, the two of them charged towards the southwest.

It would be a long and very boring journey.

Chapter 1258 - – Selling

Navigating the world so deep underground was a challenging task. Just being off by one degree would make them miss their destination by hundreds or thousands of years of travel.

After around 30,000 years, they began to triangulate their relative positions according to the flow and density of the Energy in the world.

By now, enough time had passed that Gravis and Mortis could create another clone due to their passive absorption of Energy.

Now, two Gravises and two Mortises flew around in the underground.

They all flew in slightly different directions and crosschecked the pull of Energy from their different positions, which gave them a general direction towards their goal.

In total, the journey took 50,000 years, just as Gravis had anticipated.

By now, the pull of Energy was astonishingly powerful. It was like the Energy of the entire world was just in front of them.

Shortly after, the four of them fused again.

They had reached their goal.

In front of Gravis and Mortis was a Formation Array of unmistakable power.

It was impossible to penetrate even for Gravis and Mortis, and it stretched towards the very bottom of the world.

Not even Peak Sects could create such a Formation Array.

Gravis smirked, and he moved his hand towards the Formation Array.

Knock, knock, knock!

Whoop!

A hole in the Formation Array opened, and the two of them entered.

God Stones!

So many God Stones!

Gravis and Mortis were swallowed by God Stones!

Their entire perception was filled with God Stones!

"Don't touch your mother's stuff," the Opposer told them via voice transmission.

"I'm not suicidal," Gravis answered.

This had been Gravis' goal, their home.

Yes, surfacing anywhere in the world was a major risk, and there were probably an insane number of Divine Gods overlooking all the major cities.

However, these Divine Gods couldn't look this far down into the ground.

Usually, getting into their house would have been impossible. After all, their home was in the middle of a busy city.

Yet, couldn't they just enter from the underground? After all, their mother's ocean of God Stones probably stretched towards the very bottom of the world.

And, sure enough, Gravis had been right. Additionally, Gravis had also been certain that no one would be able to see him inside here.

First of all, the Divine Gods probably didn't dare to look into the Opposer's home, and even if they dared, they probably couldn't. After all, the Opposer wasn't known for being a social butterfly.

While swimming through the ocean of God Stones, they accidentally absorbed a couple million of them, but Gravis didn't mind.

After all, he would replace them very soon.

Eventually, the two of them came out of the ocean.

BANG! BANG!

And were promptly kicked back in.

"Why don't you absorb some more, you ungrateful brats!?" the Economistress shouted with annoyance.

"It wasn't on purpose!" Gravis shouted as he lifted his head out of the ocean.

"Oh, shut up! As if it is so hard to keep your own Energy in check," she said with a snort.

"Hey, I'm going to replace them, okay?" Gravis answered.

The Economistress snorted again. "You? Last I heard, you had no money left."

Gravis and Mortis looked at each other in silence for a bit.

Then, they smirked.

"It seems like you're not up to date with the news," Mortis said.

"Not up to date?" the Economistress asked with ridicule. "What? Are you suddenly rich people? Are you saying you have more money than me?"

Gravis had been confident in their newfound wealth, but that last sentence put him back into his place.

Sure, they were rich, but not that rich!

How could their wealth compare to the Economistress' wealth?

"No, we're not richer than you, but we're as rich as never before," Mortis said.

"As rich as never before?" the Economistress asked with interest. "You once owned 16 God Crystals. Are you telling me that you earned more than that in only 100,000 years?"

Gravis and Mortis only smirked.

When the Economistress saw their reaction, she smiled warmly.

"Come in, boys! Welcome home!"

"What? Now that we have money, we are suddenly welcome?" Gravis asked with a snort.

"I don't have freeloaders as sons," the Economistress said with a smile.

The three of them joked some more, and eventually, they all went upstairs to their father's room.

As always, the Opposer sat in the middle of his room.

"Hey, Gravis, Mortis! I've heard you made quite a stir," the Black Magnate commented as he saw the two of them enter.

"Oh? You're also here?" Gravis asked.

"Of course," the Black Magnate said with a smirk. "Someone has to keep your father's ego in check."

Gravis saw that some kind of board game was sitting between the Black Magnate and the Opposer.

"Give me another 10,000 years, and I will start winning again," the Opposer said evenly. "Eventually, you will run out of new games."

"If I run out, I will simply create new ones," the Black Magnate said. "My creativity has no bounds."

"Give it another million years or two," the Opposer answered absentmindedly.

"Anyway, why are you guys back?" the Black Magnate asked the two of them, changing the topic. "Did you get cold feet from being chased by the Peak Sects?"

"No," Gravis answered with a smirk. "This time, we are here to do business."

"Business?" the Black Magnate asked. "What? Did you find some nice ore in the ground somewhere? I've heard you declared yourself to be mole-people."

"We sure did," Gravis said, "and no, we are not here to sell ore. Our ore-selling days are behind us."

"Oh? Then, what are you selling?" the Economistress asked as she joined everyone in the room. "Who's your trading partner?"

"It's you," Gravis and Mortis said to the Economistress.

She only smiled. "Thought so. So, what do you have to offer?"

"You seem relaxed," Mortis said. "Do you think it's cute that we are here to trade with you, the big Economistress?"

"Of course it's cute!" the Economistress said with a giggle. "My little boys are earning their own money. I'm so proud of you two little cuties."

Gravis performed some grand gestures. "Not this time, mother," he said with an official voice. "This time, we have become heavy-hitting businessmen! This time, we bring big business, even to someone as illustrious as you!"

"Big business?" the Economistress asked with a smirk. "Alright, I'll believe you. Then, show me your big business."

"Talking about big business with the Economistress," the Black Magnate added from the side with a smirk. "Quite some bold words."

Obviously, the two of them weren't taking Gravis and Mortis seriously.

"Father, tell them that we brought big business," Gravis said to the Opposer.

The Opposer looked at his wife.

"They bring big business," he said like a machine.

"Aw, my little boys bring me big business. I'm so proud!" the Economistress said in a cutesy voice.

Gravis only frowned for a second, but his grin quickly returned.

"Behold! Big business!"

WHOOP!

In an instant, a huge number of fruits appeared in the air.

Silence.

Absolute silence.

The Black Magnate looked at the fruits like time had stopped for him.

The Black Magnate had believed that the two of them would bring something back that was worth a couple of God Crystals.

But this…

This!

This was unreasonable!

The Economistress looked even more shocked.

She had believed that they had brought something that was quite valuable, but this was just too much.

This was a sum of money that she wouldn't trust her employees with, and she trusted them with a lot of money!

"Where did you get all of that?" the Black Magnate asked with an absentminded voice.

"We killed the big tree in the middle of the Lightning Peak Sect and took its fruits," Mortis said.

The Black Magnate's mind stopped.

These two?

H-how!?

The plants of the Peak Sects were the most protected foundation of the Sects, and they were also the most powerful beings inside the Peak Sects.

These two were only level one Ancestral Gods!

How would they even go about doing it!?

Gravis smirked as he saw the shocked expressions of the two of them.

Then, Gravis saw how the gaze of the Economistress became very cold, distant, and professional.

Whoop!

An intricate and impossibly powerful table appeared between her and the two of them.

Two cups of hot tea landed on the table where Gravis and Mortis were, and she looked at the two of them with a professional gaze.

"Please sit down," she said with a graceful gesture.. "Let's talk about your wares."

Chapter 1259 - – Negotiation

Gravis and Mortis sat down at the table and drank the tea.

They had never been big fans of tea, but this tea was amazing.

"Why didn't you make this tea for us before?" Gravis asked with surprise.

"This tea is only for our valued clients," the Economistress said with a professional smile.

"Mhm," Gravis muttered without amusement.

SHING!

The Economistress summoned a jade token and politely pushed it across the table. "These are the retail prices for everything you have shown us. Please take a look at them."

Gravis and Mortis looked at it, and they took a deep breath.

One set of level nine Law Comprehension Life Fruits: 1,000 God Crystals!

One set of level eight Law Comprehension Life Fruits: 10 God Crystals!

One Set of level seven Law Comprehension Life Fruits: 100 million God Stones!

Gravis looked at the fruits he currently had.

That was nearly 10,000 God Crystals!

In order to become a Divine God, one only needed around 1,000 God Crystals!

"As you can see, you are currently sitting at around 10,000 God Crystals in retail value," the Economistress said. "However, we obviously can't pay you that. After all, we also have to make a living."

Gravis nodded. "I know," he said. "So, how much are you willing to give us?"

The Economistress' smile shone brightly. "Under normal circumstances, we would be fine with the usual 70% price, but that isn't applicable in this case."

"The main reason is that the origin of your wares is troublesome. Offending a Peak Sect is a serious issue. The Lightning Peak Sect won't know that it had been you two that have killed their tree since we will protect your identities. However, their next-best target would be our company."

"Their core-plant has died, and suddenly, our company is selling these elusive level nine Law Comprehension Life Fruits. Obviously, the Lightning Peak Sect will see us as an accomplice to the killer of their plant."

"The Lightning Peak Sect doesn't dare to attack our CEO for fear of retaliation, but they have no issues with attacking our different facilities. Additionally, they will make it very difficult for us to find new customers and keep old customers."

"The insecurity of our current situation might sway some customers to swap to a different provider with a more secure foundation. On top of that, the Lightning Peak Sect will also probably enter an economic war with us, sacrificing their own money to cripple our company."

"This means that we have to either sell these Law Comprehension Life Fruits very secretly and covertly, which will make it difficult to find buyers, or be prepared to pay plenty of guards to fight against the Lightning Peak Sect."

The Economistress continued to name difficulties with selling these wares for another ten minutes.

By the end of it, Gravis and Mortis almost believed that buying these fruits would be a loss for the Economistress.

She was simply incredible at negotiating.

The two of them knew that, and they knew that she couldn't possibly make a loss by buying these fruits, but according to logic and according to what she said, it seemed like she would be losing money.

The logic was sound, and the two of them couldn't find anything to argue over.

They had expected that they could show their mother how good they were at negotiating, but they just couldn't find an angle to attack.

"Because of all of that, we are willing to buy your wares for 30% of their retail price," the Economistress finished.

Gravis felt like he had to say something. "That's too little. Your difficulties in selling these wares are not our concern. The worth of the Law Comprehension Life Fruits is set in stone. We are willing to come to some sort of compromise, but that's just too much."

The Economistress only smiled brightly. "You are correct," she said. "What we are paying you isn't nearly equivalent to your wares' worth."

Then, she sighed. "Sadly, our company isn't able to give you a fitting price for these fruits. We are simply not in a position to give you a better price. We can fully understand if you plan to take your business elsewhere. The most we can give you is 30%. I'm sorry."

Gravis gritted his teeth.

Take his business elsewhere?

Where!?

Where could he possibly sell these fruits!?

No one else would buy all of them due to the shady background of these fruits. A couple of Ancestral Gods that have wealth equivalent to a huge Sect was just too shady.

Additionally, Gravis couldn't even show himself publicly!

There was literally no other option!

Gravis continued trying to get more money for his fruits, but the Economistress always denied him with a very apologetic voice.

Gravis knew for a fact that his mother was bullshitting him.

However, what could he do?

Selling somewhere else was impossible.

Waiting?

The Economistress could wait for tens of millions of years without any issue.

There was nothing Gravis could do.

Gravis felt the concept of control in the current situation, and he realized that there was nothing he could do.

For him, it was impossible to claim control over the current situation.

In the end, the two of them could only accept.

"Fine, we accept," Gravis said with a deep sigh.

The Economistress only smiled sheepishly, and she took out 3,000 God Crystals.

"Please, could we have it in God Stones?" Gravis asked.

The Economistress nodded, and she summoned a tsunami of God Stones, which quickly entered Gravis' Spirit Space.

Due to the exchange rate of God Stones to God Crystals, Gravis received nearly six trillion God Stones!

Inside his Spirit Space, Gravis saw kilometers filled with nothing but God Stones.

Yet, it was still only a lake compared to his mother's ocean.

Then, the Economistress pocketed all the fruits with a smile.

SHING!

The table and tea vanished, leaving Gravis and Mortis sitting on the floor.

"Man, you got fleeced!" the Black Magnate commented with a laugh.

Gravis only sighed. "There was nothing I could do."

"I know, but it's still hilarious," the Black Magnate answered with another laugh.

"I win," the Opposer suddenly commented drily.

The Black Magnate looked over and noticed that he had lost in his game. "I wasn't paying attention!" the Black Magnate complained.

The Opposer blinked very slowly.

"So? I still won."

While all of this was going on, the Economistress was taking the most valuable fruits and wrapping them with some kind of foil for presents. She was happily smiling the entire time.

Then, she turned around and went to Gravis and Mortis, hugging them tightly.

"Oh, my boys are finally rich! Look at you! You're trillionaires!" she said with a gleeful voice.

Gravis felt a bit awkward, but he sighed and returned the embrace. "I just feel like I've been scammed."

"Hey, that's just how business is," the Economistress said with a bright smile. "Here, to mark the occasion, I have a present for you!"

She offered one present to Gravis and Mortis each, and they looked at the Economistress with confusion.

"Aren't these some of the fruits we just sold you?" Mortis asked.

The Economistress only smiled brightly. "I bought them privately. So, I can do with them whatever I want, and right now, I want to give my good boys some nice presents!"

The two of them looked with surprise at their mother.

These two presents were one set of Law Comprehension Life Fruits for the level seven True Law of Life Energy and one set for the level eight True Law of Soul Destruction.

The two of them had always had the most issues with the Life Laws, and the Economistress had just given them two sets of these fruits.

This was an incredible help!

"The other fruits for level eight Laws will go to your friends," she said with a warm smile. "I will keep holding onto the ones for the level nine Laws until your friends are powerful enough to comprehend them without any issues."

"For your entire life, I have only been able to look on. I never directly helped you and always only helped you when I could get something in return."

"You understand why I did that. I couldn't allow you to develop a habit of relying on me."

"But now, you are near the end."

"Right now, you are so close."

"This is the last time I will be able to help you because soon, you will be more powerful than me."

"So, as a mother, let me help you this one time," she said with a warm smile.

Gravis and Mortis felt their hearts warming up, and they quickly embraced their mother.

For a while, the three of them only shared an embrace in silence.

Chapter 1260 - – Vanishing

Everyone spent a couple of years together. Gravis hadn't visited his parents in quite some time, and he wanted to spend more time with them.

After several years, Gravis and Mortis decided to continue. They wanted to see their friends and other family again, but as long as the Peak Sects were still hunting them, they couldn't visit them.

Because of that, they needed to become more powerful very quickly.

The Economistress assured them that she would inform their friends that Gravis and Mortis were fine and that they would take a while. They only had to focus on their Laws.

Gravis felt deeply grateful towards his mother. She had essentially given Gravis six trillion God Stones as a present since she was using the fruits to help Gravis' and Mortis' close ones.

Six trillion God Stones was an incredibly valuable gift.

After planning their future, Gravis and Mortis increased their Realm with their newfound wealth.

To what level would they advance?

Well, it all depended on their potential tempering.

With the True Law of Perceived Reality, every opponent with an equal or weaker Will-Aura wouldn't be an opponent at all. Since they now had a Will-Aura equivalent to a level four Divine God, they could only fight level four Divine Gods with a more powerful Will-Aura or stronger.

Luckily, Divine Gods basically all had Will-Auras above their Realm. After all, all of these Divine Gods were peak geniuses, and all of them were outstanding.

There were three levels of power between the ninth level of the Ancestral God Realm and the first level of the Divine God Realm.

This made it very awkward. Either they needed to try to fight seven levels above themselves or become level one Divine Gods and fight mid-range Divine Gods.

In the end, they decided to go all in.

They would attempt to jump seven levels!

However, they would need a lot of preparation.

The True Law of Perceived Reality wasn't enough.

If they wanted to have a shot, they needed equipment made out of the True Law of Matter and Form Laws equivalent to the True Law of Emotions. On top of that, they needed the suppression of the True Law of Sentience regarding Laws.

Without these things, attempting such a ridiculous jump was suicide.

However, they would attempt it.

Gravis and Mortis needed double the amount of Energy to advance in their Realm, which meant that they needed to consume about two trillion God Stones to become level nine Ancestral Gods.

In just a single day, the two had used up a third of their new wealth.

However, they were now level nine Ancestral Gods!

They had only recently become Ancestral Gods, and now, they were at the peak of the Ancestral God Realm.

One might think that this advancement was very fast, and it was, but it was also necessary.

The True Law of Perceived Reality had increased their Battle-Strength to ridiculous degrees, and their Will-Aura had also become very powerful.

After they fought their next opponent, their Will-Aura would reach the later Realms of the Divine God Realm.

That's when they would come out into public to confront the Peak Sects.

One more fight to reach the level of the Peak Sects.

Two more fights and they would reach the peak of all Divine Gods.

And then, the Heaven's Magnate Realm.

They were so close.

Two more fights, and they would be Heaven's Magnates.

They had come so far.

They had gone through nearly twelve Realms, and now, they were so close!

But first, they needed to prepare themselves!

It was time to start their mad dash towards supreme power!

As soon as they reached the ninth level of the Ancestral God Realm, they consumed the level seven Law Comprehension Life Fruit for the True Law of Life Energy.

This had been their mother's present, and it was the key point for all the Life Laws.

With the Law of Life Energy, every other Life Law would become easier.

In only 500 years, the two of them comprehended the level seven True Law of Life Energy.

This was the core!

Luckily, they didn't need to be careful of their Law Comprehension experience anymore when it came to a level seven Law. Because of that, and because they had already comprehended several level nine Laws since the last time, they directly consumed the next set.

The level eight True Law of Soul Regeneration. This was the last set of Law Comprehension Life Fruits from their Heaven's Trial.

After that, Gravis and Mortis split up.

Gravis' mind wasn't made of the usual lightning, which was why he focused on the Mixed Elemental Laws. Gravis covertly paid for a license to wear a disguise inside the city while not leaving his home, and he entered the Information Pavilion.

Gravis got the location of hundreds of Law Comprehension Areas for a relatively insignificant amount of money compared to his wealth.

Gravis would go underground and comprehend these Laws. As long as Gravis didn't surface and kept himself hidden in Law Comprehension Areas that didn't belong to Peak Sects, he would be able to remain undetected.

This was Gravis' plan.

Meanwhile, Mortis spent tens of billions of God Stones on Life Gardens, which was anything but easy while being hunted by the entire world. Life Gardens were the Life Law equivalent of the Material Sets for the Matter Laws.

However, creating these Life Gardens was many times more difficult than creating these Material Sets, which was why Mortis had to pay tens of billions of God Stones for only level seven Laws. For level seven Laws, that was a ridiculous price.

Gravis and Mortis decided that they wouldn't stop until they were ready to battle.

They would comprehend everything in one go.

No breaks.

This would become their longest session of Law Comprehension ever.

Since Gravis couldn't use the Teleportation Formation Arrays, he had to go to these Sects via teleporting in the underground. Luckily, as a level nine Ancestral God, he could move rather fast.

Sadly, it still took Gravis around 10,000 years on average to get to the next Law Comprehension Area.

The highest world was simply too big.

It was ridiculous!

As soon as Gravis arrived at the Law Comprehension Area for Ancestral Zero, he already felt an incredible connection with the area.

It was almost like this Element was lightning!

For the first time, Gravis actually felt how it was to comprehend Laws with Elemental Synchronicity.

It was so easy!

It was like all the Elements wanted to be comprehended by him!

So, how long did it take Gravis to comprehend a level eight Law of a Mixed Element?

Only 150,000 years!

It was ridiculously fast!

In the meantime, Mortis had comprehended the level seven True Law of Bark Composition.

The two of them didn't stop.

Another 150,000 years passed.

Another 300,000 years passed.

Another 600,000 years passed.

Time passed faster and faster.

If this had been in the higher world, Gravis would have long been lost in the Laws, but with the Emotional Laws and the True Law of Time, Gravis could easily keep his mind stable.

He was still himself.

Gravis and Mortis just kept on comprehending Laws.

The world changed.

Strong people died.

Weak people became strong.

But Gravis and Mortis were only comprehending Laws.

They were comprehending so many Laws!

Just like the Opposer back in the day, the world slowly forgot Gravis. They still paid attention to him, but they realized that they couldn't find him.

The world calmed down.

Gravis had vanished.

Yet, just like the Opposer, Gravis would return with an explosion!