Ch. 1291..1300
Chapter 1291 – Power of an Ancestor
The Ancestor had already seen Gravis fight before, and he knew that Mortis could appear and disappear whenever he wanted. The Ancestor still wasn't sure what ability Mortis was using, but he knew what he could do.
The Ancestor wanted to activate his True Law of the Living World, but he saw that he couldn't unleash it. It was almost like he was throwing a stone to the ground, but the stone fell through the ground like it didn't exist. How was he supposed to build something like that?
The Ancestor, Gravis, and Mortis only had access to their Form Laws, nothing else.
Not even the ability of Gravis' new True Law of Sentient Life was useful. Sure, he could use it, but the difference in levels between him and his opponent was simply too much. Gravis would basically only waste his Energy.
Over the years, the abilities of the Laws and the complexity of his and his opponents' arsenals had grown more and more.
And now, it had returned to simplicity.
There were only weapons left.
Just like the Core Elder, the Ancestor also transformed into a Black Demon.
Beasts inherently had a greater talent for the Life Laws since their bodies had been more in tune with the Laws since they were born. It wasn't very surprising that the most powerful being, except for the Core Plant, in the True Life Sect was a beast.
Yet, for the first time, Gravis was out-armed.
The Ancestor had eight arms, one pair more than Gravis.
The Ancestor was also using several different weapons.
He had been at the ninth level of the Divine God Realm for over ten million years, and he had had plenty of time to get familiar with other weapons.
The highest pair of arms came out of the Ancestor's back, and they were eerily long, stretching far over his head. At the end of that pair of arms, Gravis could see a gigantic bow.
The highest pair at the front of the Ancestor's body held two spears.
The pair below those held two swords.
The lowest pair held two short axes.
Just with a single glance, one could see that the Ancestor had a fitting weapon for every distance one could fight at.
The bow was for long range.
The spears were against people fighting with long weapons.
The swords were for medium range.
And the axes were for people trying to wrestle and wrangle with the Ancestor.
In his fight against Cindy, Gravis had pinned Cindy down with his arms near the end. At that distance, bows, spears, and even swords and sabers would become useless. They were simply too long.
Yet, with that pair of short axes, the Ancestor had solved that issue.
If Gravis decided to get very close to him, the Ancestor could simply grab the axes at the back of their heads and punch Gravis with them.
When Gravis saw all that, he frowned.
He hadn't expected that.
Nevertheless, he shot forward towards the Ancestor.
The Ancestor readied his bow and shot at Gravis.
BANG!
Gravis' heart nearly stopped.
A third of his face had just vanished!
The Ancestor was only six levels above Gravis, but that arrow had seemed even faster than Cindy's in comparison, and Cindy had been able to use the Law of Heavenly Light as support!
If Gravis hadn't been warned by his Law of Danger and his Law of Control, he would have been killed just now.
Why had Gravis frowned earlier?
Because he had assumed that the fight wouldn't be too hard.
Essentially, the Ancestor was spreading his combat ability over everything. He wasn't concentrating on one single aspect.
Gravis had assumed that he would be able to win rather easily since he was doing the same but better.
Yet, the Ancestor's arrow had destroyed that thought.
There was only one explanation for why the Ancestor had been able to unleash such a fast arrow without the support of an Element.
The Ancestor had to have comprehended a Form Law for a bow!
The Ancestor knew the True Law of the Living World, and with enough time, he could create a Form Law on the level of a level ten Law.
And he had done just that.
That's when it dawned on Gravis.
The Ancestor had been at the peak of the Divine God Realm for an eternity. Comprehending multiple Form Laws for different weapons took longer and longer the more one comprehended, but with enough time, one could comprehend them.
So, if the Ancestor already had a Form Law for the bow, which was probably his least used weapon, wasn't it logical that he also knew Form Laws for all his other weapons?
Then, didn't that mean that the Ancestor knew four different level ten Form Laws!?
Gravis was incredibly powerful, but that didn't mean that Gravis could underestimate the Ancestors.
The Ancestors were the most terrifying existences in the Divine God Realm, except for a few exceptions.
The Peak Divine God Realm was incredibly vast, but the Ancestors were on the forefront in even that Realm.
For the first time, Gravis realized the difference between a real Ancestor and himself.
Time.
Time to perfect one's power.
Time to fine-tune everything to the absolute maximum.
Even more, Gravis could only see the Ancestor's pure Form Laws.
What if he had the ability to use his other Laws?
What kind of unreal and insane combinations could he pull off with control over all the Elements?
Gravis realized that he might have bitten off more than he could chew.
He had underestimated the power of the Ancestors.
He should have gone for a Vice-Sect Master.
The Ancestor readied his next arrow.
SHING!
Mortis appeared behind him, and Mortis attacked the Ancestor's bow.
BANG!
Yet, the tail of the Ancestor suddenly shot upward as it attacked Mortis' saber. Mortis' slash cut off the tail, but Mortis was also shot into the distance by the sheer force.
The Ancestor knew that he couldn't kill Mortis.
So, the Ancestor had decided to sacrifice his tail to kill Gravis.
The arrow pointed at Gravis and shot forward.
Chapter 1292 – Living Spear
BOOOOM!
The arrow hit Gravis' sabers. Luckily, Gravis had been prepared for such an attack, and he had put his sabers in front of his head.
The arrow exploded upon contact with the sabers, but the sheer power behind it still remained. Gravis' six arms shot back, all of them holding against the force.
BANG!
Yet, the side of the sabers still hit Gravis' head, breaking his skull in the process.
Luckily, his Spirit had only taken a shock, and Gravis quickly healed his injuries with the True Law of Life. The Laws for healing had never been inhibited by the Law of Sentience.
However, the Ancestor didn't let up, and he shot another arrow.
BANG!
This time, the arrow decimated Gravis' torso. Gravis had already put his sabers back before his head, and the Ancestor had changed his target.
Gravis' torso nearly instantaneously healed, but it had cost Gravis quite a bit of Life Energy.
BANG!
Another arrow destroyed Gravis' torso again, and Gravis was forced to use more Life Energy.
'He's trying to exhaust my Life Energy. I know the True Law of Life, which allows me to use Energy to heal my body instead of Life Energy, but that will still weaken me,' Gravis thought.
CRRR!
During that time, the tail of the Ancestor slowly began to heal. The Law of Death didn't allow the regrowing of a severed appendage, but the Law of Life granted one full control over one's body. In a way, the Ancestor wasn't regrowing his tail but growing a brand new one.
Of course something like that needed far more Life Energy, and it took more time. Creating something entirely new always took more effort than repairing something.
Regrowing his entire tail would eat up around 15% of the Ancestor's Life Energy, which was a ridiculous amount for only a tail. If the tail hadn't been severed with the Law of Death, it would have been regrown instantaneously, and it would only have used up around 3% of the Ancestor's Life Energy.
SHING!
At this moment, Mortis finally returned.
Mortis used his Form Law again to attack the Ancestor's bow. The Ancestor noticed it, and he angled his spears to block the attack from behind while continuing to target Gravis with his bow.
BANG!
Mortis' saber slashed the two spears apart, but the power of his slash had already been used up by cutting through something so incredibly hard.
BANG!
The half-regrown tail hit Mortis' legs, breaking them in the process.
Mortis shot upward.
SHING!
Suddenly, Mortis took out a spear and threw it with all his power. The backlash sped Mortis up even more, but it was worth it as long as he could get Gravis out of this troublesome situation.
The Ancestor hadn't expected the spear, and he tried to divert it with his two new spears.
SHING!
Sadly, in his panic, he missed the spear. Mortis' spear shot through the still-extended tail of the Ancestor.
SHING!
Then, it shot through the base of the Ancestor's tail before it got stuck. Mortis' spear now extended through the tip and the base of the Ancestor's tail, essentially skewering it like a meat-skewer.
It essentially became impossible for the Ancestor to move his tail right now. He quickly tried to pull the spear into his Spirit Space, but the spear just wouldn't answer. He had already expected something like this, but he had tried, at least.
Very expensive weapons had certain Formation Arrays on them that stopped other Cultivators from manipulating them with their Spirit. As the best forger in the world, Master Linus obviously would put these Formation Arrays into his weapons.
The Ancestor put away one of his axes and tried to grab the butt of the spear to pull it out, but the spear moved to the side suddenly.
The Ancestor's body rotated to the side slightly.
BANG!
The Ancestor had just become ready to fire another arrow at Gravis, but the sudden force of the spear made him miss, giving Gravis a short moment to regain his footing.
The Ancestor's Spirit Sense looked at the spear more closely, and he realized that a soul had been infused into it.
He realized that, as soon as they had seen him, they had prepared many different kinds of weapons beforehand. After all, they couldn't prepare them during the battle due to their weird power to deactivate Laws.
Having a living weapon stuck in one's body was a troublesome affair, but the Ancestor had enough experience with living weapons to counter them.
The Ancestor moved one of his legs towards the tip of the spear.
SHING!
As soon as the spear noticed that another part of its enemy was in front of it, it suddenly accelerated forward to pierce that part.
Of course, the Ancestor pulled his leg away, not allowing the spear to touch it.
The spear left the tip of the Ancestor's tail, now only being stuck in the base of the Ancestor's tail.
BANG!
Since the last arrow hadn't been able to hit Gravis, he had gotten the opportunity to unleash his Form Law.
The Ancestor had trusted his Law of Danger to keep track of Gravis' attacks since most of his attention was focused on the suddenly-appearing Mortis and the spear.
However, exactly that was his mistake.
The Ancestor's Law of Danger hadn't been triggered by Gravis' Form Law since Gravis hadn't targeted the Ancestor.
Gravis had targeted the spear.
The Form Law hit the spear, pushing one side back, which resulted in the other side pushing in a different direction.
The Ancestor's body rotated forward, making it impossible for him to target Gravis with another arrow.
SHING!
That's when Mortis reappeared.
Mortis' hand stretched towards the spear as the spear moved towards Mortis of its own volition.
The Ancestor immediately knew that he had to stop the two of them from coming into contact with each other.
Having the weapon of another Cultivator stuck in one's body was a dangerous affair. It was fine as long as the enemy didn't touch their weapon physically, but if they managed to grab it again, one would most likely die.
Unloading Elements from inside a body would result in the body exploding violently.
SHING!
Before Mortis could take hold of the spear, the Ancestor used one of his axes to sever his tail at the base.
BZZT!
For the tiniest of instances, Gravis had deactivated his Law of Sentience, allowing Mortis to release a tiny bolt of Heavenly Lightning filled with the Law of Death.
The small bolt hit the spot where the tail of the Ancestor had grown from, cutting off everything that could have regrown.
If the Ancestor wanted another tail, he would need to grow a new one.
BANG!
Suddenly, the Ancestor's right foot hit Mortis' back.
BZZZT!
At the last moment, Mortis transformed into lightning, but the kick had still taken out nearly 80% of Mortis' lightning.
The kick had been so incredibly fast since the Ancestor had had the opportunity to use the Law of Time to boost his speed when Gravis had deactivated the Law of Sentience.
It had only been a minuscule instance, but it had been enough for the Ancestor to nearly destroy Mortis if he hadn't already been prepared for a counterattack.
Deactivating the Law of Sentience was extremely risky.
Chapter 1293 – Same Way
BANG!
At that moment, Gravis managed to hit the Ancestor's extended leg with his Form Law from a range. Since Gravis' physical weapon didn't hit the Ancestor, the leg didn't get severed.
However, the Ancestor was only six levels above Gravis, not seven.
Even Cindy had received a cut on her body when Gravis hit her, and the Ancestor's body wasn't as powerful as hers when compared to Gravis' Realm.
The Form Law managed to destroy the skin and muscles of the Ancestor's legs, but it didn't get any further after cutting through half the bone.
The Ancestor had already expected something like that, and he immediately concentrated his Law of Life to focus on the wound on his leg. For now, he ignored his tail. It would take too long to regrow it, and it would take too much Life Energy.
BZZT!
That's when Mortis transformed back into his physical body. Luckily, the two of them had enough Energy inside their bodies so that they didn't fall a level.
Mortis took out a saber with violent Heavenly Lightning crackling on it, and he immediately unleashed the pre-loaded Lightning Crescent at the Ancestor's leg.
The Law of Sentience only stopped the activation of new Laws, but it couldn't stop Laws that had been used before it came into effect.
BOOOM!
The Lightning Crescent exploded, and the leg of the Ancestor exploded off. At the same time, parts of his scales became burned by the lightning, but that wasn't a very big issue.
CRK!
Space seemed to explode as a violent wave of sharp wind extended out from the Ancestor's body.
If Mortis hadn't become intangible, he would have been severely injured or even killed.
Gravis narrowed his eyes. 'That's the Form Law of his axes. It's a defensive Form Law that extends outwards and pushes his enemies away. It's not meant to injure the opponent but to push them away.'
The Ancestor readied another arrow, but by now, Gravis had managed to get close enough to the Ancestor that targeting him with a bow became difficult.
After such a long time, Gravis finally managed to reach the Ancestor.
WHOOOM!
Gravis' body exuded a bit of black smoke as he emulated the mindset of the Avatar of Death.
BANG!
Gravis exploded forward, and the Ancestor was taken by surprise. He had seen that ability in the recording of Gravis' fight with Cindy before, but it was still shocking to see it for himself.
Gravis' saber slashed towards the Ancestor, and the Ancestor shot his two spears at Gravis.
BANG! BANG!
The two spears punched through Gravis' body.
BANG!
Gravis' saber destroyed both spears, leaving them stuck in his body.
SHING!
The two spears vanished as Mortis absorbed them. With the spears destroyed, the Formation Arrays on them didn't work anymore, allowing Mortis to absorb them into his Spirit Space.
BANG!
Mortis suddenly appeared behind Gravis, kicking him forward into the Ancestor.
SHING! SHING!
The Ancestor's two swords missed Gravis since he had shot forward unexpectantly.
The Ancestor quickly replaced all his weapons with axes, grabbing them by the head and attacking Gravis from all sides.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Gravis blocked six axes with his sabers, destroying them in the process.
However, the force of the attacks basically tore Gravis' body apart, and two more axes were still left.
SHING! SHING!
The two axes that had been left were the lowest ones, and they cut Gravis in two at his torso.
All of the Ancestor's destroyed axes were replaced with more axes, and he attacked Gravis again.
Gravis barely managed to heal himself, but it had taken a ridiculous amount of Life Energy to regrow basically his entire body.
BANG!
Gravis used everything to only block the axes going for his head.
The remaining axes tore his entire body apart.
BANG!
Suddenly, a saber tore through Gravis' body and the Ancestor's body.
Mortis had unleashed his Form Law in a chop, cutting through both their shoulders.
The Law of Death severed several arms before it came to a stop.
BZZT!
At the same time, Mortis transformed a small part of his body into lightning and shot it into Gravis.
Gravis quickly regained his bearings, and he immediately knew what to do.
Only Gravis' highest left arm remained, but that was enough.
Gravis' last arm touched the Ancestor's body.
Suddenly, the Ancestor's eyes opened wide as he noticed that he had been transported somewhere else.
Gravis had unleashed Samsara.
With the True Law of Perceived Reality, Gravis didn't need to use Samsara with a saber. He could also unleash the attack by touching his opponent.
Gravis' body quickly regrew as he readied himself for another attack.
Gravis took out a saber crackling with Heavenly Lightning.
Mortis had already used his pre-loaded Lightning Crescent, but Gravis also had one.
From behind Gravis, Mortis took out a spear and stabbed forward.
An instant later, the Ancestor's senses returned to real life, and he quickly realized what had happened.
He used his remaining arms to attack Gravis again with his axes. Usually, the Ancestor would use his Form Law to block the attacks from hitting him, but the Ancestor was too unused to his own body right now.
Because of that, he could only attempt to kill Gravis.
The axes bore down on Gravis' head.
Gravis would need to abort the attack and block, or die.
Yet, Gravis didn't stop.
As Gravis' Lightning Crescent got released, the Ancestor's axes destroyed Gravis' head.
BOOOOOOOM!
For an instant, the Ancestor believed to have seen some black lightning before the white color of Heavenly Lightning took over the world.
The resistance of cutting apart someone's head had also been suspiciously absent.
However, Gravis couldn't have survived such an attack. After all, several axes had torn his head apart.
Suddenly, all the Heavenly Lightning turned black, and it transformed into a new Gravis.
The Ancestor couldn't believe what he was seeing.
How had the explosion turned into Gravis again!?
Shortly before the axes had destroyed Gravis' head, he had transformed into Void Lightning. Of course, even that wasn't enough to resist such a devastating attack.
However, before all the Void Lightning vanished, the Heavenly Lightning of the Lightning Crescent had come into contact with it.
Gravis' perception inside the Void Lightning entered the Heavenly Lightning, severely expanding the volume of his body.
The Law of Heavenly Lightning was instantaneously filtered out and sent to Mortis, leaving behind Void Lightning, which condensed into Gravis again.
BANG!
Suddenly, a spear punched through Gravis' chest from behind.
It was Mortis' spear, and it had finally arrived.
At the same time, Gravis vanished.
He had transformed into lightning again and had entered the spear.
The Ancestor was still out of balance since he had just finished an attack, and he couldn't react.
BANG!
Mortis' spear entered the Ancestor's chest, and from inside the spear, Gravis exploded forward as he transformed into an explosion of Heavenly Lightning.
BOOOOOOM!
The Ancestor's torso was torn apart as the lower two-thirds of his body fell away.
As soon as that part of the Ancestor's body stopped being in contact with his Spirit, Gravis absorbed it.
The Ancestor immediately knew what was about to happen, and he felt unending rage and frustration towards himself.
He had seen the fight between Gravis and Cindy.
Yet, he had fallen to the same trick.
He had seen how Gravis had absorbed Cindy's body, and he should have been prepared for it.
Sadly, after Samsara, he had been too unfocused.
As soon as Gravis absorbed such a huge chunk of the Ancestor's body, his lightning multiplied in power, and it consumed the Ancestor's remaining body.
The fight was over.
Chapter 1294 – Judgment
BANG!
Suddenly, the world broke apart as the isolating Formation Array vanished around Gravis.
The members of the Life Sect looked with nervousness at the area where Gravis had just fought.
Everything had happened so suddenly that they all had had no opportunity to even react. They had just been going through life, and suddenly, explosions had occurred.
Most of the people hadn't even been able to do anything before the Core Elder and the intruder had clashed.
They had realized that their Core Plant had died when the fight between Gravis and the Core Elder had ended, but before they could react, the Ancestor had returned, and another fight broke out.
Now, the fight had ended in only about two seconds, and the members only hoped that their Ancestor had won.
Yet, when they saw Gravis and Mortis, their fear turned into panic, and they all began to flee in different directions.
WHOOOOM!
Yet, Gravis' Will-Aura got activated, and the entire Sect turned quiet again.
At this moment, Gravis' Will-Aura was still strengthening, but with the addition of the True Law of Suppression, no one could resist Gravis' Will-Aura regardless.
After all, the strongest members currently inside the True Life Sect were level six Divine Gods.
And Gravis?
After absorbing the Ancestor, Gravis had also reached the sixth level of the Divine God Realm.
The members of the True Life Sect had realized that they had been caught.
There was nothing they could do anymore.
Begging?
Only mortals and weak Cultivators thought of begging for their lives. It wasn't that they felt themselves above such actions, but that it was simply useless. Every Cultivator that had reached such a level had long since gotten used to killing people, even if they were innocent.
Discussing?
In such a situation, that would be just as useless. None of the members were ignorant kids. They had all lived for millions of years, and they all knew how the world worked.
You only followed orders?
You didn't know the truth?
You were afraid of me, so you wanted to kill me?
All of these arguments that were used by mortals to absolve one of guilt and wrongdoing didn't work at this level.
Everyone knew exactly how everything had played out. None of them had been born yesterday, and they could all see through the political intricacies.
If they didn't want to go against Gravis, they could have simply not searched for him. None of the Peak Sects forced their members to do something against their will. Because, if they did, that member would very quickly run to another Peak Sect.
Restricting the members' freedom? Same thing. They would simply go to another Peak Sect before that restriction even took effect.
So, all of these members knew exactly what they had done and why they had done it.
They had been complicit.
Gravis' eyes went over the members of the True Life Sect, studying them closely.
Gravis knew the True Law of Sentient Life, and he could read all their Law Fragments clearly.
He couldn't perfectly read their minds, but Gravis could see their emotions and make some very educated guesses.
Gravis looked through the minds of the present people to see what their philosophy had been regarding him.
Then, Gravis slowly pointed his finger at one of the Elders.
The Elder felt the hair on his neck stand on end.
BANG!
The Elder was turned to dust by a bolt of Heavenly Lightning. The Heavenly Lightning quickly grew more powerful and returned to Gravis.
Silence.
Then, Gravis' finger pointed at the next Elder.
BANG!
The same thing was repeated again.
After absorbing that Elder, Gravis' Realm became unstable, and he broke through the seventh level of the Divine God Realm.
The Elders had been level six Divine Gods, and Gravis had been close to reaching the seventh level after absorbing the Ancestor.
Then, Gravis pointed at the next Elder.
BANG!
Then the next.
BANG!
In total, the True Life Sect had about 50 Elders.
In just a couple of seconds, Gravis had killed 37 of them.
37 level six Divine Gods weren't nearly enough to let Gravis advance to the eighth level of the Divine God Realm, but that hadn't been his goal regardless.
These people had hunted him, and he decided to kill them.
After the 37th Elder, Gravis stopped.
Then, the remaining Elders felt the pressure around them vanish.
They were shocked, and they took some deep breaths. They knew exactly what that meant.
Gravis had allowed them to leave!
The remaining Elders thanked their past selves for doing the right thing. For some reason or another, these Elders had decided not to care about Gravis. Either they didn't take him seriously, or searching for him went against their conscience, or due to different plans.
Yet, it didn't matter.
The surviving Elders had not gone against Gravis, and for that, they would survive today.
Then, Gravis' perception went to the next weaker people.
The Officers and officials.
They were level four and level five Divine Gods, and there were far more of them.
At that point, Gravis didn't need to focus all his power on his Heavenly Lightning anymore, which meant that he didn't need to kill them one by one.
BOOOOM!
Gravis exploded with lightning.
The officers and officials saw their death approach.
Yet, surprisingly, only 30% of them died.
The remaining 70% were left alive.
Why?
Because a lot of time had passed.
Over three million years had passed since Gravis had been hunted by the Peak Sects initially. Gravis had only been hunted by Peak Ancestral Gods and Divine Gods.
A lot of these officials hadn't been Peak Ancestral Gods back then, which meant that they had never even gotten the request to search for Gravis.
Gravis absorbed the corpses, but his Realm still didn't increase.
Then, Gravis focused on the Core Disciples.
BANG!
Around 5% of them had been killed.
Then, Gravis focused on the normal disciples.
BANG!
0.3% died.
After that, Gravis focused on the exchange hall inside the True Life Sect.
BANG!
The Formation Arrays around it were destroyed, and Gravis pocketed everything inside there.
The majority of a Peak Sect's wealth was in the Spirit Spaces of the Vice-Sect Masters and the Sect Master. After all, that was the safest place.
The Ancestor only carried their personal belongings with them since they weren't involved with the day-to-day affairs of the Sect. If they had most of a Peak Sect's wealth, they would be constantly annoyed by requests to access these resources, and they didn't want that.
Yet, there was still a lot of stuff in the exchange hall.
After that, Gravis looked at the dead Core Plant, and he absorbed it with his lightning while pocketing the Law Comprehension Life Fruits.
BANG!
Gravis reached the eighth level of the Divine God Realm.
WHOOOM!
At the same time, his Will-Aura suddenly exploded with power.
Suddenly, Gravis felt his will being restricted. He felt that his Will-Aura wanted to become even more powerful, but something was holding it back.
Gravis quickly realized that it was the Cosmos.
Just like a being had an upper limit in the density of Energy, there was also a limit to the power of one's Will-Aura.
Orthar had created the concept of a Will-Aura, and his concept could only be pushed to a certain extent.
At this moment, Gravis had reached that point.
Gravis' Will-Aura had reached the power of the Heaven's Magnate Realm.
It had reached the peak of what one being could have.
If the Opposer didn't have his own Cosmos, his Will-Aura would be just as powerful as Gravis' Will-Aura.
However, with the addition of a Cosmos, one could increase the power of one's Will-Aura even more by spreading it over a greater area.
Because of that, the Opposer's Will-Aura was still worlds above Gravis' Will-Aura.
Gravis had reached the peak of the concept of a Will-Aura.
Soon, he would reach the peak in terms of Energy and physical power as well.
The peak in terms of Laws was also on the horizon.
All aspects of Gravis' being closed in on the hard limits of the Cosmos with one already having reached it.
After reaching these limits, Gravis would need to create his own Cosmos. Only with the help of a Cosmos would he be able to push everything even further.
Gravis took all the valuables of the True Life Sect he could find, and he essentially owned nearly 20% of the True Life Sect's net worth. Sadly, the Vice-Sect Masters and the Sect Master held the majority of the wealth, and none of them were here.
SHING!
Suddenly, a new person appeared after having been teleported by an emblem.
Gravis looked over, and his eyes widened in surprise.
A level nine Divine God had appeared, and based on what Gravis could read from her Law fragments, she was a Vice-Sect Master of the True Life Sect.
From what Gravis could see, she had just returned from a war in the Heavenly Divine Sect.
The war had gone very badly, and she had fled back to the True Life Sect to converge with her Ancestor after winning her battle.
Surely, the Ancestor would know what to do now.
The Ancestor was the last person she could turn to since her Sect Master had died. The other Vice-Sect Master had also died, leaving only the Ancestor and her alive.
They quickly had to find a way to alleviate their enmity with the Heavenly Divine Sect.
Yet, when she returned to the True Life Sect, she didn't see the Ancestor.
Instead, she only saw two people who looked at her with shining eyes.
'For once, I seem to be in luck,' Gravis thought.
Chapter 1295 – Changing World
BANG!
The Vice-Sect Master was immediately destroyed, and Gravis absorbed his corpse.
There wasn't even a need to think. All the Vice-Sect Masters had been complicit in searching for Gravis.
A lot of wealth exploded out of the Vice-Sect Master's Spirit Space, and Gravis pocketed everything.
Gravis only smiled.
Then, he turned to the present people. "The True Life Sect doesn't exist anymore," he proclaimed. "The survivors can do whatever you want, but I would advise you against going to the other Peak Sects for the time being. You don't want to become collateral damage, right?"
SHING!
And after Gravis said that, he teleported away.
The surviving members of the True Life Sect only had two thoughts on their minds.
First, they were happy that they were still alive.
Second, they knew that the entire world would undergo a gigantic reshuffle.
After teleporting away, Gravis split up into five copies at the seventh level of the Divine God Realm, which quickly dispersed into different directions.
Each copy went for one Peak Sect.
The other Peak Sects didn't know it yet, but death had come for them.
Mortis remained in one body, and he accompanied one of the copies. From what they had seen, the war against the Heavenly Divine Sect had caused incredible casualties.
They had also realized that the Heavenly Divine Sect had conspicuously worked very well with them, which meant that some or all of Gravis' friends were probably there. Because of that, Mortis followed the Gravis that went to the Heavenly Divine Sect.
Gravis made it so that all of his copies arrived in the different Sects at the same time. After all, he didn't want them to warn each other.
The Gravis that went to the Mortal Sect quickly got rid of the Core Plant and consumed it. After that, Gravis killed the new Sect Master, several Core Elders, and many Elders.
The Mortal Sect had been finished just like that.
The Gravis that went to the Dusk Wind Sect noticed that only one Core Elder and everyone below that was present.
Gravis got rid of the Dusk Wind Sect the same way he got rid of the Mortal Sect.
The Eternity Sect also only had one Core Elder present, and Gravis did the same thing to them.
Usually, Gravis would have been confused about the fact that he saw nearly no high-ranking people, but the answer to Gravis' questions came when he arrived at the Twilight Council.
Gravis saw over 20 Core Elders, five Vice-Sect Masters, and two Sect Masters.
There were no Ancestors.
The surviving Sect Masters were from the Twilight Council and the Dusk Wind Sect. The Sect Master of the Eternity Sect had been killed.
When the seven Peak Divine Gods noticed that Gravis had arrived, they immediately fell into terror.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
All of them teleported away in fear.
They couldn't let Gravis catch them!
Gravis' Will-Aura sadly wasn't powerful enough to suppress all of them. After all, many Vice-Sect Masters and all Sect Masters had Will-Auras equal to the Heaven's Magnate Realm. With the level suppression, it wasn't easy for Gravis to suppress them. Additionally, a lot of them knew the True Law of Freedom.
When Gravis noticed that they were all fleeing, he split up into eight weaker Gravises, which all followed one of the Peak Divine Gods, except for the last one, who remained in the Twilight Council.
The Peak Divine Gods all fled into the distance, but that was only in their perception.
Gravis' Will-Aura was as powerful as their Will-Aura, which meant that he could control their perception.
It didn't take long for Gravis to catch and kill all of them.
The last remaining Gravis dealt with the Twilight Council and the present Core Elders.
The eradication of all of these Sects had happened within the span of only a couple of seconds.
In the end, Gravis had killed five Core Plants, two Sect Masters, several Vice-Sect Masters, and an incredible number of weaker Cultivators.
The True Life Sect, Dusk Wind Sect, Twilight Council, Mortal Sect, and Eternity Sect had all been destroyed.
None of these Sects had a level nine, eight, or level seven Divine God left.
The strongest Divine God in these Sects were a couple of Elders at the sixth level of the Divine God Realm.
On top of that, Gravis had taken all the valuables he could find with him, leaving all the Sects destitute.
The surviving members looked at the empty husks of their Sects.
The buildings were still standing, and there were still a lot of people left. However, the number of people had been reduced to a pitiful degree when compared to their peak.
All the Peak Sects were headless. There were no Ancestors, Sect Masters, Vice-Sect Masters, or even Core Elders left.
Only several Elders remained.
For a long time, the Elders were uncertain of what they should do.
The home they had known for an eternity didn't exist anymore.
This Sect had been their life for millions of years, and they had worked to push it further towards the peak.
Yet, that eternal home didn't exist anymore.
The surviving Elders talked to each other since they had no idea what they should do now. Should they create a new Sect? Then, who would be the leader? What would the name be?
Should they join the Heavenly Divine Sect? After all, only the Core Elders and higher had gone to battle with them.
What about everyone creating their own Sect? Many Law Comprehension Areas and different areas of interest were without any owners now, making this the best opportunity to create something new.
In the end, nearly every possibility happened at some place or another.
Some Elders claimed the old headquarters of their Sect as the home of their new Sect. These Elders would have to fight the other Elders for that right.
Some Elders left with some disciples to create new Sects. They moved to a completely new area and created a Sect, claiming ownership over several valuable places.
Some Elders left for the Heavenly Divine Sect.
Some Elders decided to become unaffiliated Cultivators.
Some Elders decided to join neutral powers, like the Opposer City Guards, The Heaven Company, The Research Institute, or the Information Pavilion.
The subservient Sects suddenly found themselves without any Sect supervising them, which made them suddenly declare war on other Sects or make peace with Sects they hadn't wanted to be at war with.
The neutral powers suddenly lost their biggest customers, which required them to completely reshuffle the way they were working.
Of course, these neutral powers also didn't forget to claim several important areas for themselves.
The entire world was changing.
Even the weakest Cultivators felt the effect. They had no idea why everything suddenly felt so hectic now, but they would notice that several weaker Sects were more likely to go to war.
The weakest Cultivators didn't even know about the Immortal Realm, but they still felt the effect.
Everything had become hectic and chaotic.
However, most Cultivators found the following years to be the most profitable years ever.
Countless weak Cultivators suddenly found unfathomable treasures just lying somewhere in a field or in caves.
Some treasures changed the environment around them due to their power.
To the one that had killed the person owning the treasure, that treasure might have been so worthless that they didn't even bother picking them up, but to the weaker Cultivators, these treasures were of cataclysmic power.
However, all of this was for the future.
Right now, Gravis arrived at the Heavenly Divine Sect.
Chapter 1296 – Children
Gravis and Mortis kept themselves hidden while approaching the Heavenly Divine Sect. They didn't yet know if their friends truly were there or not, and they were uncertain in what capacity they were there.
After they arrived, they noticed that, just like with all the other Peak Sects, there was a striking absence of many powerful presences.
In fact, there were only two Peak Divine Gods. One was someone they hadn't seen yet, but based on context clues, they assumed this was the Ancestor of the Heavenly Divine Sect. The other existence was the Core Plant.
There was no Sect Master, and there were no Vice-Sect Masters.
On top of that, there were only two Core Elders.
After looking through the Law fragments of several people, Gravis realized what had happened.
'They lost the battle but won the war,' Gravis thought.
'Their Vice-Sect Masters and nearly all their Core Elders died. Even Divine Junior died against his three opponents. In essence, the upper echelon is completely crippled.'
'Yet, they won the war since they won the battle between the Ancestors. Under normal circumstances, they would have lost that battle too, but someone has interfered quite a bit,' Gravis thought with a smirk.
'First, Arc killed a Sect Master, and then he made one of the Ancestors go to the True Life Sect. After that, he got involved in the fight. The Ancestor of the Heavenly Divine Sect and Arc killed all the other Ancestors.'
'After everyone realized that their Ancestors had died, they all fled by using emergency teleportation emblems. The Heavenly Divine Sect didn't know where everyone had retreated to, but that isn't a problem anymore. After all, I took care of them.'
For a while, Gravis only thought about the impact this day had on the world.
In all the Peak Sects, only two level nine Divine Gods were left. There were even only a couple of level seven Divine Gods left.
Before Gravis had come into contact with the Peak Sects, every single Peak Sect had at least four Peak Divine Gods. The Ancestor, the Sect Master, at least one Vice-Sect Master, and the Core Plant.
Back then, there had been seven Peak Sects, and several of them had two Vice-Sect Masters.
That came to over 30 level nine Divine Gods.
Now?
Two.
Only two.
'Well, I kept my promise,' Gravis thought. 'I said I was going to destroy the Peak Sects, and I basically did.'
Gravis awkwardly scratched the back of his head. 'Doesn't feel as significant. One would think that turning the strongest Cultivators in the world to ash and remaining as the sole strongest being would do wonders for one's ego.'
'Yet, it only feels natural,' Gravis thought with an awkward smile.
'Every single member of the Peak Sects could have turned me to dust initially, but I somehow still felt like we lived in different worlds.'
'It's like the Peak Sects had never been important in the first place.'
Gravis sighed.
'I guess that's due to our different goals. They wanted to create an empire, but I want to become a Heaven Breaker. I think it's because I'm not seeing this Cosmos as my world, but as the world of someone else.'
Gravis looked at the world around him.
Everything looked familiar to him.
He had lived his entire life in this Cosmos.
Yet, it also felt like it was someone else's home.
'When did this feeling of dissociation appear?' Gravis thought. 'Is it when I realized that I'm actually close to reaching the end of my path?'
'It feels a bit like looking at your parent's house when you're about to move out.'
'It's not your place anymore.'
'I think it's just acceptance. I'm accepting that I'm moving on. I wonder, do the Heaven's Magnates also feel this way?'
'Probably not. They don't know that there is more out there. For all they know, this Cosmos is all that exists. It's actually shocking when I think about it, but I think that most Heaven's Magnates don't even know what the Primordial Chaos is.'
'They've never seen it. They've never heard of it. All they have ever seen was inside this Cosmos, and this Cosmos only has Energy. They don't know that there is another force called Death. They don't know that there are even more forces out there.'
'Energy is all they know.'
Gravis thought about the Heaven's Magnates he had met.
Back then, the Heaven's Magnates had already viewed Gravis as one of their own. In their mind, Gravis was just like them, a visitor to the world.
Yet, at this moment, Gravis realized that he wasn't like the other Heaven's Magnates.
The other Heaven's Magnates were like innocent children in his mind.
Of course, calling Heaven's Magnates innocent children could almost be seen as comical, but Gravis truly felt that way.
It was like Gravis was looking at several children that dreamt of finding a new home. They wanted to find a great place to stay.
Yet, they didn't know that they were actually slaves just waiting to be bought.
Every day, they worked hard for their owner. After all, he gave them silver and gold when they worked hard!
The best of them had so many valuables that it was almost scary!
Yet, when a buyer was interested in one of them, that person would quickly have an accident happen to them. Because of whatever reason, they rightfully lost everything they owned, and they got banished.
At least, that was how the kids perceived it.
In reality, the seller simply took all the money away from the kid and handed them over to a life of hardship and slavery.
The other kids saw none of that.
They had only seen that one of them had made a horrible mistake, and they had been punished for it.
And like that, they continued to work hard. After all, one day, they would be able to buy a new home with their money, right?
This was how Gravis saw the Heaven's Magnates.
The Heaven's Magnates kept playing Orthar's game, becoming more and more powerful during that progress.
Then, the very best of them would even comprehend the Law of the Cosmos.
Now, they finally had enough money to buy a new home.
So, they would attempt to purchase their new home.
Just for everything to crumble into dust.
Orthar would take away their lives and consume their Energy to increase his own power.
All the Heaven's Magnates looked down on the old foggies. After all, they said that there was nothing they could do. No matter what they did, all paths lead to the end of existence.
Of course, the other Heaven's Magnates didn't believe that. That was just loser talk! These three old foggies were only talking like this because they still didn't manage to comprehend the Law of Energy after so long!
They were just mad at their own incompetence.
Yet, in reality, the other Heaven's Magnates were the stupid ones.
The three old foggies were actually right.
No matter what they did, they would never be able to create their own Cosmos.
On top of that, Orthar was so powerful that they couldn't do anything against him.
There was only one possible way for them to kill Orthar.
Everyone had to kill all the powerful Cultivators and then kill themselves.
With all the Star Gods and stronger dead, Orthar's Cosmos would lose 99.999% of its draw.
It would essentially stop absorbing Energy from the Primordial Chaos for millions of years.
During that time, the Opposer would keep absorbing Energy, and eventually, the delicate balance between them would shatter.
However, that would never happen.
Their goal was to survive.
What was the point of anything when they were dead?
Might as well enjoy their last remaining years.
As Gravis thought about all of these things, he realized that the other Heaven's Magnates truly weren't like him.
The normal Cultivators in Orthar's Cosmos weren't like Gravis, and now, even the Heaven's Magnates weren't like Gravis.
That even included Gravis' mother.
It also included all of Gravis' friends.
It included Stella and even his children.
They were all part of Orthar's Cosmos.
The only three people that were similar to Gravis in that regard were Mortis, Orthar, and the Opposer.
It was kind of depressing to think about.
Thunk!
Suddenly, Gravis hit the side of his head in frustration.
"Argh, why am I so depressed all of a sudden!?" he shouted with frustration.
Mortis only shot Gravis a glance.
"I shouldn't think about such bullshit! It's depressing!"
Then, Gravis smiled brightly.
"I want to see my honey again!"
Chapter 1297 – Not up for Jokes
Stella was sitting in her room with closed eyes. She had just gone through some of the most intense tempering she had ever been through in her entire life just a couple of minutes ago.
While Gravis had been gone, Stella had gone through fight after fight, and after this battle, she had managed to push her Will-Aura to the level of a Heaven's Magnate.
She didn't need to fight anymore.
Now, she only needed to focus on her Laws.
It was a strange feeling to know that she didn't have to fight again for a long time. Maybe she would need to fight as a Heaven's Magnate in the future, but that future was a long time away.
For her entire life, Stella had always thought about her next fight. She had to become more and more powerful and to do that, she needed to fight.
But now, she didn't have to do that anymore.
It felt strange.
"I have come to claim what is mine!"
Stella's eyes opened wide as she turned around.
It took her a long time to comprehend what she was seeing.
There was a tiny man.
He had green hair, was rather old, and was only ten centimeters tall. He didn't even reach her knee.
On top of that, his voice was very squeaky.
However, she recognized the aura and appearance of that person.
It was the Ancestor of the True Life Sect!
"I have defeated the one that claimed ownership over you," the tiny man proudly proclaimed as he raised his head high. "I walked over to him, slapped him, and he blew up into millions of pieces."
Then, the tiny man walked closer to Stella with a proud smile. "You don't have to be with such a loser as him. I freed you, and now, I am here to take my bride away!"
SHING!
The tiny Ancestor transformed into his beast form as he took out eight tiny weapons.
"If you like it or not! You belong to me!" he shouted with dominance.
Then, he ran over, which wasn't very fast considering his very short feet.
After reaching Stella's left foot, the Elements exploded around him as he performed his Form Laws. His display showcased talent, skill, power, and dominance.
Tink! Tink! Tink!
All his weapons bounced off Stella's legs.
His face transformed into horror as he looked at Stella.
"How… How are you this powerful!?" he shouted in shock. "How is this possible!? I'm the mighty Ancestor of the True Life Sect! No one is more powerful than me!"
Stella still tried to come to terms with what she was experiencing right now.
She was already questioning her own perception, and her Will-Aura was on the level of a Heaven's Magnate. On top of that, she knew the Major Law of Sentience.
So, this could only be real, right?
Yet, her mind quickly made a connection.
There was one possibility.
Someone with the Will-Aura of a Heaven's Magnate and the True Law of Perceived Reality could escape her scrutiny.
Stella's heart began to beat faster as a possibility came to her mind.
Arc wouldn't do something like that, and the other Heaven's Magnates obviously also wouldn't pull off such a joke.
There was only one person she could think of who would do something like that.
"Gravis?" Stella asked in nervousness and hope.
"No! I killed the one called Gravis! I'm the Ancestor of the True Life Sect, and I am unsurpassed!" the tiny beast claimed.
Surprisingly, Stella didn't show a smile or a laugh, which Gravis had expected.
Instead, she only looked with a serious expression at the tiny beast.
"I'm not up for jokes at this moment, and you also shouldn't be," Stella said with a serious voice.
The tiny Ancestor deflated. "Really?" he asked with disappointment.
"Really," Stella answered.
The tiny Ancestor's shoulders sank, and he transformed into Gravis.
For a long moment, the two of them only looked into each other's eyes.
"Is it that bad?" Gravis asked.
Stella nodded. "Yes," she said slowly.
Gravis sighed, and he sat beside her.
"I only wanted to make the current situation easier," Gravis said. "Sorry if the joke might have been inappropriate."
Stella sighed.
"I know what you tried to do, and I appreciate the effort," she said, "but I'm not in the mood for jokes right now. In fact, I'm surprised that you are in the mood for jokes. Don't you already know?"
Gravis knew what Stella was referring to, and he looked to the side. "I haven't checked. I didn't want to be all sad and depressed when we saw each other again for the first time after such a long time apart. I saw that you already felt quite down, so I wanted to lighten the mood a bit."
"I know," Stella said.
Then, she slowly leaned toward Gravis and let her head rest on his shoulder.
"But for now, I'm not interested in joy. I don't need you to cheer me up. For now, I only need you to be close to me," she said softly.
Gravis wrapped his arm around her as he pulled her close.
He had missed this feeling.
They had been apart for such a long time, but right now, it felt like they had never been apart.
It had been around three million years since they had last seen each other, but their connection was still as strong as ever.
From the standpoint of feelings, one could say that this was true love, but from a logical standpoint, it was simply the effect of the True Laws of Time and Empathy. The passage of time no longer had such a gigantic effect on them, and the Law of Empathy allowed them to immediately connect again.
Because of that, Gravis had never been worried about meeting Stella again.
He knew that they would immediately return to how they had been previously.
For several minutes, the two of them only sat by each other's side without saying anything.
"Who is it this time?" Gravis asked.
"A lot," Stella said.
Gravis felt a dark void open up in his heart.
Several million years had passed.
Not all of Gravis' friends had the potential to become Divine Gods.
On top of that, there had been an extremely devastating war just a couple of minutes ago.
This was the moment Gravis had been dreading the most.
Gravis knew that he wouldn't see all of his friends again.
"Tell me," Gravis said silently.
Chapter 1298 – When It Rains, It Pours
Gravis stood alone on top of one of the walls of the Heavenly Divine Sect.
He had been standing here for hours, simply looking aimlessly at the horizon.
Gravis was still in shock, and it was difficult for him to accept everything.
He hadn't expected that so many had died.
The feeling of losing his loved ones was not foreign to Gravis, but it was difficult every time.
Especially this time.
"You were her father, right?" a man said to Gravis after approaching him.
Gravis looked over at the person and read his Law fragments.
Then, he wordlessly nodded as he looked at the horizon again.
The man joined Gravis at the wall.
The two of them had never met each other before, but they felt the same thing right now.
Grief.
"She often spoke of you," the man said.
"She did?" Gravis asked absentmindedly.
"Yes," the man answered. "She always said that she didn't regret her choice, but I think that she regretted it a little bit. After she became a Star God, she gained a human mindset, and with it, feeling."
"Yet, so much time had passed, and she never found a good opportunity."
"I think she wanted to meet you again and bury the past," the man explained. "She always talked about how much she hated people running from their emotions, but I think that's because she was hating her past self for her decisions."
Silence.
"You know, I always hated you," the man said.
Gravis didn't answer.
"It was like your existence put an impossible pressure on her. She always wanted to push herself to the top. She always said that she had to overtake you. Every time she achieved something, it never was enough. She always said that her achievements were worthless. After all, you would have already long overtaken her."
"That pressure she put on herself was also extended to me, her husband," the man said. "I always had to listen to complaints. No matter what I did, I wasn't powerful enough. I wanted to spend more time with her. I just wanted to be with her."
"Yet, it never happened. She was fully focused on becoming more powerful. Honestly, I don't even know why she chose me as her husband."
The man took a deep breath.
"But I loved her. I loved her with all my heart."
"And now, she's dead. Dead because of a war that started because of you," the man said.
"I know where my faults lie," Gravis answered neutrally. "I always wanted to be there for her, but I didn't even know where I could find her. Additionally, I wanted to let her have her space. If she didn't want to meet me, that was her decision. I wasn't about to interfere in her freedom and force my existence upon her."
"Is that so?" the man asked with a snort. "Don't you realize that, sometimes, we want someone else to take the initiative? She didn't want to admit it, but I know that she missed you. Yet, you never came."
The man took a deep breath. "And when she finally wanted to meet you again, she couldn't find you."
"No one could find you."
"After millions of years of not being able to see you, this war happened, and she decided to join the stalling group. Her disregard for your group of friends in the past disgusted her so much that she joined a fight that would almost certainly end in her death."
The man snorted with disregard, but that disregard was targeted at himself.
"And now look at me. I'm still alive. Why? Because I wasn't powerful enough to join the stalling group."
"I'm merely a level three Divine God. She was a level four Divine God."
Gravis didn't answer.
"Anyway, that was all I wanted to tell you," the man said as he turned around. "I hope this was what you wanted."
Then, the man left.
Gravis only looked at the horizon.
"At least you found someone that truly loves you, Cera," Gravis said to himself.
Gravis wasn't angry at Cera's husband. After all, he was just as stricken with grief as Gravis, probably even more.
Additionally, Gravis didn't want to admit it, and he hated himself for it, but he didn't mind Cera's death as much as the other deaths.
Yes, she had been his daughter, and yes, losing her deeply hurt Gravis.
However, they hadn't seen each other in a very long time.
Gravis had seen her once in the tournament, but Cera hadn't seen Gravis back then.
When was the last time Cera had seen Gravis?
When she had left for the higher world.
Back then, Gravis had only been a bit older than a thousand years.
A thousand years.
Now, Gravis was 4.6 million years old.
After such a long time, there was bound to be a feeling of disconnect between them.
And now, she was gone.
On top of that, she wasn't even the only one.
Gravis continued thinking about the friends he had lost.
One of his friends and previous mentor had died to his tribulation in the Ancestral God Realm. His opponent had killed him.
The Late Ancestral God Realm was as far as Dorian could go.
That's where his journey ended.
Dorian had been pushed to the extremes of power with the help of everyone around him and his own creativity. Yet, every opponent in the Ancestral God was a peerless genius.
For a very long time, Dorian had effectively fought above his talent. He had managed to close the gap in power with his very creative techniques, but at some point, the gap simply became too much.
At least Dorian had had a great life.
From what Gravis had heard, Dorian had already expected to die to his tribulation.
Yet, he seemingly hadn't taken it seriously. It was like he had already accepted his death.
In the last years of his life, he had simply done whatever he wanted.
Gravis still remembered when he had met Dorian, Old Man Lightning.
Dorian had once saved Gravis from certain death, and he had even given Gravis his first real home in the lower world.
His grandson, Lasar, had died in the middle world, but Dorian had managed to get all the way to the Late Ancestral God Realm.
From the lower world to the Late Ancestral God Realm.
How many beings could reach that far?
How many beings could live for millions of years?
He got very far, and he could be proud of his achievements.
Just like Ferris.
Ferris had reached the Peak Ancestral God Realm. Sadly, his tribulation also spelled the end of him.
Ferris was very talented in some very few aspects. Unfortunately, at such levels of power, everyone was basically talented at everything.
Ferris simply couldn't keep up anymore.
However, out of all of Gravis' friends, Ferris was probably the one that minded his own death the least.
Ferris lived every day to the fullest, and he always spent time with everyone.
He was a pleasure to be around, and everyone loved him.
Sadly, it was his time to go.
One death Gravis wasn't that surprised about was Exar.
Gravis had heard that Exar joined the Lightning Peak Sect, and when Gravis had seen the Lightning Peak Sect being destroyed, he had already anticipated that Exar had died with it.
Exar and Gravis had never been truly close. Their relationship was less like friends and more like partners.
After staying on the wall of the Heavenly Divine Sect for a bit longer, Gravis left.
He needed to be there for someone.
Someone else was going through much worse heartache than him.
Gravis teleported into a room, and he saw a crying woman with black hair.
She didn't even notice Gravis.
Gravis walked over, and he gently put his hand on her shoulders.
She looked up and saw Gravis.
Then, she jumped into Gravis' arms as her crying intensified.
Gravis sat down on a chair, pulling her with him.
For a long time, Gravis didn't say a thing.
He simply let her cry as much as she wanted.
Gravis had wanted to cry too, but for now, he simply wanted to be there for his daughter.
Yet, hearing his daughter cry still made Gravis' heart hurt.
It was like his own grief was being pulled out by Yersi's crying.
For a long time, the two of them only hugged each other.
Yersi had lost her husband, Jake…
And she had lost her brother.
And Gravis had lost his son.
Aris had also been in the stalling group.
Chapter 1299 – My Son
It was hard.
Gravis could deal with Cera's death. He could deal with his friends' death.
But Aris.
Aris' death was hard on him.
When was the last time the two of them had talked with each other?
Gravis remembered that the last time they had talked, they had been on their way to the tournament of the Lightning Peak Sect.
Back then, Gravis had joked with Aris about the fact that he was acting like a grandpa.
Gravis hadn't thought that this would have been the last time he would talk with his only son.
Gravis still remembered looking at his three children when they had grown up.
Back when Aris had been a newborn, he had stupidly tried to chase after stronger and faster beasts, which led to him being slower in this growth than his two sisters.
Cera had gone for a disarming approach while Yersi had gone with an ambush approach.
But things turned around pretty quickly when Aris gained more experience. He was the first one to truly jump levels. Cera had it difficult, and Yersi, who had been the strongest up to that point, had needed the help of her father to allow her to go outside.
When Aris was a newborn, he had just been an innocent kid that wanted to fight.
Then, after only staying inside a closed space with weaker opponents, he had grown incredibly arrogant.
Gravis and other beasts had needed to show him that his arrogance was misplaced several times until he finally got it.
In comparison, Cera hadn't changed very much in her earlier years. She had chased after Aris, wanting to become stronger than him. Sadly, even though Aris had been very arrogant, he had also been very talented.
Only Yersi had been more talented in terms of Cultivation. Sadly, the problem with her was her mindset. She had played it too safe her entire life, and she didn't like to join any fights that were too risky.
So, even though Aris' talent wasn't at the same level as Yersi's, he had managed to overtake her and stay in the lead ever since.
Then, Aris completely changed when he came back from the higher world. He had truly matured.
From a battle-hungry child to an arrogant adolescent to a responsible adult.
Gravis had been incredibly proud of Aris. Aris had even been talented enough to count as one of the favorites in the Lightning Peak Sect's tournament.
That was outstanding!
With enough time and resources, he could have become a genius on the level of the Peak Sects' geniuses.
And sure enough, he hadn't disappointed.
In just three million years, Aris had gone from a level one Ancestral God to a level six Divine God.
With some more resources and more time, he could have also become a Core Elder figure.
Sadly, there had been no more time.
Aris had had only three million years to reach that level. One million more, and he could have probably become an average Core Elder. One had to remember that every single Core Elder had been one of the peak geniuses of the Peak Sects.
Aris could have then focused on the True Law of the Dead World. Gravis was sure that Aris would have comprehended it long before his longevity ran out.
The Life Laws also wouldn't have spelled a problem for Aris.
The Emotional Laws wouldn't have been easy, but Aris had had enough experiences with life that he had gained an affinity for basically all emotions.
The only problem would have been the Law of Control.
Aris' mindset had always focused on freedom and doing what he wanted, and the Law of Control would have been a huge issue for him.
Yes, Aris had been incredibly talented, but that would have probably been where his growth in power ended.
Aris would have become a powerful Ancestor of a Peak Sect.
However, that was already far beyond impressive.
Sadly, Aris simply hadn't had the time.
The other Peak Sects had attacked the Heavenly Divine Sect before Aris could fully realize his potential.
Aris had been put before a choice.
Fight or flee?
Aris hadn't needed to fight. He could have simply fled to Opposer City and stay there.
Yet, he hadn't wanted to abandon his new home and his friends.
If he didn't join, their group might lose the fight.
If he didn't join, one of the Core Elders might have finished the fight too early, and they would have attacked the Formation Array, maybe even destroying it in the process.
At that time, Arc's and Manuel's carefully crafted plans would have been thrown out the window.
Additionally, if the Formation Array had collapsed, all the attackers would be able to communicate with each other again.
Aris knew Gravis, and he knew that Gravis would have attacked one of the Peak Sects.
If the Formation Array broke too early, several Ancestors might have decided to retreat to kill Gravis.
So, the last reason for Aris' choice to fight was Gravis.
Gravis probably didn't even know that Aris would be part of this war, but his actions would have still supported the Heavenly Divine Sect.
In a way, without knowing it, Gravis had been supporting Aris' fight from a distance, and Aris would reciprocate.
He would support Gravis from afar.
Gravis didn't know that they were fighting together, but Aris knew it.
And that was enough.
They had all joined the battle, knowing that several of them would die.
Sadly, Aris hadn't been able to triumph over his opponent.
Had his decision to fight made a difference?
Nobody knew.
It had been unknown before the fight, and it had remained unknown after it.
Nobody knew if Aris joining the fight had made a significant impact, but the same could be said for nearly everyone else.
Many people had lost their lives, and those people had also had a choice in the matter.
Gravis had been incredibly proud of Aris.
Aris had become a better person than Gravis could have imagined.
And even in the end, Aris had been one of the many small candles that represented the bonfire of hope and victory for the Heavenly Divine Sect.
Gravis talked a long time with Yersi about Aris and Cera.
After some time, Gravis also couldn't keep his tears in check anymore, and he cried together with his last remaining child.
This time, it wasn't Gravis being there for Yersi, but Yersi being there for her father.
It was difficult.
It was so difficult.
It had never been so difficult.
Aris' life and growth shot through Gravis' mind again and again.
He missed him.
He wanted to see him again.
And the worst thing of all was that Gravis had the ability.
He knew the True Law of Sentient Life.
He could recreate Aris.
However, that was the problem.
Gravis could recreate Aris, not resurrect him.
Also, if Gravis recreated him and looked at him again, would Gravis still feel like Aris was his son?
To Gravis, he would just be a construct.
A complex mechanism he created.
Something that absolutely perfectly copied Aris.
Yet, would he be Aris?
It was so hard to resist the draw.
Gravis had the power now.
He had full control over life.
Yet, what was the point?
That power couldn't help him here.
It was so hard to resist, but Gravis managed to pull through.
The only remaining solace was the thought that no more of his loved ones would die abruptly.
Manuel, Azure, Stella, Meadow, Narcissus, Yersi, Orpheus, and Arc were all that was left.
The first five had reached a level where tempering wasn't important anymore. They would be focusing on Laws.
Arc's survival had never been a problem.
Orpheus didn't belong to any Sect, and he was simply traveling the world. He might be the only one that could suddenly vanish.
And Yersi?
The only reason why Yersi had even continued cultivating was Jake.
Yersi was now a level one Divine God, thanks to the Law Comprehension Life Fruits the Economistress had given her.
She had nearly ten million years of life left.
Yet, with Jake gone, Yersi wasn't interested in cultivating anymore.
She might have considered it if the last step to becoming a Heaven's Magnate wasn't so incredibly hard to take. However, the reality was that there was basically no chance for her to reach the Heaven's Magnate Realm.
Just like Aris, her mind had nearly no affinity with the Law of Control.
In the end, Yersi decided to go to Opposer City. She didn't know yet what exactly she wanted to do there, but she would simply live there for the next period of time.
She needed to find a reason to live.
After a long while, Gravis separated from Yersi again.
Yersi left pretty quickly towards Opposer City after that.
When Gravis separated from Yersi, he thought about everyone he had lost.
Chapter 1300 – Everyone
Before Gravis went to talk to his remaining loved ones, he thought about everyone that had died early on.
There had been so many.
Gorn, the Guild Master of the Lightning Guild in the lower world. He had helped Gravis with everything he had, and he died to Gravis' carelessness.
Aion, the leader of one of the branches of the Heaven Sect in the lower world. Aion had always been a lazy but honest person.
Lazar, the Sect Master of the Lightning Sect in the lower world. He had also been an honest and direct person, and he had supported Gravis back then.
Nero, the unassuming Darkness Cultivator Gravis had met in the Heaven's Trial in the lower world. Nero had been the person that showed Gravis that not all Darkness Cultivators were greedy backstabbers.
Silva, the loyal snake in the middle world. Silva had only wanted to build an amazing Tribe, and he didn't want anyone to sacrifice themselves. Sadly, Gravis had pushed him forward, and Silva eventually died to being involved in the race war.
Liam, Stella's brother. In the beginning, Liam and Gravis hadn't seen eye to eye, but that animosity had vanished as more time passed.
Styr, the white and wise ape from the Icy Pride Empire in the middle world. Gravis had feared Styr because of their complex relationship back then, but Styr had shown that all of Gravis' fears didn't matter. Even though Gravis had had the ability to kill Styr, Styr had not gone against Gravis. He had even helped Gravis in tempering his Will-Aura later.
Sary, the Life Ultimate in the middle world. Gravis hadn't been in contact with her a lot, but the short moments they had known each other had been pleasant.
Skye, Gravis' first real friend. They had gone through the Energy Gathering Realm together. Gravis still remembered riding on Skye's back through the middle continent of the lower world.
Yi Lu, Gravis' disciple. Gravis hadn't interacted with Yi Lu very much, but Yi Lu had still supported Gravis with everything he had. Gravis didn't see Yi Lu as his disciple, but Yi Lu saw Gravis as his master.
Siral, the Darkness Cultivator who tried to assassinate Gravis in the higher world. Yet, after repaying his debt by being Gravis' servant for a long time, Siral had become a friend.
Joyce, Gravis' first love. In the lower world, the two of them had basically confessed their love for each other, but Gravis couldn't accept a romantic relationship at that part of his life. So, they had promised to meet each other again in the highest world. Sadly, Joyce had changed too much. In the end, she was unrecognizable.
Broad Walker, the slow but honest Cultivator. Gravis and Broad Walker had started out as enemies, but Broad Walker eventually helped Gravis after realizing that Silent Walker was betraying the Sect.
Cera, Gravis' daughter. He had never been able to repair the rift between them before it was too late.
Dorian, Old Man Lightning. Dorian had helped Gravis a lot in the lower world, and he had been the most important person in Gravis' development in the lower world. Without him, Gravis would have almost certainly died to the Heaven Sect.
Ferris, the upbeat Elder of the Icy Pride Empire. When Gravis and Ferris had just met, Ferris seemed to be like any other Elder, but after warming up to Gravis, Ferris had been a loyal companion.
Exar, the Ancestor of the Purity Sect and the Keeper of Underworld. Exar had given Gravis the invitation to see Arc, and they had only seen each other again much later. In the higher world, the two of them hadn't really been in contact, but in the highest world, Exar had supported everyone in Gravis' circle of friends. Sadly, Exar had never been a person that allowed other people to truly become close with him.
Jake, Yersi's husband. Gravis had met Jake when he had requested an affinity scanning for Yersi. Back then, Jake had been an Immortal Emperor, and he had directly hit on Yersi after the interview was finished. Jake had been a responsible person through and through, and he had been an amazing husband to Yersi.
Aris, Gravis' son…
19 friends and loved ones.
So many people had come and gone from Gravis' life.
Gravis still remembered all their personalities.
Sadly, he would never see them again. In fact, even if he could see them again, a lot of them had been friends from when Gravis had been younger. If he met them again today, he might even view them as children he couldn't relate to.
Yet, while they had been alive, they had been a great source of joy for Gravis.
In the lower world, Gravis had believed that he would be alone forever. The lower Heaven had stopped Gravis from getting close to anyone. Back then, Gravis had been in a dark place, and he had shut off his emotions to cope with the loneliness.
But when looking back at his life from the present, Gravis realized that he had met a ton of amazing people. He had also met a lot of scumbags, but that was normal.
Gravis' journey had appeared isolated and lonely from time to time, but he had never truly been alone after reaching the Energy Gathering Realm.
There had been a lot of death, but there were also many friends that were still alive, and they would probably continue to be alive for a very long time.
Manuel, the Ascender's Talent from the Wind Sect in the lower world. Gravis had met Manuel when he wanted to kill him while being under Byron's illusion. Gravis had nearly killed Manuel, but the Sect Master got involved and got killed by Byron.
After that, Manuel and Gravis became close friends, and Manuel had even helped Gravis in confronting his emotions. Manuel had always been wise above his age, and he was still going strong in the Divine God Realm.
Manuel would almost certainly reach the level of an Ancestor of the Peak Sects. Sadly, there was basically zero chance of him ever comprehending the Law of Freedom.
Manuel would stop at the Divine God Realm.
Azure, the Empress of the Icy Pride Empire and the mother to Gravis' children. Azure had always been a very simple woman. She wasn't stupid, but she disliked complex situations. That was why Styr had basically led the Icy Pride Empire in her stead.
Today, Azure was Mortis' wife, and the two of them were happy together. Azure's curiosity and direct approach had worked wonders on Mortis, and the two of them were practically made for each other.
Meadow, the Plant Ultimate from the middle world. Gravis had always found Meadow to be quite funny, and he loved bantering with her. They had never truly had a close moment, but they always enjoyed being around each other.
Narcissus, the most powerful Ancestor of the beasts in the higher world. Gravis and Narcissus had never truly been friends, but they respected each other. Narcissus had helped Gravis, and Gravis had helped Narcissus. Today, he was dealing with Meadow.
Yersi, Gravis' second daughter. She had been the one that matured the earliest among Gravis' three children, and she had basically always been the big sister of the group. She had also remained in the highest world while the other two went to higher worlds.
Gravis' relationship with Yersi was probably the closest one out of his three children.
Arc, the higher Heaven. Gravis had been thrown into the world to kill Arc, but in the end, he managed to convince Orthar that fighting Arc was senseless. Today, Arc was basically just doing whatever he wanted. He knew so many Laws and had such an incredible experience with life that the entire highest world basically danced in the palm of his hand.
Arc wasn't fighting others for a spot at the top. He was basically strolling to the top in a relaxed manner.
Orpheus, Gravis' brother. Their relationship had become a bit more distant after Orpheus unveiled the truth between them, but Gravis still saw Orpheus as his brother. Even more, Orpheus had killed Lina and her entire Sect for Gravis. Not everyone would have done such a favor to Gravis.
And lastly, Stella, Gravis' wife.
Out of everyone, Stella was probably the only one that could reach the Heaven's Magnate Realm with a high level of confidence. Everyone else had some problems in relation to Laws, but Stella didn't. In a way, that was thanks to Gravis.
Stella had a great affinity for the Law of Control, but Gravis had basically forced the Law of Freedom on her back then. By doing that, Gravis had basically taken care of the hardest part of becoming a Heaven's Magnate.
Even Azure had issues with the Law of Control.
Gravis had met a lot of people, and a lot of them had died.
However, a lot of them were also still alive.
And Gravis wanted to speak with them.