Ch. 1..10

Chapter 1

"Why do you want to become strong?"

The last light of dusk was shining through the open window into an enormous bedroom. A young boy, no older than 12, was sitting on the ground while looking at his father. His father also sat on the ground facing his son. The boy's usually curious black eyes seemed unsure.

The boy wore a white shirt and black cloth pants, and his build was average for a child. One could not see anything out of the ordinary, except for one thing. He wore a dark black ring on his right ring finger. The ring had a design that made it look like obsidian, which had not completely hardened yet. Other than the ring, the boy seemed incredibly plain.

His father, on the other hand, was the total opposite. His chiseled and imposing face could make anyone cower in fear and respect. He had the same black eyes as his son, but the feeling they gave was entirely different. In front of those eyes, it felt as if all secrets were laid bare. He wore imposing black and gold robes and an identical-looking ring to his son's. He looked into the boy's eyes.

After a while, the boy looked away from his father, his eyes drifting to one of the windows. "To protect the people close to me." The boy hoped that this time, the answer was good enough for his father. He looked back to his father, now, with hope in his eyes.

There was no change in the man's expression. "Is there someone that can threaten your close ones?"

"No." The boy sighed after a while.

"Then, why do you need strength?"

The boy looked uncomfortable. "I don't need strength. I want strength." The boy shook his head. "Why would you not allow me to cultivate, father? Everyone else my age is already at least two major realms

higher than me. Every time I walk around the city, I feel useless. I just want to become stronger. Is that wrong?"

The man's expression slightly changed to boredom. "Instead of telling you, why don't I just show you? Go to the weapon store near the Broken Heaven Plaza. Stay in there for 30 minutes and come back. Then we can continue our conversation." With that, the door opened on its own.

The boy, Gravis, looked at the door. He sighed and walked out. Why did his dad not just explain things? He always had to send him on these journeys to discover the answer for himself.

Leaving the majestic palace with spires that pierce the sky, he walked to the Broken Heaven Plaza. The city reached over the horizon. There were so many people flying around in the sky that it reminded Gravis of an aggressive beehive. They were either shooting from A to B or just selling some wares in their flying stalls. Not everyone could afford to buy a shop in this city.

Stalls, wares, mounts, slave-beasts, buildings, and even palaces filled the sky. This scenery stretched as far as the eye could see. The Buildings and palaces in the air alone were over ten times the number of buildings on the ground. Though all these flying buildings did not officially belong to the city, they still created a congregation that stretched higher into the sky than the city was long.

Even though the community in the sky, aptly named Sky Community, was only an unimportant part of the city, Gravis always wanted to fly up there with the others.

The Broken Heaven Plaza was not very far from his father's palace. After just a couple of minutes, Gravis arrived. The buildings around the plaza looked very lavish as if all the owners wanted to compete with their money. One building stood out, not for looking especially extravagant, but for looking like a cheap two-floored stone house.

The owner had enough money to build a more prominent building. Just the fact that they owned property in the core of the city proved as much. The building simply didn't need to impress people.

Every single person in the city knew it. When his father said, "Go to the weapon store near Broken Heaven Plaza." he could only have meant this building. It was the most well-known weapon store in existence, the Divine Weapon House.

Gravis walked into the Divine Weapon House and looked around. It was barren, as not everyone had the right to see the wares. The only thing worthy of interest was a simple-looking old man talking to two other people. Compared to the old man, the luxuriously clothed youngster and the well-armed guard behind him, looked like they oozed money. Gravis walked to a corner of the store and waited.

"Master Linus, please show me your bows," the youngster practically demanded from the old man in a rather direct manner. Acting like an arrogant young master in front of the best weapon's craftsman in existence seemed inappropriate, but the old man didn't seem to mind.

"Certainly, please come to the second floor." The old man beckoned politely to the stairs.

The young man and his guard walked up the stairs without waiting for the old man, who quickly followed. Was this what Gravis' father wanted him to see? He was not sure.

"Well, father said I should only come back in 30 minutes, so I might as well wait." Gravis sighed and stood to the corner of the shop.

After a while, the people from upstairs came back. Without even saying goodbye, the youngster walked to the exit, but immediately stopped when he spotted Gravis.

"Prince, please forgive this little one for not noticing you." The youngster seemed panicked and quickly bowed deeply in front of Gravis. He seemed very nervous. The guard behind him even kneeled on one knee.

Gravis was used to this scene as it happened all the time. Instead of feeling great or powerful by the subservient attitude, he only felt annoyed. Gravis waved his hand slightly. "It's okay, don't mind me. You

may continue."

"Thank you, prince." The youngster rose and quickly walked out of the store with his guard.

The old man saw the commotion and noticed Gravis. He immediately paled upon seeing him. He teleported in front of Gravis, nothing unusual in this city, and bowed. "Please forgive me, prince! I did not see you entering the store. If I knew, I would've immediately welcomed you."

Gravis sighed. "You don't have to apologize. I didn't announce myself or anything. It's okay."

The old man seemed relieved and finally dared to look at Gravis. "Thank you, prince. How can this humble self help you?"

Gravis looked around the store. "Father told me to come and stay here for a while. Though, I am not sure why."

The owner immediately paled as if he heard that his family died. "H-his exalted grace?" Why would that person take note of him? Did that person want to hint at something by sending his son here? Did he intend for his son to choose a weapon? That was unlikely. The boy couldn't even lift the lightest needle the old man forged.

Gravis casually shook his hand. "Forget it. It's nothing to worry about." Gravis looked at the exit. "My father probably wanted me to see the exchange earlier."

The old man was not sure how to answer, but he felt relieved, knowing that that person was not taking note of his shop.

"Well, it doesn't matter. I'll leave. I wish you a good day, master Linus." Gravis walked out of the store.

"Thank you, prince. I wish you a good day." The old man bowed once more.

Gravis quickly returned to the royal palace and walked to his father's bedroom, the doors all opening by themselves. His father had not moved at all. Gravis walked to his front and sat down. "It's been about 30 minutes, father. Can we continue now?"

The expression on his father did not seem to change. He simply narrated, "The young man in the shop was one of the more useless sons of the head of the Heavenly Divine Sect. The old man was the best weapon smith in the world. In your eyes, whose status is higher?" His father looked at him, waiting for his answer.

Gravis didn't even hesitate to answer. "The Heavenly Divine Sect is an upper-level sect in the world. If it were the head of the sect, their status would be equal, even though the head's power is stronger, but if it's only his son, their statuses are incomparable. There are many upper-level sects in the world, but only one 'best weaponsmith'."

As if expecting his son's answer, Gravis' father said: "Then why did he obediently do everything he was told, even though he could wipe out the young man with a wave of his hand?"

Gravis hesitated. The answer was too obvious. "Because of the head of the Heavenly Divine Sect. He could similarly wipe out the weaponsmith with a wave of his hand." Suddenly Gravis' eyes widened. He understood why his father wanted him to see this exchange.

His father chuckled lightly. "So why would you need strength if you have me as your father?"

Gravis felt torn. He wanted to retort, but couldn't. His father was the most powerful human in existence, not just in this world but in all worlds. The only thing rivaling him were the heavens themselves. Even if everything else were to die, he would still be there. But with that fact, Gravis' reasoning for becoming stronger was void. Who would dare threaten the close ones of the son of the Opposer? No one.

"Father, I asked you so many times already. I only want to become stronger. Is that too much to ask?" Gravis asked with frustration, not willing to give up.

His father didn't seem to mind his son's disrespectful tone. "Because you do not know what it means to cultivate. If you step onto the path of cultivation, you would constantly be putting your life on the line unless you reach the peak." His father looked serious. "I would not protect you on your journey, because if I were to protect you, you would never reach the peak, and without reaching the peak, you could not live without regrets. True strength is only something that you can achieve with an immense amount of willpower, luck, and climbing over mountains of corpses."

"If I were to grant you strength myself, your longevity would increase, but without the tempered willpower of the cultivation world, you would not be able to handle the seemingly unchanging unending life. You would feel empty. If there is nothing to strive for, then is there even a reason for living? As you are now, you will have a good life, with high status and no problems. Destroying that for something that you do not even need, is foolish."

Gravis was looking at the floor, his fists tightly clenched. He was only 12. He did not understand everything his father told him. Many of the concepts his father told him seemed foreign. How could he imagine how he would feel a hundred years down the line when he was just 12? Thus, he could not accept everything his father was telling him.

Nevertheless, he sighed and stood up. "I understand. I'll go."

After Gravis left, his father also sighed. "Gravis, if only you understood how it feels for me. Seeing thousands of my children dying in the cultivation world or to old age hurts. If you only want but do not need strength, you are better off not cultivating. If you do not wholeheartedly wish for what true power grants you, then you cannot live without regrets in the cultivation world. Many painful experiences taught me that." He muttered and looked out of the window.

"I have lived for far too long," he said after a long while.

Cultivation was the tempering of the body, energy, and mind. A stronger body allowed one to have a sturdier vessel for more energy. Energy allowed one to cultivate the mental realm, and the mental realm allowed one to take control of their own life. With all three combined, one would be able to achieve strength. With strength, one can take control of one's destiny and freedom. If one does not wholeheartedly wish to grasp one's destiny or strive for freedom, they would only have regrets at the end of their lives. And a life without regrets is what everyone wants, but few can achieve.

Gravis could not understand everything about cultivation. It surely did not help that there was an edict by his father that forbade people to talk about cultivation with his children if they had not started on this journey. The only thing Gravis knew was that cultivation gave stronger people power over weaker people, and he did not like the feeling of everyone having control over him. Though, he was never in danger, thanks to his father. Gravis had this conversation with his father many times before, but for some reason, his father had never agreed to let him cultivate.

Whenever he had another failed conversation with his father, he always did the same afterward. Gravis walked along the hallway, towards another bedroom. He wanted to talk to someone that understood him. As he arrived at his goal, the door opened by itself, a graceful and divine beauty standing in the room, tending to some plants. While everyone else would be struck dumb just by seeing her, he did not react at all. She was his mother.

"Mom, why does father not let me cultivate?" Gravis said in a spoiled tone. His mother looked at him and chuckled lightly.

"Gravis, how often did we have this conversation already? Trust your father. No one else has as much experience as him. If he does not want you to cultivate, then he surely has a good reason."

Gravis groaned. "Is it so much to ask? Just giving me a cultivation technique would be enough. We have an uncountable amount of those."

His mother looked dotingly at him and caressed his head. "That's not the issue. Although I am also quite strong, I basically have no idea about cultivation, but I have seen your many older brothers and sisters embark on this journey. Nearly all of them did not have a good life, and nearly all of them had regrets at the end of their life."

Gravis looked disappointed but did not give up. "Then why doesn't he just grant me strength? It's not like father never did that before. Increasing other people's cultivation costs him nothing more than a wave of his hand."

"Is that what you truly want?" His mother asked.

Gravis was not sure. He wanted to say yes, that he was fine with bestowed strength, but somehow, he couldn't. After a while, he sighed. "No, it's not."

His mother smiled. "Oh, come on. Cheer up! Stella came earlier and was looking for you. Why don't you go visit her?"

Gravis head shot up. "Stella was here? When?"

His mother laughed lightly. "About 30 minutes ago. She should still be around the main hall."

"Thanks, mom. I'll accompany her. Bye." Gravis ran out, not even waiting for his mother's answer. His mother just continued tending to some flowers.

Gravis ran to the main hall, searching for Stella. Stella was one of his childhood friends. They practically grew up together and immediately clicked when they first met. He always felt happy when being near her. It didn't matter if they talked, walked around, or just sat in silence. He just liked being around her.

He quickly spotted her looking at some paintings. She was a cute girl, also around 12 years old, her blonde hair wrapped in two pigtails. Her eyes were shining with curiosity, just like Gravis'.

"Stella, here!" Gravis shouted as he walked to her.

She turned around and immediately smiled when she saw him. "Gravis! I had to wait for half an hour for you. What took you so long?"

Gravis rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry! I talked with my father."

Stella sighed. "The same thing again?"

Gravis nodded. "Yes. Still no luck."

Stella rubbed her chin, thinking, and her eyes lighted up. "I know! Let's get some ice cream and watch the Sky Community."

Gravis just nodded. He didn't care what they did together. He just wanted to be near her. They held their hands and ran out the door to watch the Sky Community.

 

Chapter 2

It had been two years since that day out with Stella, yet today was completely different. Gravis stood in front of Stella's bed, holding her hand tightly. She was lying there, pale and weakly. Her family surrounded them, somber expressions on their faces.

Stella smiled lightly. "Please, I don't want you all to feel sad for me. I knew this would happen eventually. I just felt it. I lived every day to my fullest and am content with my life."

Gravis' heart already broke, but he still felt a sting when he heard her words. He didn't want to believe that his best friend was going to die soon. She was the same age as him. Furthermore, she had one of the highest cultivation realms possible. How could someone so young and strong possibly die due to an illness? It was impossible.

"Don't worry. Just go to sleep, and tomorrow you'll feel much better." Gravis forced a smile. He didn't know if he tried to convince her or if he tried to convince himself. The pit in his stomach grew bigger when he said those words. "We can go eat ice cream again tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. Don't worry."

Her family was also heartbroken. Her father had a grim expression on his face, and her mother was already crying on her father's shoulder. Her older siblings looked everywhere but into their sister's eyes. They looked lifeless and heartbroken. A thick layer of darkness shrouded the room.

Stella also slowly got teary-eyed. "Please, I don't want you all to feel unhappy because of me. Here, look!" Stella weakly lifted her hands. A bright and hot ball was forming on her hand. "Just like the star in my hand was born," she lowered the star, and it vanished, "I, too, had a bright life. I am content with what I had. Just be happy for me. I don't want you all to grieve."

That display pushed her siblings over the edge, and they also started crying. Her father tried his best to keep himself under control, but everyone could see his trembling shoulders and clenched fists. A deep and heavy silence overcame the room.

Gravis' hands trembled. "Don't say that. Everything will be fine. Don't worry!"

Stella smiled with tear-filled eyes. "The only thing I regret is not being able to be together with you anymore, Gravis. I wanted to be with you, always." Her smile vanished, and the tears in her eyes fell down her face. "I am so sorry, Gravis. I wanted you to be happy, but now you are crying because of me. I didn't want to hurt you."

Gravis' heart broke again. He quickly rubbed his eyes. "I am not crying. Everything will be fine. Don't worry about me. Just rest." Gravis now held her hand with both his hands.

Stella smiled and nodded. "Yes, I will. Thank you, Gravis... and sorry." She closed her eyes, and her hands lost their strength.

Gravis finally broke down completely and buried his head into his arms. Tears were pouring out, and his voice broke. "Please don't leave. Please." He begged her, but she didn't react.

"It was inevitable." said a heavy voice coming from his side. Gravis didn't know when or how his father appeared. Stella's family didn't look with fear at the Opposer, but with hope. If someone could save Stella, then it was him.

Gravis quickly turned to his father, begging on his knees. "Please, father. Please save her. I'll do anything! I won't ask to cultivate anymore. I'll never complain again. Please, I'm begging you."

His father looked emotionlessly at his son. "I can't save her."

Gravis vigorously shook his head. "You did it before. I heard you even resurrected dead people without a problem. Please, save her."

His father sighed. "It's not that I don't want to save her. I really can't."

The hope vanished from Stella's family's eyes, returning the atmosphere in the room back to grieving silence.

"Why?" Gravis' spoke with panic in his voice, a murky mixture of emotions sparkling from his eyes. Grief, sadness, anger, but mostly, powerlessness.

"She is something called a shooting star. A person 'blessed' by Heaven. They cultivate extremely quickly, not by absorbing the energy surrounding them, but by absorbing the energy from Heaven directly. But just like a shooting star, their light is blinding, but short." His father looked at Stella. "Heaven does not directly interfere with an individual's fate. Yet, that doesn't include shooting stars. They were specifically created for a purpose, with a locked fate in mind. Destroying that fate means destroying the shooting star."

Gravis was confused and hurt. "But... why? Why would Heaven create such a cruel fate for her?"

The Opposer continued to speak, "I have noticed her since the day she was born. Heaven didn't try to conceal the fact that she was a shooting star. At that time, I didn't know what Heaven was planning, so I didn't mind. Only when you two met and grew increasingly closer, did I notice what Heaven planned. Heaven created someone that resonated perfectly with you. It wanted to create friendship and love between the two of you," Gravis' father lifted his hand, and clenched it into a fist, "and then take it away."

Gravis looked shocked and couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But why? I don't even cultivate. Why would Heaven do this?"

His father somberly shook his head. "Heaven does not care about you. This was not targeted at you." He looked out the window, his eyebrows showing his inner rage. "It targeted me."

There was silence in the room. After a while, the Opposer continued. "Heaven can't kill me. Heaven can't suppress me, and Heaven hates me for that. There is nothing else Heaven hates more than me. But since Heaven can't do anything to me, it went after you. You are young. You are vulnerable. Heaven wants to hurt me by hurting you."

The Opposer hmphed. "Worst of all, Heaven did not break its own rules. It just created someone with a short lifespan. It's playing dirty."

Suddenly, an unfathomably strong killing intent radiated from the Opposer. The whole room fell into an icy coldness. It seemed like death itself had manifested in the room. The air vanished, and it felt like a volcano was about to erupt.

"But I don't care about Heaven's rules," the Opposer said severely, and with a loud boom, he burst through the ceiling.

Heaven!

Will!

Pay!

 

Chapter 3

The Opposer flew into the sky. He flew for thousands of kilometers until he finally stopped. He released his cultivation base, and the whole world shook. Everyone, no matter how weak or strong, sensed an oppressive aura radiating from his direction. The world stopped. Everyone was frozen solid and did not dare move. Animals, monsters, demons, devils, gods, humans, plants, the wind, the heavens, and the earth stilled.

"Heaven!" An imposing voice resonated throughout the world. Everything heard and felt it.

The ancestors of the high and peak sects were familiar with this situation. This was not the first time this happened. The ancestors felt fearful, for they knew: A calamity was descending. An unimaginable amount of blood would dye the earth. Many lives will be lost. The only thing they could do was hope that it wasn't them this time. With their divine sense, they observed their disciples and the people close to them. They were checking their cultivation bases and hoping that they were not on the list this time.

They hated the heavens, and they hated the Opposer. Whenever those two clashed, the weak ones suffered, and besides those two, everyone was weak.

Heaven did not react to the Opposer's voice. Heaven did not break its rules. Actually, by enraging the Opposer, it achieved its goal. Would the Opposer go overboard, even though Heaven did not do anything wrong? No, the Opposer also had to play by the rules, or everything would become his enemy.

"Heaven! You can't suppress me, so you take your frustration out on my family. Today, I will make sure that this does not happen a second time!" The Opposer shouted. All the energy in the air was flowing towards him, but before it could reach him, it stopped. Heaven did not allow him to gather its energy. It still did not attack him. Instead, it showed him that it did not want to fight. It just stopped the energy.

"Today, you will pay!"

Suddenly, an oppressive divine sense covered the world, encompassing everything.

The heavens thundered. The whole world trembled. Everyone knew that Heaven was warning him not to go too far. Heaven was angry. It did not break any rules, so how dare he try anything?

The Opposer laughed in rage. "Today, you will pay the most painful price." His divine sense solidified and locked everything in place. Heaven gathered all energy in the world above the Opposer, threatening him.

The Opposer stood in the sky, looking down at the earth with a cold expression. Everything stilled. The ancestor's hearts nearly stopped, and fear took ahold of them.

After a couple of seconds that felt like years, the Opposer finally spoke. "Star Gods!"

Some of the ancestors sighed in relief. Some of the ancestors sighed in a mix of regret and helplessness. Some of the ancestors blanched completely. Some ancestors looked at a couple of their disciples in grief and helplessness. Disciples in other sects looked at their masters in terror.

Heaven instantly exploded in power, but before Heaven could do anything, it was already over.

Every Star God in the world closed their eyes and their souls scattered, never to be reborn again. It was like all the Star Gods fell peacefully into eternal sleep, yet everyone knew they would never wake up again. Grief, anger, and indignation shrouded the world. Millions died, and millions of families wept for their loved ones.

Suddenly, the earth shook. Pillars of unimaginable size broke through the surface from all around the world, all attacking the Opposer. Seas froze, and all the water transformed into spires that flew at the Opposer. Lava broke through the earth and shot towards the Opposer. All the air in the world pressed together with the Opposer at the center. The mountains transformed into giant beasts that threw all their might at the Opposer, and in the sky, Heaven was still gathering energy.

Surprisingly, even though the earth completely transformed, no one, not even the weakest ant, got injured. It was like they were in a separate space.

The whole world attacked the Opposer. The Opposer took out a black saber and slashed. Every slash, the earth spires were split apart, the seas evaporated, the lava crumbled into dust, the air vanished, and the mountains were destroyed. The world was obliterated.

After everything was over, the Opposer looked toward Heaven. All the energy in the world was gathered together at a single point. The Opposer let out a bestial howl. All his energy shot into his weapon and, in a slash, shot towards Heaven. The energy of Heaven transformed into lightning and shot towards the Opposer. The slash and the lightning bolt clashed.

An enormous explosion, the likes of which was never seen before by any living being, destroyed the world. The light, being able to burn everything to nothingness. The sound, breaking apart the most durable materials. The shockwave, destroying space and time itself. Everything vanished. The only things that had not changed were the living beings. Everything passed them by as if this was all just an illusion. Even though no one was physically affected, trillions of beings still died due to the emotional impact.

The explosion ended, and everything was silent.

"Never touch my family again." They heard the voice of the Opposer, still sounding as imposing as ever. "And go repair your world."

Heaven showed no reaction. It did not want to waste more energy. Energy was not infinite, even for Heaven.

A small ball of earth appeared and quickly grew to the old size of the world. Steam condensed into the seas and rivers again. Air appeared from the void, and all the mountains retook their form. The world

had not changed. Every town, road, forest, and plane was the same as it was before, everything, except the energy in the air. It had lowered.

But then, Heaven shuddered, and the energy in the air increased again. It grew until it returned to normal, and the people could finally feel the earth and wind again.

The calamity had passed.

The Opposer flew back to Stella's house and landed in her room. Stella's family and Gravis were still there. They had not recovered from the shock of what just happened. Gravis looked at his father, and his father looked back.

"Why do you need strength?" The Opposer asked his son.

Gravis looked at the lifeless Stella, thought back to her predetermined fate that Heaven imposed, and thought back to what his father did. His father killed millions. The whole world probably hated him, yet the world did not dare to voice their hate. Heaven had attacked him, and he struck back. It did not matter what he did. Even though all the lives in the world were changed, for the Opposer, nothing changed. Everything was the same as before.

Gravis clenched his fists, a fire burning in his heart and eyes.

"Freedom! To not be oppressed. To not be under someone else's reign. To protect what I want and attack what I want!" Gravis looked towards Stella, pain, and anger in his eyes. "And to never feel today's pain again." Gravis looked back into his father's eyes. "I need power!" he shouted with rage and ambition. All pain was buried into his heart, fueling his fire, his hatred toward Heaven exploding.

His father looked at his son and nodded. "Then, earn your strength and step into the cultivation world!"

Gravis' eyes shined and decided to do everything to not be under Heaven's reign again.

Heaven made a grave mistake that day.

 

Chapter 4

Everyone looked at Gravis as he opened the door and walked in. All the chatter that was just going on instantly stopped. The young people in the room never expected someone like him to come here. This place was not a location where nobles would frequent. This was a classroom. Specifically, a classroom for the preparation for a job that only 'low born' people normally took. Was the prince actually intending to become a research assistant?

A research assistant was an occupation that allowed people with a poor background to make it big if they survived. Family's with an, at least, average standing would not need to send their children to this death camp, where only a tiny portion of attendees survived. There was no reason for the prince to become a research assistant. A single fart of the Opposer could make anyone become a God.

Gravis felt a little embarrassed when everyone looked at him like that. Keeping his head low, he dodged the shocked youngsters and quickly found an empty chair and sat down. He kept his head low, not wanting to meet the eyes of the others.

"Damn, everyone looks at you like you just killed a guy. What did you do?" Gravis heard a voice from his right. He looked at the youngster that just talked to him. He was an about 15-year-old boy with brown hair and brown eyes. Even though he looked clean, one could see his family's financial situation by the cheap clothing he wore. His hands were rugged and filled with calluses.

"Hey, you deaf? I'm talking to you." The boy continued with an annoyed tone, seeing that Gravis had not reacted yet after a couple of seconds.

Gravis quickly perked up. "Oh, sorry, sorry! I was just not used to people speaking to me like that." Gravis rubbed his neck in embarrassment.

"You mean speaking like a normal guy? You're a weird one." The boy said while boringly looking at Gravis. "Well, if you want to keep secrets, go ahead."

Gravis wasn't used to talking like this. "No, it's nothing like that. It's just, where I'm from, people always talk indirectly and very formal. So..." Gravis nervously twiddled his thumbs. "I'm not sure how to talk with... normal people." Gravis dodged his eyes.

"Man, what's up with you? Are you a stale soup without any backbone? A man needs to be like a good soup. He needs to have a backbone, lots of meat and has to be refined to perfection. Speak up, will ya?" The boy shouted.

The other people in the classroom looked at the guy with pale faces, while Gravis was just confused by his strange metaphor. "A man... needs to be like soup?" He asked.

The boy slammed his desk loudly. "Yeah, like a well-made soup. Strong, flavorful, hot, well prepared! That's what makes a man." The boy looked at Gravis with intense eyes.

Gravis was confused, but he also felt as if he kind of understood the guy. Gravis tried to sound more confident. "Yes. You're right!" Gravis looked around the room at the staring eyes. "Let them stare! I shouldn't feel uncomfortable because of others."

The boy laughed and heartily patted Gravis on the shoulder. "That's it! That's how a man should be." He then extended his hand to Gravis. "Hey, I'm Ballor. I like to befriend all hot-blooded men. Hot- blooded men don't need to know each other to form a brotherhood. Our hearts are already connected!"

Gravis looked at the hand and then grinned. "Yes!" He slammed his hand into Ballor's and gave him a firm handshake. "My name's Gravis! Let's be brothers!"

Ballor grinned uncomfortably. "Yeah, that's great. Hey, could you maybe let my hand go? I think it's about to break."

"Oh!" Gravis quickly let go of Ballor's hand. Ballor pulled it back and shook it vigorously.

"Damn, what did you eat? Your grip is really strong."

"Oh, I'm so-"

"Okay, quiet down, everyone!" Just when Gravis wanted to apologize, a young man, maybe in his 20s, shouted into the classroom and walked to the podium at the front. The class immediately went to their desks, and obediently sat down, still glancing at Gravis from time to time. Gravis looked quietly at the front, but after he saw Ballor sitting with a straight back, muscles puffed out, he remembered the talk they just had. Gravis also sat up straight and crossed his arms.

When everyone calmed down, the man spoke up. "I'm research adept Forneus. This means I successfully completed my mission as a research assistant. I've been assigned to guide you for the next year, so that you will be well prepared and, hopefully, survive." Forneus looked around the room. "Now, let me just give you a summary of what a research assistant is."

Forneus cleared his throat. "Research assistants are people who will be sent to the lowest worlds, where the energy and its inhabitants are the weakest. The goal behind this seemingly mindless task is to research the cultivation techniques of these worlds. Even though the people might be weak, their techniques might not be. Every world is different, and every world has its own cultivation path. Some cultivation paths may lead to a dead-end, but others may have huge potential. Without testing, we can't know."

"That is the reason why we only accept people who either have not cultivated at all or have only tempered their organs and blood. If you already used a cultivation technique, then what's the meaning of sending you to a lower realm?"

Forneus looked around the room and spotted Gravis. He then looked at the ceiling and thought for a while. Then, he continued. "For those of you who have no idea about cultivation, let me just briefly summarize the first four cultivation realms and what they're all about."

Gravis grew excited. Everyone was forbidden to talk about the specifics of cultivation around him. He never even heard the name of any realms. His father made sure of that. Finally, he got to know about cultivation.

"The first realm is called Body Tempering. Just like the name says, you need to temper your whole body, one piece at a time. It has five stages: Organ tempering, blood tempering, bone tempering, skin tempering, and muscle tempering. It is important to note that you can theoretically temper your body in any order you want. Though, to get a good foundation, you first need to temper your organs and your blood."

"For example, if you temper your muscles first, what would happen?" Forneus looked around the room.

One of the only two girls in the class raised her hand, and Forneus nodded. "You will explode when you use all your power because your skin and bones are not strong enough to support your muscles." The girl answered in confidence.

"Wrong!" Forneus shouted. The girl flinched. "Your body isn't stupid! It would never allow such a time- bomb to exist in itself. What actually happens is that the body would only allow the tempering of the muscles to go as far as your skin, bones, and organs allow. That means that your muscles will be weak in relation to cultivators that tempered their muscles last."

"Now, I will tell you the best order to temper your bodies! First-" Forneus stopped speaking when he saw a boy in the front, Ballor, in fact, had raised his hand. "What?" Forneus glared at Ballor.

Forneus' death-glare did not deter Ballor. "How do we know that your method is the best? My father said that you first need a strong skin to survive and strong muscles to win. If you can't survive, what's the meaning in going 'the correct way'?"

Forneus' eyes showed a mixture of annoyance and boredom. "First, if your body is not tempered perfectly, you will have immense issues starting at the fourth major realm. You need to achieve unity in the fourth realm, and if not every part of your body is equally perfect, you will find it very hard to achieve unity."

"Second, your case is only relevant if you do not have the resources or are in constant mortal danger. We do have the resources, and there is no danger here, yet."

"Third, because, his exalted grace, the Opposer said so." Forneus glared at Ballor.

Under Forneus' intense glare, Ballor finally crumbled and sat back down, not saying another thing.

Forneus continued. "So, first, you need to temper your organs and your blood. Your organs must be first because they produce your blood, and all nourishment your body receives originates from them. Your blood must be second because it carries the nourishment. It would be a shame if your organs produced great nourishment, but your blood can't transport any of it properly. Also, your strength continually improves with time just by having tempered your organs and blood. That increases your upper limit for future tempering."

"Next, you need to temper your bones and your skin. It does not matter in which order. Bones have no relation to skin and vice versa. Lastly, you need to temper your muscles. Only when you tempered everything, does your body allow the perfect tempering of your muscles. You will be sent into the lower realms with tempered organs and tempered blood. The reason for that is that it's the most difficult to temper the organs and blood. It's tough to acquire the quantity or quality of nourishment in the lower realms for those two stages."

Out of nowhere, some fingernail-sized pills appeared in the air and flew towards the youngsters. "Eat these, and your organs and blood should be tempered by tomorrow."

Gravis looked down at his desk and was confused because he did not receive any pill. Gravis raised his hand. Forneus beckoned with his head. "Excuse me, why did I not receive a pill? I have never cultivated."

Forneus slyly grinned. "You don't need a pill. You already have tempered your organs and blood."

Gravis' eyes widened. "What?"

 

Chapter 5

"Yeah, you already have tempered organs and blood," Forneus said.

"But that's impossible! In my entire life, I have not even heard anything specific about cultivation. How could I have already tempered my body?" Gravis shook his head.

Forneus looked at him with boredom in his eyes. "Remind me, who is your father again?"

Gravis understood. So, it was his father, after all. But when? He couldn't remember any time where his father could have tempered his organs and blood.

Seeing how Gravis looked absentmindedly at the ceiling, Forneus chuckled. "You don't need to look so confused or think about a time when that happened. Your body slowly grows stronger with time with tempered organs and blood. Judging by how vigorous your blood is flowing through your veins, it probably happened around 15 years ago. You should also be around 15 years old, so it would be a miracle if you actually remembered."

Gravis' eyes widened. "But how?"

Forneus shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know. Don't ask me. Ask your father. Tomorrow, we will have a guest who will strengthen the Dantians of everyone. You can skip that one too. Your Dantian has been strengthened as well. You don't need to come tomorrow." Forneus then turned to the class and looked around the youngsters. "Alright, everyone has ingested their pills. Now, let's continue."

Forneus cleared his throat again. "Let's continue with the next cultivation realm. After you have tempered your whole body, your body will be able to resist the pressure of natural energy. That means that you can start to absorb the energy in the air. Energy is in the air, soil, water, fire, lightning, stone, ore, wood, humans, beasts, basically everywhere."

"So, the first step after tempering is feeling the energy and pulling it into your Dantian to create a swirl. The swirl will then absorb the energy automatically. Then you have officially stepped into the second major realm: The Energy Gathering realm. Just like the name says, that realm is all about gathering as much energy as possible. As you accumulate more energy, it grows, and at some point, you will reach a situation where your energy can't grow anymore."

"That means, you are at the threshold of the next lower realm in the major Energy Gathering realm. When that happens, make a pause, get a drink, get some food, sleep a little, and simply relax for a couple of hours or days. When you are at your peak, release all your willpower and gather your energy like your life depends on it. You will need a strong enough push in order to increase the density of your energy. When you can't condense it anymore, you officially reached the next smaller realm. You do that nine times, and you have reached the tenth level of Energy Gathering. Most lower worlds only do eight condensations. You need a strengthened Dantian to do nine. You will get your very own strengthened Dantian tomorrow."

"Now, don't be confused when you hear terms like 'Qi Condensation', 'Breath Accumulation', 'Magic Whirling', or something similar to that in the lower worlds. It's all referring to the same thing. Since middle and upper worlds have no contact with lower worlds, there is no overarching terminology for natural energy in those worlds. We call it energy since it's the most straightforward definition. Also, our world is the highest, so we kinda got dibs on naming rights." Forneus chuckled.

"Other than that, you might be sent to a world where people create their energy swirl somewhere else, and not in the Dantian. Experience has shown that the most stable and most accessible part for the energy swirl is in your Dantian. By the way, for those of you not knowing where your Dantian is: It's an empty space somewhere between your intestines. As soon as you guide the energy into your body, you will find a very fitting and empty place in your gut. That's your Dantian."

Forneus walked to the front of the podium. "Now, on to the next part of the agenda. Did you know that 90% of all people with fully tempered bodies never reach the Energy Gathering realm? Well, that's at

least true for the lowest worlds. The reason is that it is hard to feel the energy in the air. That's especially true for people in the lower worlds. There isn't much energy in the air, so feeling that little amount is especially hard. So, let's get that out of the way first."

Forneus opened his hand and held it out. Suddenly, a light blue stone appeared on top of it. "This is energy ore. When a huge amount of energy gathers in one place, its increasing internal pressure transforms parts of it into energy liquid. Energy liquid slowly seeps into the earth, and some naturals ores can absorb it, thus creating energy ore. If energy ore leaves its natural place under the earth, it slowly gives off the energy it has accumulated over the years. We are going to use that to get you to feel the energy in the air."

Everyone looked at the shining blue ore, but before they had their fill, the stone vanished, and another stone appeared, this one black. "This is a void stone. It's one of the very few ores that don't have any energy. None at all! Finding those in nature is extremely hard." Forneus smirked. "Good thing we can just create them artificially. When void stones come into contact with natural energy, they absorb it like crazy."

The class was focused on Forneus. Most of them have never come in contact with energy stones or void stones. This was something entirely new to them. "In the next couple of minutes, I will switch between the energy stone and the void stone every five seconds. The energy in the room will then go up and down. In a couple of minutes, everyone should be able to feel the energy freely. One thing to note: Do not, under any circumstance, try to absorb the energy into your body, or you will explode." Forneus smiled while some people in the class gasped.

"Now, let's start." With that, Forneus started alternating between the two stones. Some youngsters closed their eyes, while others looked transfixed at the rocks. Gravis closed his eyes and tried to feel.

Some time passed. Gravis was not sure how long he concentrated. He felt nothing but a slight wind in the classroom. He tried to focus harder. His eyebrows furrowed, but he felt nothing but that annoying

wind. This wind was honestly driving him crazy. When he tried to drown it out, and get used to it, it suddenly changed direction and blew from the other side. Then it blew again from the other side. Gravis opened his eyes. They were already red from frustration.

He looked at Forneus and the stones. Suddenly, Gravis noticed that the wind was synchronized with the switch of the stones. Wait, was that energy? Gravis was not sure. It did not feel any different than if he were outside. He had to be sure, but how could he find out?

Gravis suddenly got an idea. Forneus said that they should not gather the energy in their bodies. He never said anything about gathering it outside their bodies. Gravis opened his palm and looked at it with concentration, willing the energy to come here. After a while, he felt more wind coming to his hand. That made him concentrate even more, and the wind increased again. After a couple of seconds, the air in his hand was emitting a very faint light blue light.

Forneus noticed this, smiled, and nodded. He walked towards Gravis and spoke in a voice only they could hear. "Gathering energy outside the body is a possibility. It's not really useful since it takes a while to concentrate it into a sufficient density, but just doing this can train one's will. You can do that more in the future if you want. It will make it easier to concentrate and helps in the training of the third major realm."

When Forneus first started speaking, Gravis lost concentration and the energy dispersed. Gravis just felt a strong wind coming from inside his palm, but strangely enough, the 'wind' was not pushing his hand or fingers away. It felt bizarre. Gravis looked up, but Forneus had already walked back to his podium.

After about 30 minutes, everyone had signaled to Forneus that they felt the energy. Forneus took back the stones. "Alright, when you have tempered your bodies, just remember this feeling and try to imagine the energy entering your body and gathering in your Dantian. That should not be a problem in the future."

"Now, for the last part of the cultivation lesson. The third major realm is the Spirit Forming Realm. This realm is all about training your mental energy. Your mental energy is your will, your understanding of the world, and your understanding of yourself. As you progress, you get smarter, your sensitivity grows, your willpower improves, and you get more creative. You probably heard the saying that in secluded cultivation, years pass in the blink of an eye."

Forneus laughed and shook his head. "That's not true. Actually, the opposite is true. Doing the same thing over and over without any outside stimulus is dull and boring. Only our improved willpower helps us through those years of boredom. As soon as you have condensed your energy nine times and have grown your Dantian to the point where it can't grow anymore, can you step into the Spirit Forming Realm."

"It's not hard to step into the Spirit Forming Realm or train in it. Just push your energy, meaning the energy in your Dantian, into your brain. You will feel some pain, but after you emptied your Dantian once, you will start to feel different. It's hard to describe actually. It's just different. Just keep doing that. At some point, you will feel like something is growing in your head. That means you have reached the first stage of Spirit Forming: The Seed Stage."

"At that point, you can observe your own body and soul. If you peer into your soul, you can see your own small space. That is your Willspace. There, you will find a seed growing. The more energy you put into your Willspace, the further the seed will grow. It will grow to be a sapling, then a tree, and finally, it will transform into a copy of yourself. Most lower worlds don't know about the last stage. They think the tree stage is the last one."

Forneus walked around the podium and started walking to the exit. "When you have achieved the Self Stage, you will automatically know what to do. The remainder is up to you." Forneus opened the door and waved his hand. "That's all. See you tomorrow."

And just like that, Forneus left the class first. The class was confused because usually, a teacher would leave the class last. Gravis was thinking about a lot of things. Finally, he knew how to cultivate. Finally, he knew what to do. The fog in his mind had cleared. Finally, he could-

SMACK

Someone had smacked the back of his head. "Hey, you deaf? Let's go out!" Ballor shouted.

Gravis looked up and saw that they were the only ones left in the class. Gravis rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, I was thinking about some things."

"Thinking? We got no time for thinking! We need to drink, like, right now!" Ballor laughed and started dragging Gravis out by the elbow.

"Wait! I've never touched any alc-"

"Shut up! We will not stop drinking until you call me brother!"

"But I-"

"Shut up! Drinking! Now!"

 

Chapter 6

It had been two months since Gravis started going to the research assistant preparation course. In that time, he learned more about pitfalls in cultivation and what he had to look out for in the lower realms. Some basic fighting methods and general weapon usages were included as well. He also got a crash course in every essential side-path in cultivation.

Pill refinement: Alchemists mix and refine natural resources into pills, which increase aspects of a cultivator. Faster cultivation speed, one-time upgrades, auxiliary uses, and many more different pill effects were all covered. A general overview of how pill concocting worked was also part of the course.

Equipment forging: Forgers mix and refine natural resources into armor, weapons, artifacts, and treasures. At some point, either the cultivator got too strong to use mortal armaments, or the necessary natural resources got too hard to refine into useful gear. Gravis also learned the absolute basics of that.

Formation arrays: Rules, attributes, laws, and similar things were used as a basis to create a specific effect. It required one to be at the energy gathering stage in order to make any progress in formation arrays. Without energy, it was impossible to come into contact with these kinds of concepts. It was even harder to manipulate them for one's wishes.

Cultivation inscription: at early levels, everyone could write down their cultivation and battle techniques, but starting at the spirit accumulation stage, the description of said methods only got harder. Words were not enough to describe all concepts at this stage.

There were, of course, other side-paths in cultivation, but those four were the essential ones. Every single one of them was vital to progress in one's path. Pill refinement was necessary to speed up or stabilize cultivation. Without useful equipment, one can't bring out their full battle power. Formation arrays were essential for fleeing or for fortifying one's base. Without cultivation inscriptions, one would not be able to learn new techniques from others, starting at the third major realm.

All in all, those two months varied between boring and exciting for Gravis, but in the end, he was happy that the theoretical part was over. The remaining four months were for gaining practical fighting experience. Gravis was excited! Finally, he could fight for the first time in his life!

Gravis was standing in a black hall, together with his about 30 other classmates. Not much light came into the building, the only source being the door behind them. The expressions in the faces of his classmates varied like the colors of a rainbow. Some looked scared. Some looked excited. Some looked nervous. Some looked happy.

"Alright!" Forneus loudly clapped his hands. With his clap, a little over 30 portals opened in front of the youngsters. "Everyone will take one portal each. Inside those portals, you will fight a varied mixture of things. Monsters, humans, plants, cultivators, and even the environment itself will be your enemy. Since it's your first time, you will only face one enemy at a time. Your only goal is to kill your enemy. If the environment is your enemy, you will need to survive with as much stamina to spare as possible, or your next enemy will have a huge advantage."

"You need to kill and survive for as long as new enemies appear. There is no time limit." Most of the youngsters sighed in relief. When Forneus saw that, he grinned maliciously. "That is a bad thing. It means that, if you can't defeat your enemy, you will die. This is a genuine life and death battle. If you can't win, you will die."

Before the youngsters could react to his words, Forneus' energy rumbled, and every youngster got pushed towards one portal each. "For your info: On average, about 20% of people die in their first test." Forneus grinned more. "Good luck!" With a clap from Forneus, everyone shot into a portal, no matter if they wanted to or not. A comfortable chair appeared, and Forneus sat down, having no care in the world.

One second, Gravis saw the hall, and in the next, he only saw a humongous glowing red cave, at least a hundred meters in diameter. The stones and walls in the cave looked like they were at their melting

point, but he did not feel any heat from them for some reason. Fortunately, the light of the walls illuminated the entire cave in red light.

On the right side of the cave, he could see a rack of different weapons. He could see spears, swords, sabers, poles, axes, poleaxes, hammers, daggers, and many more. Every weapon was made of black stone. Through his basic course of equipment forging, he could tell that all weapons were made entirely out of void stone. Void stone was very sturdy for the lower realms, but using it as a weapon was senseless since it absorbed all the energy it came into contact with, including the users. Fortunately, Gravis could not use the energy yet, so he could ignore that aspect.

Gravis immediately ran over to grab a weapon. The words of Forneus were still ringing in his head. He could actually die here. He thought this was just a practical test a couple of minutes ago. His excitement from being able to fight vanished, and was replaced with nervousness and fear. He quickly skipped the other weapons and took the saber.

While Gravis learned about the different weapons in the theory lessons, he felt that the saber suited him the best. A sword was an allrounder and was the most popular weapon, but it lacked the purity of killing power the saber had. While a sword could cut both ways, the necessity of an edge on both sides took away from the weapon's weight. For Gravis, swinging a saber felt way more satisfying than swinging a sword.

Suddenly, a bright purple light appeared about 20 meters in front of him. The light quickly vanished, and Gravis saw a tortoise. The weapon rack also disappeared. Apparently, he could not change weapons mid-fight. He made his choice and could not change it anymore. The tortoise was only around a meter high, but its head looked imposing. Dark red scales covered the head, and some of the scales poked out like natural blades. As the tortoise slowly moved toward Gravis with a neutral look in its eyes, its muscles bulged with every step.

Gravis' breath quickened, and he tightened his grip on his saber. This is it! His first fight! He screamed and ran at the tortoise. He looked into its eyes as he ran closer. The closer he got, the more his fear increased. The tortoise looked forward. To Gravis, it seemed like the tortoise would not falter even if the heavens broke down. Gravis suppressed his fear and continued his charge.

'I can do this! I can kill it! I must kill it! I'm nearly there! I will survive!' Gravis shouted in his head, but the closer he got, the more oppressed he felt. His expression changed from fiery battle intent to horror. 'I will die!' and Gravis stopped his charge.

Suddenly, Gravis felt an enormous wind pressure, and his hair flew back. Just centimeters in front of his face, was the head of the tortoise which just snapped its jaws at him. The powerful impact of the jaws ringed in his ears and reverbed in the cave. It sounded like a gigantic steel plate fell onto the floor with its flat side. That bite would have absolutely crushed his head. If he hadn't stopped, he would be dead by now.

Gravis' hair stood on end, and he immediately jumped back with all his might. Where he stood before, another bite of the tortoise thundered, again ringing in his ears. Cold sweat continuously flowed down his back, and his heart thumped loudly in his ears. He nearly died. It was so incredibly close. 'Why was I charging in like a madman? We learned to never charge into a fight blindly.'

Gravis further retreated, and the tortoise slowly made its way over to him. This continued for about a minute. Gravis slowly calmed down. The tortoise was slow. As long as he retreated, he would not be in danger. He could work with that! He needed a plan since he could not run forever. He had to find a way to kill the tortoise.

Chapter 7

After a while, Gravis decided to check how good the tortoise was at turning. He ran circles around the tortoise while steadily moving closer. The tortoise was very sluggish. It moved slowly, and it turned even slower. It was no problem for him to circle the tortoise even from a five-meter distance. Gravis realized that the only dangerous thing about this tortoise was its deadly bite, and he grew more confident.

Gravis remained behind the tortoise while it was watching him. When he moved away from the tortoise's vision, it turned its head the other way to keep watch on him. Finally, Gravis had a plan. He went to the back-left, and when the tortoise turned its head, he quickly ran to the right and swung his saber on its hindleg.

Sparks and blood flew out, and Gravis managed to create a gash a couple of centimeters deep, hitting its bone. The tortoise shouted in pain and quickly pulled all its legs into its shell. The shell fell heavily to the floor. Just by the sound of the thump, one could hear the density and weight of the shell. If Gravis could not even cut through the bone of its leg, he could only dream about cutting through its shell. The head was still out and continued to watch Gravis. Its expression changed to rage.

'Now what?' Gravis thought. He could no longer attack its legs. Should he attack its head? Gravis looked at the tortoise's head and decided against that. Just one snap would end his life.

On top of that, the scales on its head looked way tougher than the ones on its legs. Gravis jumped to the other side again, so the tortoise lost its vision of him. He kneeled and stabbed into the leg-hole on the other side.

He felt the saber connect, but also felt that he didn't get a deep cut. He could not use all his strength in this position, and sabers were not made for stabbing. Nevertheless, the tortoise roared again, and two legs on the opposite side of Gravis shot out. Its legs kicked the ground, and its shell rotated by 45°. At

the same time, its head snapped towards Gravis, who jumped back. It nearly got him. Its jaws echoed throughout the cave again.

Gravis took a deep breath. That was dangerous. So, the tortoise could pull a maneuver like that. The tortoise, angry that it missed, roared more and continued to snap at Gravis, even though he was well out of its range. Apparently, the tortoise was furious now. It turned to him and sprinted in his direction, faster than normal.

Though, a sprint from a tortoise was still slow in a human's eyes. Gravis still had no problem running circles around the tortoise. On top of that, the tortoise's 'mad dash' aggravated the injury on its leg. More blood was seeping out, and Gravis continued to take his time. He just had to walk a little faster to outspeed the tortoise. His stamina consumption was negligible. The tortoise, on the other hand, was bleeding and 'running like crazy'. Gravis just had to wait.

A couple of minutes later, the tortoise slowed down, and heavy breaths came from its maw. A trail of blood coated the floor of the cave. Gravis jumped behind the tortoise and attacked the already injured leg again. The tortoise immediately pulled its leg back into its shell. It had stopped underestimating him. It would not make the same mistake twice.

Gravis tried to hit its leg a couple more times, but he never connected. This fight was really frustrating for him. That thing was turtling up. Gravis furiously rubbed his head, trying to think of something, while the tortoise continued to leer at him with a look that could kill. Gravis had no more options. He had to go for the head!

'Here goes nothing!' Gravis took a deep breath, ran to the back of the tortoise, and jumped on its shell. The tortoise furiously moved left, right, up, and down. Its jaws were constantly snapping around him, and a couple of times, it nearly got his fingers. He continued to modify his hold on the shell until the head could not reach him anywhere.

Noticing that it could not get Gravis off like that, it changed to swinging left and right, forward and backward. Gravis was holding on for dear life. After a while, he noticed that the tortoise was better at alternating between back to front than from side to side. It seemed to almost lose its footing a couple of times. Gravis' eyes shined. This was the way! That tortoise was going down!

When the tortoise forcefully whipped to the left, Gravis jumped off, gripped the heightened part of the shell, and began to pull. With just his physical strength alone, he would never be able to lift the tortoise, but when its center of gravity was already out of balance, he had enough power to flip it. He caught the tortoise by surprise, and before it could stabilize itself with its other legs, he flipped it over.

The top of the shell crashed on the floor with a mighty 'THUNK'. The tortoise went crazy and tried everything to flip itself over again. Fortunately, it seemed like it would not succeed anytime soon. Gravis jumped on top of its belly. Neither its legs nor its head could reach him there. He lifted his saber and slashed down. Blood gushed out, and the saber went in, while the tortoise let out another roar of pain. Gravis slashed, again and again, getting deeper with every swing.

After about 20 Swings, Gravis was out of breath, and the tortoise's underside was mutilated. It was slowly losing its strength. Even if it managed to turn around again, its own weight would probably push out its organs through its underside. Gravis won! He sat down at a safe distance and continued to look at the tortoise.

After about five minutes, its breathing began to grow weaker, and its movements slowed. Even though the tortoise tried to kill him, looking at a slowly dying beast was still uncomfortable for Gravis. He was not used to death. Looking at the tortoise, Gravis felt like he was losing something, or that he did something wrong. He knew that only one of them could survive. There was no alternative. Yet, Gravis still felt a lump in his throat.

The tortoise finally drew its last breath. When it completely stilled, Gravis sighed and stood up. His next enemy would appear soon, probably. He continued to wait, but nothing happened.

After ten minutes, the purple light appeared again, but this time, it went through the whole cave like a wave. Gravis looked around, not sure what was happening. Suddenly, water poured out of the cracks in the cave furiously. One would think that the cave was beneath a lake and was about to collapse, but the stones didn't move. The about 50 meters high cave quickly filled with water. It filled up all the way to the 40-meter mark until it stopped. Gravis was swimming at the surface.

Gravis narrowed his eyes. This was probably one of those instances where the environment was the enemy. The wind picked up, and big waves kept appearing all over the water. In the beginning, Gravis could still swim, but as the waves grew stronger, things started to get problematic. It proved difficult to stay above the surface with increasing frequency. He had to do something, or else he would drown.

When he had the chance, he took a deep breath and went underwater, where there were no waves. He calmed down and looked up at the surface. The surface was going wild with waves, but under the surface, everything was calm. Maybe this was the way to survive this ordeal with as little stamina usage as possible. He could probably also survive at the surface, but he would also use up all his energy.

Gravis tested how long he could hold his breath and quickly figured out that five minutes shouldn't be an issue. He had strengthened organs, after all. After realizing that, Gravis calmed himself and closed his eyes. He tried to be as relaxed as possible, only occasionally using his arms to keep himself underwater.

While he calmed down and floated inside the calm water, he felt a feeling of serenity. His fight with the tortoise still plagued his mind, but it wasn't as prominent as before. His body relaxed, and he thought about his battle with the tortoise. He had to be more careful in future fights. Not every enemy would be this slow and cumbersome. Maybe next time, he would not have the time to strategize and plan.

He thought back to his father, Heaven... and Stella. He missed her dearly, and it still hurt. But when he thought of Heaven, his inner rage grew. Gravis was not even considered a chess piece in Heaven's eyes. He was nothing to it! As long as Heaven survived, he would always be under its mercy. Heaven's fight might have weakened it, but the same could also be said for his father. His father and Heaven were on the same level. If it really wanted to, it could pull a similar scheme again.

Gravis continued to think about his life and cultivation. He looked around the underwater cave. Everything below the surface was still. Nothing moved, and Gravis felt like all of this was just a dream. He started to forget that he was underwater, and it felt more like he was flying in the air. He closed in on the floor, not feeling any pressure at all.

He looked at the dead tortoise and felt alienated like it had nothing to do with him. This was life in the cultivation world. A life and death situation will come. What you want doesn't matter. Gravis sighed. Strangely, no bubbles appeared from his mouth. By now, Gravis completely forgot he was underwater and took a breath.

Water filled his lungs, but he didn't notice. Even stranger, the water seemed to alleviate his need for air. Gravis didn't notice any of that. He also didn't notice that he didn't need to push himself downward anymore with his arms. It was like he was not underwater at all. He walked to the tortoise and lifted it. Underwater, everything was lighter. He carried it to the wall of the cave and placed it down.

He walked back to the center and sat down, his eyes closed. The corpse was behind him, and now it was time to look forward.

He sat there and waited... in silence.

 

Chapter 8

After about two hours, the water receded. Gravis opened his eyes and stood up. He felt different. He had already realized that he could breathe in the water some time ago. He didn't know how that was possible but decided that when all of this was over, he would ask Forneus. Right now, there were other, more important things.

When the water completely vanished, the purple light returned in the middle of the room. After it disappeared, Gravis saw a mountain lion. Its height was around the same as the tortoise's. Thick beige fur covered its entire body, and two red eyes watched him.

Without pause, the mountain lion charged at Gravis with surprising speed. It was about as fast as Gravis himself. Gravis readied his saber and stood his ground. He felt fear again, but this time, he managed to control it. The tortoise and the water helped him shed a layer of his weaker self. Even though he was still afraid, it did not impact his judgment.

The mountain lion jumped and clawed at his torso. Gravis jumped to the other side and kept watch on the mountain lion. After it missed, it turned to him and pounced. Gravis sidestepped again. He was not attacking until he either could no longer easily evade or knew all its tricks. That he survived the initial snap of the tortoise was only luck, and he never wanted to bet his life on luck again.

The mountain lion continued attacking in different manners, but all its movements were predictable and straightforward. Running away from something was always easier than to kill something. Even though both of them had about the same speed, with Gravis always sidestepping and keeping track of the mountain lion, he never got hit once.

After about a minute of doing this, Gravis felt confident that the mountain lion had no more surprises for him. Now, he wanted to test something else. The mountain lion swiped at him again, but this time, Gravis didn't sidestep. Instead, he slashed at the incoming claw. The edge of the saber hit the middle

of the mountain lion's paw and cleanly severed it. The defenses of the tortoise and the mountain lion were incomparable.

The mountain lion jumped back and roared in pain. It tried to stabilize its position with its injured front paw but immediately pulled it back because of the pain. It stopped its barrage of attacks and just watched Gravis cautiously. It knew it was outclassed here, so it retreated and ran away. Gravis just watched it as it tried to find an exit of the cave. Unfortunately, there was no exit.

Gravis sighed. He felt a lump in his throat. It felt as if he was about to do something wrong. He felt the same when he watched the tortoise slowly die. The mountain lion was no danger anymore, so there was no real reason to kill it. The only reason would be that he was forced by circumstance. If he didn't kill the lion, he wouldn't be able to leave. He decided against killing the mountain lion for now.

Time passed, and both of them sat on different sides of the cave. Gravis no longer felt serene. Instead, he felt extremely frustrated. Again, he was forced to do something he didn't want, just because he was too weak. Before, he was forced to watch his best friend die, and now, he was forced to kill something, he didn't want to kill! If he were stronger, would he even need to go through all of this?

After a couple of hours, Gravis gritted his teeth in frustration until a trickle of blood ran down his chin.

HE!

HATED!

THIS!

He stood up and looked at the mountain lion with fiery eyes. There was no other way. He had to kill it! Gravis channeled his frustration into rage and ran at the mountain lion, which quickly stood up and ran away. In their top forms, their speed would be equal. Sadly, or fortunately, the mountain lion had half of its paw missing.

Gravis quickly reached the lion and chopped with his saber. A huge gash opened in one of its thighs. It turned around and tried to bite him, but Gravis sidestepped again. "I should, at least, make it as quick as possible." With that, Gravis slashed the middle of the mountain lions head and split it in two. It immediately died, but its corpse still twitched for a while. Gravis continued watching the twitching body until it finally stopped.

He gritted his teeth more. "I hate this, but wallowing in self-pity and frustration will not help me. First, I need strength, and only then will I gain freedom!" He pulled the corpse to the side of the cave and placed it beside the tortoise. After that, he returned to the middle and waited. "No matter what I have to do, for now, I have to bear with it. The only thing I can do is grow as strong as possible, as quickly as possible."

But when the purple light returned and vanished, Gravis' frustration grew several-fold. A couple of things appeared this time. Some wood, some weeds, some stones, and a cup of water all sat on the floor. He wondered how he should deal with the problem of starvation and dehydration. Seemed like, every couple of turns, he would get his water and food.

"Those bastards!" Gravis was seething with rage. The last thing that was sent over was a small white bunny, just looking around curiously. "I get why killing your own food is necessary, but why did the timing have to be so shitty?" he ignored the bunny for now and started a fire with the supplies. Instead of grilling the rabbit, he roasted part of the tortoise. Cat meat was tough and stringy. Tortoise definitely tasted better.

After a good meal, he continued watching the bunny hopping around. It was probably searching for food. Sadly, there was no vegetation in the cave. It would starve sooner or later. Gravis sighed. "Might as well get this over with." He stood up and picked up the bunny. He quickly grabbed its head and pulled, decapitating it. He wanted it to die as quickly as possible and didn't know how to easily and painlessly break its neck. 'This is the best alternative,' he thought.

He was not hungry anymore and placed the corpse beside the others. Slowly, the lights of the cave began to dim until they only emitted a feeble light. This was probably his intended time to sleep. This training would go on for a while, and sleep was mandatory. After waiting for 30 minutes, he was confident that no more monsters would spawn in the near future. He went to one side of the cave and lay down.

Falling asleep was hard, but after an hour, his fatigue took over, and he lost consciousness, clutching his saber between his arms.

Chapter 9

Gravis' next opponent was a dark humanoid shadow with a short sword. It was slower and weaker than him. Yet, it was challenging for Gravis to defeat it since it was incredibly cunning and kept on surprising him. This was the first fight where Gravis could not sit back and plan out his strategy. Every time he thought he saw an opening, the shadow countered immediately as if it had planned everything.

Gravis received multiple cuts across his body. If he hadn't had tempered organs and blood, he would have already bled out. Luckily, tempered organs and blood substantially increase the body's recovery, especially when nothing else was tempered. A stronger body needs more energy and nutrients to heal. In this case, his lower cultivation level was an advantage. Though, if he had tempered skin, the shadow wouldn't even be able to scratch him.

After a while, Gravis finally realized that planning and strategizing would only make him lose. In the end, Gravis decided to grip the shadow's sword with his hand and slashed him with his saber. The shadow's sword cut Gravis' hand to the bone. Luckily, the plan worked, and the shadow died. This was another essential skill for survival: Trading injuries to kill your opponent.

Gravis' hand would need at least a day to become usable again. So, he went into the next fights with just one hand.

The next opponent was a cheetah. Its speed surpassed Gravis, but everything else was weaker. With the experience of killing the mountain lion, the cheetah was quickly defeated. That he could only use a single hand didn't change the outcome.

The next opponent proved problematic. It was a rhinoceros. It had heavy armor, and in a straight line, it out sped Gravis. Luckily, with the experience of fighting the tortoise, he quickly noticed that the rhinoceros also had issues with turning. The fight took a long time, as Gravis could only use a single hand to swing his saber, and the rhinoceros's armor was thick. After some hours, Gravis got the idea to

stick his saber up the rhinoceros's bum. It felt weird, but this was definitely the best way since the rhinoceros slowed considerably and bled profusely. After some time, it finally died.

There was nothing that stood out with the next two enemies, and Gravis quickly overpowered them. After those, he received his food and water again. This time, the food was a living fawn. Gravis finished the deed as humanely as possible and ate some rhinoceros meat.

Gravis noticed a pattern with the enemies. All enemies only had one or two strong points that outclassed him, but at least one major weak point to exploit. This practical test was probably there for getting the research assistants used to fighting different kinds of opponents, and to quickly spot weaknesses.

Like this, a couple more cycles of fighting and resting passed. Gravis got the hang of things, and with his added experience and healed hand, he overpowered everything. He did not know how much time had passed, but it had to have been at least a couple of weeks. With every passing cycle, two additional fights were added before the next rest period.

Gravis slashed his saber and cleanly cleaved the giant toad in two. He picked it up and threw it onto his corpse mountain, which had grown to an impressive size. "Toad tastes like shit," he nonchalantly commented. He had become used to killing by now, as Gravis accepted his situation. Only more strength could help him. He calmly waited for his next opponent.

The purple light appeared again, but this time, it flowed over the cave, like a wave. Gravis narrowed his eyes. 'This is probably another environmental challenge,' he thought. True to his word, the air began to whirl and quickly took up speed. After some time, Gravis had problems keeping his eyes open. The wind soon grew into a storm, and finally into a tornado. If he didn't do something, things would get ugly, so he stabbed his saber into the ground.

CLANK!

The saber bounced off without even leaving a scratch, and Gravis frowned. "Shit!"

The tornado grew more powerful, and Gravis could not hold himself on the ground anymore. He began to whirl through the air furiously. He could still breathe, but it was growing more difficult.

THOMP!

Pain shot through his whole body, as the storm smashed him into a wall. Fortunately, he only broke his shoulder. Unfortunately, the storm hadn't ended yet. As he continued flying through the air, he tried to keep watch on any walls coming his way.

THOMP!

While he looked at the closest walls and ceiling, he neglected to look at his surroundings. One of the corpses of his corpse mountain slammed into him. Luckily, this time, nothing broke, and he only received a couple of bruises. With all the pain and the stress, he forgot about the corpses. He looked around and noticed all the bodies whirling through the air. This made things even harder, and it surely didn't help that he was quickly approaching another wall.

He relaxed his body and tried to minimize the impact by rolling. The roll was awkward and still injured him, but it was only a minor injury. As he neared another wall, Gravis raised his arms and 'parried' a flying corpse, using its momentum to his advantage. This time, the impact on the wall was even easier to handle.

Gravis continued to parry the corpses, and also managed to get better at mitigating wall-hits. After some minutes, he calmed down as he finally got the hang of it. He also didn't receive any more injuries. Additionally, he also started predicting when corpses or walls hit him. It seemed like he could feel the rhythm of the storm. In his eyes, the storm grew increasingly more predictable.

Soon, he didn't even need to look at the corpses to know when they were coming. He just felt it. It was like the storm was telling him. Gravis furrowed his brows. This felt very similar to the time when he was underwater.

Just like last time, he slowly lost the sensation of the wind surrounding him. He was still flying through the air, but it didn't pose any danger to him anymore. Gravis felt more and more as if he were standing still, and everything else simply circled around him. Corpses stopped hitting him, and he didn't smash into any more walls from then on. His body also stopped spinning, and he had no more problems staying upright inside the storm.

He began to slow down, and at some point, he managed to stand stationary in the air, the storm and the corpses furiously whirling around him. "It's this strange feeling again. It's like I am part of the storm." Gravis looked around and watched the chaos unfold around him. Inside, he was calm and started to move around the air like he was flying.

After some minutes of flying around, Gravis noticed that there was no eye in the storm. The tornado whirled even in its middle, probably so that no one could bypass this challenge. Gravis slowly descended, and his feet hit the ground. He looked up and saw that most of the corpses were already torn into multiple pieces by now. A mist of blood filled the cave, whirling around and scraping the walls. This was probably the reason why the stones in the cave were red.

Gravis plucked some pieces of fur from the storm like they were apples, and wiped down all the blood on his body. According to the pattern of the cycles, there would be one last fight after the storm. Additionally, he also had a broken shoulder, though he wasn't really worried about that. Every enemy seemed to be on the same level in this cave, just with different strengths and weaknesses. Gravis had no problems with defeating them anymore.

After about an hour, the storm calmed down. Blood and pieces of corpses rained onto the cave and Gravis. The biggest piece was only 10 centimeters long.

THUNK!

Well, except that one. Gravis looked at the bloody tortoiseshell. This thing was still in one piece, surprisingly. It seemed to be even harder than he initially thought.

When all the 'rain' settled, the purple light appeared again. When Gravis saw what appeared this time, he narrowed his eyes. 'This might be a problem.'

Gravis was looking at a man in his thirties. The man held a longsword in his hands as he scanned the cave. When he spotted Gravis, the man also narrowed his eyes.

This fight should've been easy for the man. He would only need to kill a newbie without tempered skin, bones, or muscles. Before he came here, he wasn't worried. But when he looked around the blood- drenched cave and noticed all the corpse pieces, that thought quickly changed. What happened here?

When he spotted Gravis, all the hair on his neck stood up. He saw a youngster, thoroughly drenched in blood. His long hair stuck to his face, and through it, the man could see two intense eyes staring into his own. Right now, the man was sure that this fight would not be as easy as he thought. Was this kid a monster?

Gravis waited for the man to do something, but nothing happened after five seconds, so Gravis took a step towards the man.

"As per the rules of the contract, enforced by this array formation, I am required to inform you of some things," the man loudly shouted. He sounded imposing, but that was only a front. When Gravis took that step, the man panicked and tried to win some time to regain his bearings. Seeing that Gravis had stopped, the man released a hidden sigh of relief and continued, "I am your last challenge!"

Gravis narrowed his eyes further, but inside, he grew excited. Finally, this hell would end!

 

Chapter 10

The man continued. "My name is Samuel Norrington. I have been judged guilty on four accounts of burglary, 25 counts of robbery, 184 counts of ****, and 184 counts of murder."

Suddenly, Samuel charged forward. He had said the bare minimum that the formation required and tried to get Gravis by surprise. He quickly closed the five meters and lifted his sword for a chop.

Gravis didn't see this attack coming, but he immediately jumped back due to his fighting experience. When Gravis saw the sword slashing down, he took his chance and countered with a side swing. What Gravis didn't realize, was that his opponent's chop was only a feint. The sword easily stopped in the middle and quickly stabbed forward. The sword would reach Gravis before his saber reached Samuel.

Gravis jumped back again, aborting his attack. Samuel got the initiative and slashed again. Gravis only managed a weak block and got blown back again. Samuel didn't let up and continued to follow up with even fiercer attacks. Gravis could only continue holding on bitterly by blocking and jumping back. Sadly, mistakes were bound to occur when one only bitterly blocks, and Gravis received a slash to his abdomen, where a large cut opened.

Luckily, Gravis was able to jump back further and finally got some breathing room. All this dodging grated the bones in his broken shoulder, and the pain he felt was immense. The open cut in his abdomen was even worse! It was continually leaking blood, and small parts of his innards could be seen from outside.

Seeing that Gravis was outside his attacking range, Samuel stopped his onslaught. The surprise attack had worked and gave him a clear advantage in the fight. "You know, when I first saw you, I thought this would be a bitter fight." Samuel smiled arrogantly. "Luckily, I wasn't completely deceived by your bloody appearance. Say, did you roll in blood to intimidate me?"

Gravis furrowed his brows and said nothing. He tried to think of a way to win against his opponent. He only had to get one clean hit, and it would be over. Not in the mood for talking, Gravis jumped forward

and took the initiative to attack with a slash from the side. Samuel lifted his free arm to block this strike and stabbed Gravis again.

Gravis gritted his teeth. He had tempered organs and blood. A stab through the abdomen was not lethal for him, and he was ready to exchange this injury for a severed arm of his opponent. Gravis' saber cut his opponent's arm, but surprisingly, it didn't sever the arm. His saber only cut to the bone.

"Idiot!" Samuel grinned and stabbed through Gravis' abdomen. Gravis' body seized up, and with sheer willpower, he kicked his opponent away. The sword left his gut, and Samuel flew back for a couple of meters. Samuel casually landed, laughed loudly. "Trying to trade injuries with someone who has tempered their skin. Truly, only an idiot would think of that. Did you honestly think that you, with your weak power, could sever my arm?"

Gravis didn't say anything. So, that was the reason. His opponent had already tempered his skin. No wonder he felt such a massive resistance when his saber met Samuel's skin. This was a problem. How could he kill someone like that? Gravis could die here. Even when he fought the tortoise, he didn't receive any injury. Things were not looking good.

Samuel just calmly stood there. "You wanna know something? Do you realize why my counts of **** and murder are the same even though they are in the hundreds?"

Gravis didn't answer, but Samuel didn't mind. Gravis felt a faint sense of unease. Nothing good could come from that. "That's because killing someone is the domination of the body." Samuel tapped his chest with the side of his sword. "When you kill someone, you have won over their body and stepped over their physical dignity, but that is only the body."

Samuel lifted his free hand and tapped the side of his head, smiling. "What about the soul?" Samuel waited for an answer, but none came. He released a short chuckle. "When you want to dominate someone completely, you should do it thoroughly!" He lifted his sword and pointed it between Gravis'

legs. "By fucking them, you dominate their soul too. I pride myself on the fact that I have completely dominated everyone I killed. I want to keep that streak up, so I hope you don't mind." Samuel licked his lips.

By now, all hair on Gravis' neck stood up. He felt a mix of disgust, fear, and disbelief, but Samuel didn't let up. His whole demeanor changed. He violently clenched his fist in front of him and shouted with a mix of passion and fury, "Hate! Despair! Fear! Humiliation! Pain! Suffering! Who cares about the feelings of the weak? If I were weak, I could only blame myself."

Gravis was more than disgusted by this vile fiend, by now. What domination? Gravis had only killed to protect himself up until now. He never even had the thought to prolong the suffering of his opponents. Killing was a tool to resolve conflict securely, not to dominate. Gravis got used to the idea that he might die in his venture for power, but he could not accept dying to someone like Samuel. 'This guy is seriously messed up!'

Samuel wanted to unnerve Gravis but surprisingly accomplished the opposite. The last of Gravis' hesitation vanished. Killing a human and a beast was different. With his hesitation gone, Gravis finally found a plan that could work. 'I don't want to do this, but I can't see anything else succeeding.' He shook his head and looked at Samuel with determination.

Samuel calmed down again, and his smile resurfaced. "Oh? You wanna go? What makes you think that this will end differently?" He raised his sword and pointed it at Gravis. "Well, what are you waiting for? Come on!" The sword tip drew a circle in the air, taunting Gravis.

Gravis gritted his teeth again. He charged and slashed at Samuel. Samuel blocked with another part of his injured arm and stabbed his sword forward. This time, Gravis jumped back instead of clashing with his opponent. Samuel gained the initiative again and followed up with a slash towards Gravis' injured shoulder.

'This is it!' Gravis shouted in his mind. He curled up his left arm. His shoulder was broken, but his elbow wasn't. At the same time, he used all his strength to slash his opponent's neck. Samuel didn't see that coming. He was sure that Gravis would jump back. What was it with this suicidal exchange? He had tempered skin, but he didn't have the guts to let someone just hack at his throat. Samuel jumped back.

Gravis was sure that Samuel would go through with his attack and was prepared to sacrifice his arm for a chance at victory. Sadly, it didn't go as planned. Instead, Gravis opted to imitate Samuel and pressed his advantage. Attack after attack hammered onto Samuel's sword or got deflected by his arm. Samuel felt difficulty moving his arm as more injuries accumulated.

Gravis continued attacking like he was possessed. 'Faster! Faster! Faster! Faster!' he screamed internally. His muscles and lungs were burning, but he continued. Samuel stabbed with his sword again, but Gravis didn't seem to notice or care. Gravis' attack continued.

'This guy's insane!' Samuel shouted internally in panic. 'Does he not care for his life? Will he not rest until both of us are dead?' Samuel didn't have the guts to exchange his life and jumped to the side again. The make-shift jump wasn't enough to completely protect him. Gravis' saber cut off a massive chunk of flesh from Samuel's arm. Samuel screamed, but Gravis continued without rest.

While Samuel was still recovering from the pain, a saber cut into his torso like an axe cutting a tree. Samuel fell to the side, and his sword flew away. Gravis didn't stop. Samuel continued to scream and block with his arms while lying on the floor, while Gravis chopped like a madman. He chopped, and chopped, and chopped, and chopped, and didn't stop until Samuel was definitely dead.

Gravis breathed heavily and looked at the different sized pieces of Samuel in front of him. Some muscles in his body tore, but his organs were already repairing them. He felt like shit, but not everything was bad. He was prepared to sacrifice his arm, but the weak will of his opponent made that unnecessary. Ironically, by not risking his life, he lost his life.

Gravis calmed down, but before he could process the fact that he killed his first human, he got swallowed by purple light and vanished.