Ch. 371..380

Chapter 371

Gravis grumbled for several minutes about his body. 'An electric eel? Really?' he thought with frustration. 'Is this some kind of joke?'

Gravis blew some more bubbles in frustration. 'Anyway, I'm stuck with it now. I can change it however much I want in the future. At least, the body is only at the level of a ferocious beast.'

'Actually, the more I'm thinking about it, the more I think that it wasn't Heaven that made me inhabit this body. The highest Heaven probably won't allow the same mistake to happen again. It probably still keeps an eye on this middle Heaven and me. I think that's just my lack of Karmic Luck.'

'I remember that the first time I appeared in the lower world, I have been transported to the top of a volcano. Since I still had my Elemental Synchronicity at that time, this couldn't have been considered bad luck,' Gravis thought as he tried to scratch his chin, unsuccessfully.

'If Heaven chose my body, I would probably have entered a body that was already at the Unity Realm. At that point, I wouldn't be able to achieve Unity again, making my path more difficult in the future. I wonder, does a lack of Karmic Luck work in the way that it chooses the thing worst for me, or something that the majority of people would consider bad luck?'

Gravis thought about this for a while.

'Enemies are good for me, yet, I still run into them, even though I would count that as lucky instead of unlucky. I guess most people would think it's bad luck if they were transported into an electric eel at the bottom of the food chain.'

'Yet, that's good for me. I have a lot of time and evolutions to redesign my body. Interesting,' he thought.

Whoom!

Gravis used his Will-Aura to stop a fish that was just about to swallow him. It was rather huge with a body length of over 20 meters. 'High-grade Demonic Beast,' Gravis judged. 'That would be pretty devastating to a newcomer inside the body of a ferocious beast.'

The fish remained still inside the water as Gravis' Will-Aura was delicately suppressing it. He didn't want to completely destroy it. After all, he needed food to survive and become stronger.

Leisurely, Gravis tried out his new body. Moving his fin wasn't an issue, but the new flexibility of his body felt weird. His signals were being sent to entirely different places. When Gravis tried to bend to the right slightly, he felt his whole body coil. It was like his chest was going all the way to his tail.

After some minutes of trying out his new body, he turned to the still-frozen fish. 'Time to eat,' he thought.

He swam around the fish to inspect it. 'Am I just supposed to bite into it? I haven't eaten raw meat before. I wonder if it tastes different to beasts.' Some more bubbles came out of his gills as he sighed. 'Well, let's just try it.'

Clank!

'Ouch!' Gravis thought as his teeth bounced off of the fish's scales. 'Seems like I can't bite something off of the fish. The power difference is too vast.'

Another frustrating thing was that Gravis wasn't able to weaken his lightning. As soon as he entered his new body, the inherent connection between his centers of power had vanished. Apparently, Unity wasn't possible without all three centers of power working together.

Gravis analyzed the fish more. He looked into its mouth. 'I could eat the tongue,' he thought. Then, he moved to its back and saw its behind. If he were a human, he would show a conflicted look right now. 'The ass is also a weak part…'

Then, Gravis shook his head. 'I won't eat some ass,' he thought. 'Anyway, let's first kill it.'

CRRR!

A tearing sound could be heard as Gravis' Spirit tore the fish's brain apart, killing it immediately. Gravis also tore the tongue from its mouth with his Spirit and made it float in front of him. Then, he bit into it.

His teeth bit into the tongue, but he couldn't even draw blood. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't tear the tongue apart. After some seconds of trying, Gravis released some bubbles as he groaned. 'Change of plans.'

CRRR!

The whole fish was torn apart into tiny pieces, which quickly vanished as they got absorbed by his Spirit Space. 'I'll just swallow them whole. It's like using a knife and fork.'

Gravis summoned a small piece of meat and shoved it into his stomach with his Spirit. Then, he watched. Gravis still felt hungry due to the small size of the piece of meat, but he didn't know what would happen if a beast ate meat that was way above its league. So, he first wanted to see what would happen to the current piece.

After some minutes, his stomach started digesting the meat, or, at least, it tried to. Sadly, his stomach wasn't able to digest this meal. When Gravis saw no progress after several more minutes, he groaned again and shoved the piece of meat out of his stomach.

'Great, so I have to find weaker prey,' he thought as he looked up. 'I'm not sure if the beasts at the surface are more powerful or weaker, but I'm sure of one thing.' Gravis looked down. 'I saw a ferocious beast at the bottom. So, I should check down there first.'

So, Gravis swam downward. Yet, he wasn't very fast. Seeing his slow progress, Gravis groaned again. 'Okay, fuck this.'

Whooom!

Gravis used his Spirit to shoot himself through the water. At the same time, he also used his Spirit to move the water to the side. Like this, his body wouldn't get destroyed by the water resistance or pressure. 'Why didn't I think of this before?' he thought.

After some seconds, he reached the floor again. He also saw the small particles of the former crab. Gravis decided against eating that. The previous crab could only be described as dust now, which probably didn't taste very good.

Gravis inspected his surroundings with his Spirit and quickly found some other crabs and similar animals. He also found a tasty looking flounder, but…

'Low-grade Spirit beast,' Gravis judged. 'Maybe the beasts at the bottom are stronger after all. Maybe the crabs can only survive down here since the powerful beasts don't care about them. I doubt that any Energy Beast or stronger would care about such weak prey.'

Yet, Gravis wanted to test his hypothesis. Using his body, he slowly swam to the flounder and circled above it. Sure enough, the flounder didn't react at all. After some more seconds of circling, Gravis stopped above the flounder.

Whoom!

A small ring appeared in front of Gravis, and he held it with his teeth. It was the Life Ring. 'Time to harvest!' he thought.

SSSSSHHH!

The sound of rapidly moving water appeared as all the ferocious beasts in a ten-kilometer-radius shot into his ring. Absorbing such weak beasts was as easy as breathing to Gravis. Though, he didn't have a lung. So, breathing might actually not be that easy.

The flounder noticed the commotion and locked onto Gravis. What was this weak eel doing? Actually, it didn't matter. This weak eel had disturbed its rest.

The flounder shot upward at Gravis, but instead of biting him, it was also absorbed into the ring. 'Sucks to be you,' Gravis thought.

His Life Ring didn't only have land, but also a humongous sea. Keeping all these animals there wouldn't be an issue. The flounder was incredibly confused for a second but then immediately knew that its master had summoned it to its home. This Life Ring was its home, and it would serve its master.

Seeing that there were no more ferocious beasts inside his Spirit's range, Gravis tried to smirk but failed. With a nod of satisfaction, Gravis summoned one of the crabs and tore it apart with his Spirit. He quickly separated the edible from the inedible parts. For information, Gravis considered the organs as inedible. The worms and beasts weaker than ferocious beasts would surely be happy about his leftovers.

Then, Gravis shoved the whole crab into his stomach. 'Okay, this might've been a little much,' he thought as he felt bloated. However, his stomach quickly went to work. In comparison to the previous time, his new meal was being dissolved.

Yet, Gravis frowned, or, at least, he tried to. 'I remember that Skye achieved a swift breakthrough after eating, but this digestion is taking forever. Does the digestion speed up the more powerful I become?' Gravis mused.

Some more bubbles came out of his gills as he sighed. 'Well, I can't accelerate that. Might as well make myself comfortable here,' he thought.

So, Gravis laid down on the soft sand.

'Wow, I actually feel sleepy. It's been forever since I slept,' he thought. 'It seems like this body requires sleep.'

Whoop!

The massive flounder appeared. It was actually over 200 meters long and quite chunky. Even though Skye was way stronger than this flounder, the flounder would tower over her.

"Master," the flounder transmitted to Gravis.

"Protect me while I sleep. If you see anything you can't deal with, wake me up," he transmitted back.

"No worry, master. This my turf, oh, your turf!" it transmitted. Spirit Beasts weren't very smart, so its transmission was just barely coherent.

Gravis wanted to be careful. His body was weak, and if some beast assaulted him while he slept, he might actually die. Gravis also used his Spirit to keep the pressure at bay. Something as simple as that didn't require any conscious effort. It would even work while he slept.

So, like this, Gravis went to sleep for the first time in several years.

 

Chapter 372

Sleeping felt weird to Gravis. It also took him quite some time to fall asleep since he wasn't used to it anymore. Luckily, he didn't dream. The brain of his new eel-body probably wasn't developed enough to have dreams.

After who knew how long, Gravis woke up again. Apparently, a lot of time had passed while his consciousness was asleep. Gravis awkwardly stretched himself and thought about how weird it felt to sleep again. He also saw the flounder patrolling around him, looking at everything. At least it was doing its job.

"Master," it transmitted as it noticed that Gravis woke up.

"Continue patrolling," Gravis said.

"Yes," the flounder transmitted back.

Whoop! CRRR!

Gravis summoned several shrimp and tore them apart with his Spirit. Then, he separated edible from inedible and shoved the edible parts into his stomach. He didn't even taste any of it. It was about as much meat as previously, but Gravis didn't feel as bloated.

'It seems like my body has gotten more powerful,' he thought. 'It probably won't take too long to achieve my first evolution.'

But now, Gravis had no idea what he should do. The digestion couldn't be accelerated, and he wasn't tired anymore. After some minutes, boredom set in, and Gravis decided to look at the CMO some more. Seeing it constantly change form felt enchanting.

Of course, only his Spirit Sense was inside the Life Ring. Everything else remained outside as his eel- body just laid on the sand. During his sleep, a lot of other beasts appeared in the vicinity, but nothing

dared to come too close to that imposing flounder.

From time to time, some demonic beasts also appeared, but that was a relatively rare occasion. The demonic beasts might become enticing enough to a Spirit Beast if it felt hungry. So, they kept themselves away. It wasn't that they were smart enough to realize the danger, but that their long honed instinct made them fear the deep.

Whoom!

Gravis' body started shaking suddenly. 'Oh, I'm becoming a demonic beast,' he thought with some excitement. 'Let's see how this whole evolution thing works.'

As his body shook, Gravis felt the Energy inside his body move, but it wasn't the Energy that he used to heal himself. It was the Energy that made up the whole body. This was something fundamental and completely different, Energy in the form of matter. Something Gravis had no real experience with.

Gravis felt himself become bigger and longer. He felt his instincts driving him forward as an image of a bigger eel appeared in his mind. 'No! Change!' Gravis willed, and slowly, the image in his mind started changing.

Instead of growing bigger, Gravis did his best to imagine the form he wanted. His father had told him that he couldn't change too much at once. So, Gravis had to take it slow. As soon as he had seen his body previously, he thought about his future changes.

That wasn't very hard and didn't take up much time. The main reason for that was that he had already planned the evolution for every possible body type when he had been taking a break in his homeworld. Of course, a long, snake-like body had also been a consideration. He had even considered what he would do if he inhabited the body of a worm.

The evolution and changes that a worm would go through were similar to what he would do with an eel- body. Thus, Gravis already had a pretty solid plan in mind.

Yet, after receiving the scale from his father, and hearing about the fact that he could morph into a human when he became an Immortal, changed his plan slightly. He wasn't planning on creating a perfect replica of a human anymore.

'Why waste such an incredible opportunity to create a body perfect for battle?' Gravis thought with a smirk as his body shook. 'The more weapons I have at my disposal, the better!'

As the image in his mind changed, Gravis started to feel a disconnect. It was like his body would no longer be himself if he went through with the change. 'So, that's the threshold. As long as I don't overstep this boundary, it should be fine.'

Gravis did some more modifications to the image as his physical body started morphing into the image inside his mind. After some seconds, Gravis finalized the image inside his head and willed his body to become the image.

His body morphed faster, and after a minute, the process ended.

Gravis breathed through his gills with satisfaction as he looked at his new body.

What did he change?

There were only two changes that he had made. One of them wasn't visible from the outside. It was a change of his bones and their structure. His spine now looked more like that of a mammal, something that was important for the future.

He had decided to modify his spine after he had seen that he could still change some other stuff after he was finished with his main change.

What was his main change?

His head.

His head had changed its shape completely. It became bigger and now looked very similar to the head of an alligator. His snout poked out of his head with visible teeth poking out of his closed mouth.

Gravis had envisioned the head of an alligator. They had a powerful bite, but the mouth wasn't as big or cumbersome as a crocodile's. Yet, to him, this was more than enough. He wouldn't use his mouth as his primary weapon, after all. It would only function as an auxiliary or backup weapon.

Gravis had also decided to add some additional muscles to his head so that he could actually show expressions. Not being able to show expressions felt weird to him. Now, he could finally sigh, smile, sneer, and most importantly, narrow his eyes.

Yet, right now, Gravis' look could only be described as weird. He hadn't changed his slimy skin, after all. So, his alligator head didn't have any scales. It was just a slimy, fleshy head in the shape of an alligator. On top of that, he still didn't have any arms or legs.

A fleshy alligator head on a six-meter-long eel looked weird, but Gravis didn't mind that. 'It doesn't matter how I look right now. This is only temporary, and I will achieve my true, envisioned form soon.'

"What happened, master?" the flounder asked. "Look different," it transmitted.

"Following your instincts isn't always the best path to power," Gravis transmitted back.

Sadly, the flounder didn't have the capability to understand such a concept. Even for a Spirit Beast, it was quite stupid.

Seeing that the flounder didn't understand him, Gravis didn't bother to continue his explanation. He might have had the patience to teach Skye, but the flounder wasn't his friend. After all, it had tried to kill

him previously. The fact that it was still alive was pity enough from him.

Gravis tried some expressions and noticed that he could perform nearly all of them. He had changed his bones and muscles so that he could smile and frown with his big head. Instead of having eyebrows, he had made the muscles above his eyes movable. This should be good enough.

'Let's see about that digestion speed. After all, I'm a low-grade Demonic Beast now,' Gravis thought with a smirk.

Whoop!

Another crab appeared, and Gravis repeated the usual process. His body hadn't increased in size, so he couldn't fit more of the meat into him, but that shouldn't be a problem.

Gravis watched his stomach go to work and, sure enough, the digestion was faster than before. 'Great! Instead of taking multiple hours, I should be able to digest a meal in just a single hour,' he thought with satisfaction.

After several more minutes passed, Gravis noticed something else. 'Interesting. My hunger had vanished for a couple of minutes, but now it returned. I guess the bodies of ferocious beasts aren't enough anymore. I should get some Demonic Beasts.'

Gravis looked into his Life Ring and took note of all the ferocious beasts inside it.

Whoop!

All the ferocious beasts that had been kept inside his ring were released. Gravis also released them from the Life Ring's restriction. They had regained their free will. 'They haven't attacked me, and I won't eat them. Keeping them is useless.'

The beasts were confused for a second but then quickly fled when they noticed the gigantic flounder. Like this, they quickly scattered into the distance.

"Where can I find Demonic Beasts?" Gravis asked the flounder.

"What that?" it asked back.

"Beasts that are stronger than these weaklings, but weaker than you," Gravis answered back.

"Weak beasts on surface," it transmitted to him.

Gravis nodded. "And down here?" Gravis asked.

"Only very weak and very powerful beasts here," it transmitted back.

Gravis tried to scratch his chin unsuccessfully. 'Interesting,' he thought, 'Just as I had expected. However, I think the flounder is mistaken. I think it's thinking of Energy Beasts. Energy Beasts might not be able to transmit their thoughts, but they are smart enough to keep as far away from Spirit Beasts as possible.'

Gravis looked upward but didn't see much. The bottom of the ocean was utterly dark since no light could reach it. 'If the Spirit Beasts are on the ocean floor, the Energy Beasts are probably at the surface since it's the farthest place from the floor. The Demonic Beasts can't go to the surface or the floor, so they're probably stuck in limbo.'

'They should inhabit the space between the surface and the floor. Also, I found that fish at that place earlier,' Gravis thought.

'Speaking of, I should see if I can digest it now.'

 

Chapter 373

Gravis summoned some edible parts of the fish he had killed earlier and shoved them into his mouth. Then, he watched his stomach for a couple of minutes.

'It's being digested, but it takes quite a long time. I think it should be more efficient to hunt weaker Demonic Beasts and eat the fish later,' he judged.

Whoop!

The massive flounder disappeared as Gravis recalled it into his Life Ring. Keeping it outside would only be detrimental. The Demonic Beasts might flee at the sight of this massive flounder. After that, he used his Spirit to shoot himself upward.

With his ridiculous speed, it took only a couple of seconds until he reached a part where the pressure wasn't overwhelming. However, that pressure had stopped being relevant after he had reached the power of a Demonic Beast anyway.

'Speaking of, the ferocious beasts probably have it quite difficult at the bottom of the ocean. The pressure makes it really hard for them, though I only saw crustaceans at the bottom of the ocean. Their hard outer shell probably makes it easier to hunt there.'

'Yet, on the other hand, the ferocious beasts might not even hunt. I think they mostly gain their power by eating the falling leftovers,' Gravis thought as he saw some meat falling down beside him. 'I guess most of them eat these leftovers until they become powerful enough to actually hunt by themselves.'

'Yet, I wonder where the fish and eels become powerful. Fish and eels don't have such a powerful outer layer. So, there should be some area where they gain their strength,' Gravis thought as he looked around him.

'They are probably further away from the world's core where the Energy density is lower. No Spirit Beast or Energy Beast would be interested in staying there.'

Gravis shook his fleshy alligator head. 'Let's focus on getting stronger for now. Analyzing the workings of the world can wait,' he thought as he looked at his surroundings.

Surprisingly, the density of beasts was way lower than on the bottom of the ocean. Gravis only saw two Demonic Beasts inside his Spirit Sense. One of them was a rather big fish, while the other one was a kraken. The big fish looked like it had just eaten something.

'Middle-rank and high-rank,' Gravis estimated. 'I should be able to digest a middle-rank Demonic Beast without any issues.'

CRK! CRK!

Both beasts were torn apart by Gravis' Spirit. Then, he summoned them into his Spirit Space and resummoned the fish parts. After separating edible from inedible again, he shoved as much as he could of the fish into his stomach.

'And I'm feeling bloated again,' Gravis thought in frustration. Yet, that didn't deter him. He looked at his stomach for a couple of minutes and saw that the fish was being digested many times faster than the stronger one he had tried previously.

'I can work with this. Should only take around two hours,' he thought with satisfaction. 'Anyway, I should hunt some more. Better hunt enough to reach the next evolution. I think it should take around two beasts, one rank higher than my body, to rank up. So, I need one more middle-rank Demonic Beast and two more low-rank Energy Beasts. After that, I just have to eat and wait.'

Gravis used his Spirit to shoot himself through the water and found some other beasts after a minute. Even though the population looked rather scarce, it wasn't a problem to find food with Gravis' insane

speed. Yet, it still took him another five minutes to actually find a middle-rank Demonic Beast.

After collecting that beast, Gravis looked and charged upward. The ocean was pretty deep, and Gravis had previously already ascended by about 20 kilometers. Yet, there was still no light.

After ascending another 20 kilometers, Gravis saw more beasts. They were Demonic Beasts, and their ranks were varied. Gravis couldn't see a pattern of strength. Since he didn't need Demonic Beasts anymore, he quickly shot past them.

After another ten kilometers, Gravis saw his first Energy Beast. It was a 50-meter-long orange fish. 'Man, eating that will take forever. I should find some smaller Energy Beasts,' Gravis thought as he ignored the fish.

The bodies of beasts were equally powerful in total. Their size made no difference. The only difference would be over how much mass the power would be distributed. An Energy Beast that was only two- meters-long had the same amount of power as one that was 200-meters-long. It was just more compressed.

After another ten kilometers, Gravis finally saw some light. 'The surface shouldn't be far,' he thought, and sure enough, only a couple of kilometers further, Gravis jumped out of the ocean into the air.

After coming out of the water, Gravis hovered in the air. His body wasn't nearly as heavy as his previous one. So, flying wasn't an issue to him right now. Though, that would probably become impossible after he became a Spirit Beast.

Gravis looked around for a bit but could only see ocean as far as the eye could see. 'No sign of any beasts at the Unity Realm or higher. I am probably nowhere near the actual continent. Well, better for me, I suppose,' he thought as he shot along the surface of the water.

Without the water's resistance, his speed multiplied. He kept checking all the beasts inside the water with his Spirit, but after some seconds, he found a problem.

'I need air!' Gravis thought. 'Or, more like, I need water. My body is still required to breathe.'

Splash!

Gravis charged into the water, protecting his body with his Spirit, and took a deep breath. Then, he jumped out again and continued flying. He repeated this process many times on his journey.

CRRRK! Whoop!

After around two minutes, Gravis found a shark that was only five meters long, and it was an early-rank Energy Beast, perfect for him. 'Got one,' Gravis thought as he tore it apart and summoned it into his Spirit Space.

A couple of minutes later, Gravis found another beast. It was a 20-meter-long eel, but it should be easy enough to eat since its body was very thin. This shouldn't take more than five sittings. After killing that eel and summoning it into his Spirit Space, Gravis stopped moving. 'Got everything,' he thought with satisfaction.

Splash!

Gravis went back into the water and shot at the floor again. After arriving, he checked the surroundings with his Spirit. 'No living being around, not even ferocious beasts. This is probably the turf of a powerful Spirit Beast.'

'Eh, doesn't matter.'

Whoop!

The flounder appeared again. "Don't let anything get close to me, and if you see something that can put up a fight against you, inform me," Gravis informed it.

"Yes, master," it sent back. Then, it started to patrol the surroundings.

Meanwhile, Gravis just laid down on the ground, doing nothing. His whole hunt had only taken a couple of minutes. So, his earlier snack was nowhere near digested. 'Well, time to look at the CMO some more,' Gravis thought.

And like that, Gravis spent the whole day eating. One stomach-full of food one rank higher than him took two hours to digest. Yet, the beasts became increasingly bigger as his rank increased. This made his advancements slow quite a bit. At least, it would have.

It took around half a day of eating before he became a middle-rank Demonic Beast. At that time, his body itched again, but he only grew bigger. Apparently, he wasn't able to control his body's evolution inside ranks. He would just grow bigger and more powerful.

After becoming a middle-rank Demonic Beast, Gravis was now over ten meters long. He didn't like being that big, but it had one advantage. His stomach was also bigger now. With that, he could eat more food.

After another couple of hours, he advanced into a high-rank Demonic Beast. He grew bigger again and was now 20-meters-long.

'Man, being so big makes everything cumbersome,' Gravis thought in frustration. Yet, he didn't despair. After all, he could just reduce his size again later.

Luckily, he had caught only small Energy Beasts. With his new size, he could swallow them in one bite. Though, the digestion took longer too since it was more Energy. Digesting such a beast took over 14

hours!

Gravis also slept a couple of times between eating, but he hated it. Sleep seemed like such a waste of time to him.

By now, Gravis had been in the middle world for three days.

Whooom!

'Oh, it's time!' Gravis thought.

He was about to become an Energy Beast.

 

Chapter 374

Gravis' body itched again, and a picture of a giant eel appeared inside his mind. 'No,' he simply stated and started morphing that picture. He changed it as much as he could until he felt the boundary again.

'Decreasing my size also counts as a change, huh,' Gravis thought with interest. 'Originally, I wanted to keep my bigger body to eat more food, but making my body small again in the future might eat up a whole change this way. I think it's better that I remain small, even though finding small Energy Beasts will be harder.'

Gravis envisioned his new body, and after around a minute, he finalized the image.

"Master, strong enemy," the flounder contacted him suddenly.

'Really? Now?' Gravis thought with frustration as he lost his concentration. The image inside his head reverted into a giant eel. He checked his surroundings with his Spirit and saw the new arrival. 'Middle- rank Spirit Beast,' he judged.

CRRRRR!

Gravis tore the beast apart since it had disturbed his evolution, though he was quite surprised by the amount of Spirit that it took to kill it. Tearing that beast apart consumed over 10% of his Spirit.

'Tch, this could become troublesome in the future. I could use my body to actually battle the beasts, but it's nowhere near done. Gaining battle experience with this slithery body won't help me at all in the long run.'

The offender had been a 100-meter-long stingray. If it had come at any other time, Gravis would have only caught it with his Life Ring, but, right now, he had only been angry at it. One should remember that beasts also had no Karmic Luck, just like Gravis. Because of that, they might also experience something that could be considered bad luck.

Gravis quickly regained the image inside his head and changed it again. It was a hassle, but his body wouldn't evolve without a clear image in his mind. After a minute, the image finalized, and his body started changing again.

It took a couple of minutes before the process was over, and Gravis looked at his new body.

Gravis had shrunken to a length of two meters, even smaller than he had been initially. Together with his slim frame, he looked even lighter than a human, but that would obviously change in the future.

Yet, there was something that didn't fit the rest of his body at all. Two powerful, imposing, muscle-filled arms grew out of his "chest". They were around half as long as his body, but they were even wider. The arms ended in hands with five fingers, which had claws at their end. If one looked at Gravis, they would think that half his body was comprised of these massive arms.

Yet, since he still had his slimy skin, they only looked weird. Gravis was happy with the results, but he also felt like he was becoming an abomination. An appearance like this looked surreal and weird.

'The next evolution will be my scales. Changing the outer layer probably also won't eat up an entire change. I should be able to move my mass around a bit, and making my torso wider shouldn't be an issue in the next evolution.'

"Can I eat?" the flounder suddenly asked.

Gravis looked at it and frowned a bit. After some thinking, he shrugged, thanks to his new arms.

Clank!

A Formation Array inside the flounder broke as it was released from the Life Ring's influence. It had tried to kill him, but it had also protected him. He felt like he should free it and get another guide. The flounder's lack of intelligence was more frustrating than helpful. It was also too big to eat.

The flounder's eyes widened as its old thoughts returned.

"Go, you're free now," Gravis transmitted nonchalantly.

"You weak! You dare hurt me!?" it transmitted with anger as it shot at Gravis.

CRRRK!

And like that, the flounder was dead. Gravis sighed. 'I try to be nice for once out of pity, and look what happens,' he thought with disappointment as he shook his head. 'Fuck that stupid ass flounder!'

Sadly, the flounder was also way too big for him. Eating it would take ages. So, Gravis simply shot away.

Contrary to expectation, he was slower than before. That was because his body had become way heavier, and it required more of his Spirit to move around. He moved just as quickly as his Spirit regenerated. Sadly, that was only around a third as fast as previously.

'Tch, at some point, swimming will probably be faster than this,' Gravis thought in frustration. 'Well, doesn't matter. A couple more minutes won't change anything.'

After around a minute, Gravis reached the surface of the ocean again and started flying. The Spirit required to keep him airborne and moving forward was less than just moving forward in the water.

After some minutes of flying and searching, Gravis needed air again, or, in his case, water. 'My body doesn't require as much air as before, but it still requires some.'

After diving for a bit again, he continued his journey. 'I need two middle-rank Energy Beasts, two high- rank Energy Beasts, and two low-rank Spirit Beasts. This shouldn't take longer than a couple of hours,' Gravis thought as he inspected the water below him with his Spirit.

After around five minutes, Gravis saw a fitting target. It was a six-meter-long barracuda. Its mouth was even more imposing than normal, but that was the only change.

'Fast and powerful. The big jaw allows it to hunt bigger prey,' Gravis thought. 'I kind of want to test my new arms. It's a whole rank higher than my body, but arms are more useful against animals than people believe, even without a weapon.'

Splash!

Gravis entered the ocean again a couple of hundred meters in front of the barracuda. The fish quickly noticed Gravis and shot at him with impressive speed. Gravis' fleshy exterior looked appetizing. Yet, Gravis only smirked.

Gravis was directly at the surface. So, the barracuda shot diagonally upward at him and opened its mouth wide. Gravis waited for the last moment to dodge. He used his powerful arms to shoot himself further down into the water. His arms' power in relation to his body's size shot him over ten meters down, making the barracuda miss him.

Splash!

The barracuda couldn't stop its powerful charge and left the water.

Bang!

Gravis' powerful tail shot him upwards again, and he stretched his arms.

Pack!

The barracuda was long but not very wide. His hands grabbed its sides and held it above him. The barracuda struggled in the air with all its power, and it was quite challenging to hold it, but Gravis was powerful and experienced enough to handle it.

Snap! Snap!

The barracuda threateningly snapped its jaws in the air, but they were nowhere near Gravis. Its fins also couldn't reach Gravis' body or arms. Gravis only smirked as he watched the barracuda. 'Sucks to not have proper limbs, eh?' he thought as he barracuda struggled.

CRRRRRRRR! CRK!

Gravis used his new maw for the first time and bit the barracuda on its belly. It took a lot of effort since the barracuda was a whole rank stronger than him, but eventually, he managed to crack its scales and took a bite out of it. 'Doesn't taste that bad actually,' Gravis thought.

He hadn't tasted anything up to now since he had always just shoved it into his stomach, bypassing his tongue. It tasted way better than he had expected.

The barracuda was helpless. Gravis could slowly kill it with his maw or keep it above water for like half an hour to suffocate it. Seeing that he had won, Gravis just decided to tear its brain apart with his Spirit. The winner was already clear.

'Arms are useful,' Gravis thought with a smirk as he put the barracuda into his Spirit Space.

Usually, it was nearly impossible for a beast to jump ranks in a battle. After all, beasts had fewer ranks in general in comparison to cultivators. So, every rank was a bigger jump. On top of that, their techniques and battle styles weren't as varied as humans. The stronger one simply won.

Fish were incredibly fast and agile in water but nearly helpless in the air. The air just didn't give enough resistance for their fins to work effectively. If Gravis hadn't fought directly at the surface, this fight might have become tough and prolonged. Of course, that was only true as long as he didn't rely on his Spirit or will.

Gravis shot out of the water again and continued his hunt. After another ten meters, he found a 15- meter-long swordfish. It was a high-rank Energy Beast. Gravis destroyed its brain and summoned it into his Spirit Space.

One would think that his Spirit Space was starting to get crowded, but after he had reached the Unity Realm, his Spirit Space had grown tremendously. It now had a radius of around 200 meters, easily enough to accommodate all his prey.

'One more middle-rank Energy Beast and one more high-rank Energy Beast,' he thought as he continued hunting.

After another ten minutes, he found his second fitting middle-rank Energy Beast.

30 minutes later, he found a fitting high-rank Energy Beast.

'Alright! This should be enough,' Gravis thought as he dove into the water again. 'The Spirit Beasts are at the bottom. I think I'll first check for a smarter guide that can check my surroundings while I watch the CMO. Luckily, I don't need to sleep anymore.'

After around a minute, Gravis reached the bottom of the ocean again.

'Let's see what I'll find,' Gravis thought as he shot into the distance.

 

 

Chapter 375

Gravis swam along the ocean floor with quite some speed, thanks to his Spirit. Yet, no sand or water was being disturbed. That was also thanks to his Spirit since it moved the water around him and then back into place. This made him move without sound nor wave. He moved almost like a ghost.

Gravis traveled like this for several hours. He saw a lot of Spirit Beasts, but none were up to his standards. The main reason was that they were simply too big. Beasts who lived in the sea were generally bigger than beasts living on land, and, apparently, that was also true for Spirit Beasts.

On top of that, Gravis also saw some mid-rank Spirit Beasts and even a high-rank Spirit Beast. Sadly, all of them were just too big to eat. He would need months to eat them.

After some hours, Gravis arrived in a peculiar area. It didn't look any different from the other areas at first glance, but something was definitely different.

There were a lot of ferocious beasts and Demonic Beasts swimming around. This was strange since every other territory only had ferocious beasts and only the occasional Demonic Beast. Yet, here, there were way more Demonic Beasts.

On top of that, the Energy-density was a bit higher than in the other areas. 'Why are there Demonic Beasts swimming around in this Energy-rich environment? A Spirit Beast should have long occupied something like this. Yet, there is no Spirit Beast in sight.'

Gravis also saw a high number of plants and corals. Fish and other animals were living near these corals and moving around. 'Most of the corals are Demonic Beasts. They probably only hunt occasionally when they find fitting prey. Yet…'

Gravis looked at some corals that even were high-rank Demonic Beasts. 'There is no fitting prey around,' he thought as he scratched his chin with his new hands, accidentally injuring his skin with his

claws. 'As long as they don't leave this area, they won't be able to find any prey. I wonder, have they given up their path to power?'

He was rather interested in this area, so he checked it out more. The area was pretty sizable, with over 200 kilometers in diameter. This was even bigger than the territory of a normal Spirit Beast.

Wherever Gravis swam, the beasts made way for him and fled. Gravis counted as an Energy Beast, and the other beast felt his pressure. Gravis saw no other Energy Beasts around and lifted an eyebrow. 'I wonder. Are there no Energy Beasts around because there is no food or because something kills them?'

Gravis shook his head. 'The Energy density alone would help them, and beasts are drawn to places with high Energy. I doubt that it would be the first possibility. When Energy Beasts find this area, they will flock to it, and in no time at all, there should be plenty of food around. I'm pretty sure there is a Spirit Beast around that owns this territory.'

Gravis continued scratching his chin, more careful now. 'But I didn't find any Spirit Beast. I already checked through the whole territory. This is really peculiar.'

After that thought, Gravis checked the area more closely with his Spirit. He also looked at the corals more closely. He saw some of them grab a beast occasionally, but there was nothing else of note.

After another hour of checking, Gravis found something peculiar. The center of the area didn't look any different than the other parts, but the corals were denser. Another interesting thing was that all these corals were at the high-rank Demonic Beast level.

'Speaking of, I only found high-rank corals in the center of the area. On top of that, there were no weaker corals between them. They are all at the same level. This is really peculiar.'

'On top of that, the closer I get to the corals, the higher the Energy density. Beasts generally don't give off Energy like this. They are greedy and wouldn't want to lose it.'

Whooosh!

Gravis dove into the sand and used his Spirit to move it around his body. After a while, he was below the center of the area, but surprisingly, he didn't find the reason for the higher Energy-density.

'The Energy comes from above me, right from the corals. Is it between them? I can't check with my Spirit since the corals are so dense that there is no open spot-'

'Wait!' Gravis suddenly thought. 'Too dense? Why would they be so dense? Wouldn't the corals fear the other corals? On top of that, the corals further away weren't as dense as these ones. additionally, all these corals are at the exact same level.'

Gravis looked at the corals with more concentration. 'Interesting,' he thought. 'All of these corals are only of a few types. They don't have these tentacle-things that other types have. They just look like colored stone.'

Gravis watched the corals more closely and studied them like he studied the CMO. The CMOs pattern of growth also appeared inside his mind, and Gravis felt like he was about to grasp something. He felt like the corals hid a deeper secret.

Like this, Gravis watched the corals from below the ground for around an hour. He saw their synchronized movements and also saw slight wisps of Energy leaving them.

'If they all didn't have their own fluctuations and power, I would believe that this was a single organism,' Gravis thought.

But then, he narrowed his eyes. 'Single organism?' he thought as he watched them more. His Spirit traced their lines, and slowly, the strength of the corals was fusing inside his mind.

Earlier, he saw how every coral had its own power, but now, the power of every coral seemed to fuse. After some more seconds, it all morphed into a single form, and Gravis' eyes shone.

'That's brilliant!' he thought with admiration.

The corals in the center of the area weren't corals.

This was a gigantic octopus disguised as corals!

The corals on the outside of the area were real, making it incredibly difficult to spot the nearly 500- meter-long octopus. On top of that, its power had been distributed into many small segments, simulating the appearance of many Demonic Beasts.

'The octopus is exuding a slight amount of Energy so that weaker beasts and real corals flock to this place. Then, it let them live around it, creating the illusion of a natural, Energy-rich environment. When Energy Beasts or Spirit Beasts appear, they would think that they have struck it rich.'

'At that point, the octopus would fight and eat them. This is so smart. On top of that, it's a high-rank Spirit Beast. With its intelligence and power, it's probably the secret hegemon over all of the nearby areas. The other Spirit Beasts probably don't even know that it exists.'

'This beast is perfect as a guide and companion,' Gravis thought as he burst out of the sand. Then, he hovered above the center of the "corals".

"Your scheme is impressive, octopus," Gravis transmitted to it.

"Oh?" a deep and slow voice answered Gravis. "You have seen through my disguise?" it asked.

CRRRR!

A lot of corals moved to the side as two eyes opened. They looked at Gravis with interest. "You look peculiar, visitor," it said slowly. "I haven't seen your kind before."

Gravis' eyes shone with admiration. "Interesting," he answered. "You don't talk down to me, even though I look like an Energy Beast."

"I don't know what an Energy Beast is," the octopus transmitted, "but I assume you are referring to beings similar to your power," it said. "And yes, I don't talk down to you. You are able to talk to me, saw through my disguise, and show no sign of fear. You are not simple."

Gravis smirked. "Same to you. I only know of one beast that was as articulate as you while still being a Spirit Beast. Your intelligence is admirable."

"What do you want?" the octopus asked. Apparently, flattery didn't work, though Gravis preferred that.

"I require a guide that knows a lot about this world. I also require someone that watched my surroundings while I study something. Of course, this only holds true until I reach the level of a Spirit Beast. After that, I only require the guide's wisdom of this world."

The octopus remained silent for a while. "Interesting proposition," it transmitted. "What do I get out of it?" it asked.

"My protection, knowledge, experience, company, and goal," Gravis answered.

"I can understand the knowledge, experience, and company part, but I'm unsure of what you mean with protection and goal," the octopus answered. "How can you protect me, and what would I need protection from? I haven't seen a more powerful being than me before."

Whooom!

An apocalyptic pressure suppressed the octopus, making it unable to move. Gravis had activated his Will-Aura.

CRRRRRRRRRR!

Then, Gravis' Spirit lifted the whole octopus. Slowly, it reached the same height as Gravis. Gravis could lift something like this for a short period of time. On top of that, they were underwater, making it easier. Yet, that single lifting had cost him around 20% of his Spirit. Lifting the whole thing was harder than just tearing its brain apart.

"Proof enough?" Gravis asked.

Whoop! BANG!

Gravis' Will-Aura vanished, and the octopus fell back to the ocean floor. The octopus remained silent for half a minute.

"Impressive, shocking, interesting," it said to Gravis. "I want to know more," it said.

Gravis smirked when he heard that. "You know more about the specifics of the world, but I know more about its general outline and rules. For example, I can tell you that you are in the last stage of the third Realm in terms of power, also called a high-rank Spirit Beast."

"High-rank Spirit Beast," it repeated with interest.

"Yet, in this world, you can find many more powerful beasts. The most powerful beasts are in the sixth cultivation Realm. You are only at the third. In comparison to those, you only appear as strong as all these beasts living around you right now," Gravis said, gesturing with his arms.

The octopus remained silent as it continued thinking.

"What's your goal?" it asked.

"To become the strongest," Gravis said with a severe tone.

The octopus remained silent for two whole minutes.

"I want to see the wider world and further my knowledge," it said.

"I agree to become your guide and will follow you from now on."

Chapter 376 we will update soon...

Chapter 377

'It's time,' Gravis thought as he felt his body itching. This was his second most important evolution, the one where he would eat the scale to get a more powerful defense for his body.

Whoop!

Gravis summoned the scale and grabbed it, but his body was still weaker than his previous one. Carrying it was quite hard, but nothing unmanageable. He looked at it with burning eyes and shoved it into his stomach with his Spirit. A stomach wasn't as powerful as an arm, so Gravis kept the scale levitating inside his stomach. If he let it fall, it might break his stomach.

Gravis watched his stomach go to work, but the scale wasn't being digested at all. Slowly, Gravis grew worried. This scale was obviously way out of his league. Could he even digest it?

Whooom!

Suddenly, the scale started shining, and Formation Arrays appeared on it. Gravis was shocked when he saw these Formation Arrays because there were just so many. Every Formation Array was as small as the letters he had read on the booklet about forging materials. He also only recognized about 5% of them.

It was insane to him that this one scale had so incredibly many Formation Arrays on it. Their complexity baffled Gravis, and he couldn't even begin to understand the concept behind them. 'Father has probably put them on there to make the scale digestible,' Gravis thought. 'Father wouldn't forget the fact that I wouldn't be able to digest the scale.'

Sure enough, the scale quickly dissipated into some kind of gas that charged through his body without his volition. The gas went through his entire body, but Gravis felt none of it. It was like it just existed inside a separate plane. Yet, Gravis trusted his father. Gravis' eyes burned with ambition as he quickly changed the image in his mind.

He thought of his whole body being covered in scales similar to the one he had just eaten. The image inside his mind quickly solidified, and just as expected, Gravis felt like he could change something else too.

Gravis tweaked the image inside his head until he felt happy with the changes. He felt like he could change a little bit more and also changed the shape of his tail. The fin on his tail vanished, and the tail now looked like a reptile's tail.

This tail might not be as useful in swimming, but it was flexible and powerful. A tail-whip would be quite devastating, another weapon for Gravis. With this tail, he would be able to keep his balance better and also protect his back at the same time.

Gravis finalized the image, and his body quickly started changing. It shrunk down until it was only about two meters tall. While it shrank, his torso widened into a broad chest. Gravis kept his waist slender for more mobility and flexibility, but he required his arms to be powerful, and that required a broad chest.

After Gravis had gotten his broader chest and new size, his skin started changing. His slimy skin fell off and revealed the blackest scales imaginable. They slowly appeared, and it almost looked like they absorbed light. They were so black that one would think that their eyes wouldn't work properly when looking at them. The color just didn't seem natural.

After a couple of minutes, his whole body stabilized, and Gravis finished his third evolution. Gravis looked at his body and smirked. With his powerful fangs, dark scales, and alligator-like head, his smirk looked incredibly menacing. It was like a powerful predator looking at his prey.

"I don't look shit anymore," Gravis said. While he had been at it, he also gave him some lungs to enable him to speak. Not being able to speak irked him to no end.

Gravis lifted one of his arms and clenched his hands. His claws tried to dig into his palm, but it was impossible. His scales were more powerful than his claws. Then, Gravis looked at Orthar.

Orthar's body shook for a bit as Gravis' eyes fell on him. The weird, tasty looking, and weak appearance he had before had been completely flipped by the addition of the scales and broad chest. Yet, Orthar wasn't stupid and knew that Gravis' temperament and personality didn't change.

If one met Gravis for the first time with his new appearance, they might be cautious and nervous in front of him. Yet, when they got to know him better, they would see his honest and principled personality behind the threatening appearance. Orthar already knew Gravis. So, the change only had a very momentary effect on him.

"You look threatening," Orthar slowly said. "You look like a beast that slaughters out of bloodlust, not necessity. I'm not sure if that is conducive when talking with beasts you don't want to kill."

Gravis' smirk vanished, and he started scratching his chin with one of his claws. Finally, he didn't need to be careful anymore that his claws would injure his skin while scratching. That had annoyed him more than necessary.

When Orthar saw Gravis' thinking-pose, all of his hidden worries, which he hadn't even realized existed, vanished. Gravis was still the same.

"I think it's because my outer appearance spells danger and invokes fear due to its effectiveness for hunting and killing," Gravis transmitted. "My scales can hide me in the dark. My chest shows the power of my arms. My fangs and claws are strong weapons. Lastly, my tail can also defend my back."

Gravis stopped scratching his chin. "I think that the menacing appearance comes from the instinctual fear of beasts."

Orthar thought about Gravis' word and agreed. "I think I agree. Your whole body is a weapon, and that might intimidate beasts that aren't as ready to commit all their life to combat. When I saw you, I felt that my body was inadequate. My tentacles are powerful, but I need to pull my enemy to my beak to injure them if they are powerful."

Gravis looked at Orthar and nodded. "I think so too," he transmitted. "You could use a smaller size to be more mobile. You could also use powerful claws or spikes at the end of your tentacles. Like this, you could injure your enemy without pulling them to your beak. Your fleshy outer layer also isn't as hard as it should be."

Before Orthar met Gravis, he felt like his body was perfect. After all, he had followed his instincts while building it, and he felt most comfortable in this body. Yet, now, he felt that Gravis was right. His instincts went against Gravis' words, and Orthar even felt himself get angry. Luckily, Orthar was smart enough to realize that his instincts were wrong.

Another beast might get controlled by their rage, but Orthar was different. He was incredibly smart and realized the truth of the matter. The body he had prided himself in was inadequate. He needed to change it in the future.

His disguising ability was just that, a disguise. He wasn't able to create true weapons with it. He was only able to create the appearance of a powerful weapon.

"Hit me," Gravis said to Orthar.

Orthar was pulled out of his thoughts as he looked at Gravis. "Hit you?" he asked.

"Yes," Gravis said. "I need to test these scales. Slap me with about 25% of your power."

"Judging by what you have told me previously, that would be an attack at the level of a mid-rank Spirit Beast, a full rank higher than you. Are you sure that you want that?" Orthar asked.

Gravis nodded. "These scales should be able to let me survive an attack like that."

"Okay," Orthar said and lifted a tentacle. Then, he used a casual slap to hit Gravis. It was casual to him, but Gravis felt the power of the slap as it traveled through the water. It was also quite fast, butnoveldrama

Gravis was sure that he would be able to evade an attack like that.

BANG! BOOM!

The slap hit, and Gravis' body was shot into the ground. A massive cloud of sand whirled around, making it impossible to see.

Gravis felt some pain, but nothing he couldn't handle. This had been a blunt-force attack without anything sharp. He felt how the power of the attack had been distributed along his scales, protecting his insides. The only thing that happened was that his organs were a bit injured, but that wasn't much at all. This small injury would only take 1% of his Life Lightning to heal.

Yet, Gravis found another problem. Something that he had completely forgotten about.

Gravis hadn't been hit with an attack before in this middle world. This meant that all his movements had been voluntary up to now. This was the first time he moved involuntarily, and that had shown a devastating oversight.

There had been an explosion when Orthar hit him, and that explosion wasn't something that injured Gravis.

Orthar's mind transmitted incredible pain to the surroundings. A full tentacle of his body had vanished into ash, and if Gravis hadn't reacted quickly enough, Orthar would be dead right now. Gravis' insides shook in fear and nervousness as he realized how close he had been to accidentally killing another one of his friends.

A small ball of lightning hovered at his previous position. Gravis had always moved his lightning with his Spirit, but, as said before, these were voluntary movements. Gravis hadn't moved his lightning while being slapped.

His lightning had burned through his stomach and hit the gigantic tentacle, annihilating it in the process. After that, it had moved towards Orthar's body. Luckily, Gravis had reacted quickly enough and made it retreat into its ball-form.

Whoop!

The ball of lightning went back into his body through the hole it had burned. After that, Gravis healed his body.

"I'm deeply sorry, Orthar! I forgot about my lightning! Let me try to heal you," Gravis said with urgency.

BZZZZZ!

Gravis transformed all of his inherent Energy into Life Lightning and hit Orthar with it. Luckily, one tentacle wasn't even 10% of his total mass. So, even though Orthar was two ranks higher, Gravis managed to heal almost the entire tentacle.

Orthar looked at Gravis with rage. He had been injured, and his combat instincts awakened. Yet, Orthar was smart enough to realize that this had been an accident.

"I require repayment," he said.

Gravis sighed. "What do you want?" he asked.

"Tell me more about the concept of psychological warfare and how to use emotions to win against your enemy," he stated.

When Gravis heard that, he sighed. Orthar was angry, but he obviously didn't intend on attacking or leaving. He had only cleverly used this opportunity to siphon more knowledge out of Gravis.

"Alright," Gravis said.

Orthar "sat" on the ocean floor as he waited for Gravis to start explaining.

Obviously, his anger had already mostly vanished.

 

Chapter 378

Gravis had to talk to Orthar for a long time. Luckily, this couldn't be considered as a waste of time since Gravis just decided to eat the mid-rank Spirit Beast he still had. Like this, he remained as efficient as possible.

After finishing the beast, Gravis stopped his conversation with Orthar. His questions seemed endless, and the conversation wouldn't stop otherwise. Luckily, or unluckily depending on the viewpoint, Gravis' thinking was rather logical, and he knew a lot, so he could answer most of Orthar's questions.

Orthar was a bit annoyed that the conversation ended, but he knew that they should continue. So, Orthar led Gravis to the next beast with a small body he knew about. He didn't know of another high- rank Spirit Beast, which was why he had thought that he had reached the peak.

Orthar also asked why he hadn't met any other beasts on his level, and Gravis' answer was straightforward and logical. "Because you are at the outer fringes of the world. No high-rank Spirit Beast wants to remain in an area with such a low Energy density."

Orthar hadn't known that there were areas with a higher Energy density. He might have traveled a lot, but not in one direction. He mainly swam around the surrounding areas of his territories.

As they traveled, Gravis also noticed something else. In order to keep up with Orthar, Gravis had to use more Spirit than he was regenerating. His body's weight was becoming heavier and heavier. By now, Gravis would have to use a lot of his Spirit even to fly.

Gravis expected that when his body reached the mid-rank Spirit Beast level, it would be more effective to just swim instead of using his Spirit. This would be his slowest possible state.

After around an hour, they found Gravis' next target. It was a 30-meter-long swordfish. It was a bit big for Gravis' taste, but it was challenging to find small beasts at this level. So, the swordfish had to do.

Gravis engaged it directly with his body to test it. The swordfish had charged at him with speed equal to Orthar, which was quite incredible for a mid-rank Spirit Beast. Its pike hit Gravis' upper left arm and penetrated it. Gravis wanted to test his scales more, so he let himself get hit.

The powerful charge of the swordfish might have penetrated Gravis' arm, but that was it. It wasn't able to tear the arm off or ruin it further. The surrounding scales kept everything together. Like this, the swordfish got stuck in Gravis' arm.

Gravis rotated on the swordfish's pike until he sat on it, his tail coiling around the pike. Then, he tore his arm free, severing half of it. Yet, with a quick heal, Gravis was in his peak condition again. After that, he used his arms to tear the pike off. The lever principle was powerful.

The swordfish was in pain and tried to shake Gravis off, unsuccessfully. Gravis' tail was still wrapped around the pike's base, which obviously hadn't been torn off. Then, Gravis used the pike and stabbed the swordfish through the eyes, right into its brain. The fight quickly ended.

"Your body is powerful and deadly," Orthar said after the fight. "I didn't think that it was possible to kill a being a full rank above you. When you reach the mid-rank, you will probably be even more powerful than me without using your Spirit."

Gravis had already put the corpse away. "Because you followed your instincts. Your body isn't as deadly as it could be," he answered.

After that, the long conversation with Orthar resumed. He didn't know of any high-rank Spirit Beasts. This meant that they had to travel towards the center of the world.

Gravis no longer stored his food until he had enough for the next rank. Starting now, it was useful to gain battle-experience with his body. It was already similar enough to his final form. The only things missing were legs.

Gravis finished the fish in about two days, but something surprising happened that made him frown.

"My rank didn't increase," Gravis said as he looked at his body with narrowed eyes. "My math has worked out up to now, but it doesn't anymore. Spirit Beasts also don't require proportionally more food than Energy Beasts, so that shouldn't be it."

"I think it's these scales," Gravis said as he looked at his arm. "Since they are so powerful, they probably need more food than normal." Then, Gravis turned to Orthar. "Orthar, lead me to the rest of the relatively small beasts that you know."

"I'm also interested in your conundrum," Orthar said. "Follow me."

After another hour, they arrived at the next beast. It was a 40-meter-long moray eel. Gravis decided to try his true fighting style and summoned his Void-Stone Saber. Yet, Gravis found a problem, though he had already expected that.

Usually, Gravis used both hands to grab his saber. Like that, he could use more force with his attacks. Sadly, his new hands were too powerful and massive. He wasn't able to grab the saber with both hands and could barely hold it with one. On top of that, the saber felt way too light and tiny.

'I need a more fitting weapon,' Gravis thought as he charged at the moray eel. The moray eel also charged at him, and Gravis easily evaded the attack. Then, he hit the moray eel with his saber.

Puchi!

The saber buried into the eel's body, but not that far. Gravis could only use one hand, and it felt weird to use such a tiny saber. All his previous fighting techniques couldn't be used anymore with his new body. If Gravis had a human body with this power, the eel would have been split into two parts.

'Fuck this,' Gravis thought as he put his saber away. Then, he summoned the severed pike from the dead swordfish. 'This is bigger and more useful for now. At least, I can use my full power with it.'

The eel charged at him again, but Gravis simply stabbed the pike through its mouth, into its brain. Gravis could already confidently kill these beasts without a weapon. The addition of a weapon made these fights trivial.

After more talking and more eating, Gravis realized that his body still didn't increase in rank. So, Orthar led him to the next prey, which was also quickly dealt with.

After eating his fourth mid-rank Spirit Beast, Gravis' body finally ranked up. 'Double the cost, huh?' he thought.

Gravis' body became bigger until he was ten-meters-long. He would easily tower over a human, making for quite the intimidating picture. Yet, instead of being happy, Gravis only grimaced. 'Now, even the pike is barely usable. On top of that, I can't even forge these beast parts into fitting weapons. They are only as powerful as my own body. I need to keep a lookout for materials in the Unity Rank. However, they're probably not here.'

After some thinking, Gravis decided to leave this place. Orthar didn't know of other high-rank Spirit Beasts. So, they had to travel to lands, or seas, with a higher density of Energy.

"It's time," Gravis said.

"I've been waiting for this," Orthar said while a burning desire for knowledge and power radiated from his thoughts.

"From now on, we need the same prey to evolve," Gravis said. "I propose a deal where we fight and eat the prey alternatingly. Since you haven't eaten longer than me, you can have the first one.

However, if we find a rather small prey, it would be nice of you to give that fight to me. Of course, you can also have the bigger prey."

"I accept," Orthar said. "It's not an issue for me to eat bigger prey. I also understand the concept of having a sturdy foundation, thanks to our talks. When one of us fights a fitting beast, the other won't interfere, even if the fighter will die."

Gravis nodded. "I agree. It's better this way."

"So, where do we go?" Orthar asked.

"I have checked the density of Energy while swimming around," Gravis said. "I have noticed minimal changes in density along the way, and I'm pretty sure that the core of the world is in that direction. I'm unsure of how far we have to travel, but it will probably take a long time."

"I have waited for eons. A couple of years won't matter to me," Orthar said.

"I don't think it will take us years," Gravis said with a helpless smile. "Maybe some weeks. I don't know."

"Even better. Let's go," Orthar said, and Gravis nodded.

Then, they traveled in one direction without rest. Gravis' body was way weaker than Orthar's, and using his Spirit to travel was too exhausting. Yet, Gravis' body was small enough that he was about as fast as Orthar. Orthar's massive body displaced just too much water. This slowed him down quite a bit.

They traveled like this for an entire month.

 

Chapter 379

After a whole month of traveling, Gravis and Orthar arrived in an environment with around quadruple the Energy density. This Energy density was about equal to the Core-Continent of Gravis' previous lower world. Along the way, they had also seen two other high-rank Spirit Beasts.

The first one had been a sizable starfish with a diameter of around 300 meters. Orthar had immediately been interested and had engaged it in combat while Gravis watched.

Their tentacles clashed against each other in a constant wrestling of superiority. Yet, due to Orthar's intelligence, he managed to turn the starfish around so that it was facing him with its back. At that point, Orthar's beak did the rest.

"I haven't felt this alive in eons!" Orthar transmitted to Gravis in excitement. "I feel like my youth is coming back!"

Gravis only smiled and let him have his moment of joy. Orthar hadn't fought a powerful opponent in who knew how many years.

As Orthar was eating, Gravis asked him how much he would need to hunt to reach the next rank. Orthar explained to him that he hadn't hunted an equal beast to him yet but had eaten a lot of weaker Spirit Beasts. They may not be nearly as nutritious as equally ranked beasts, but quantity was also a kind of quality.

Orthar expected that he probably only needed another one of these beasts to reach the Unity Rank. At that point, he would also be able to reforge his body into a more suitable one for combat, something he had been looking forward to quite a bit.

Surprisingly, the second beast they met was also a gigantic octopus. Orthar wasn't the biggest fan of eating another octopus, while this one was just too large for Gravis. Even with his new size, it would take forever to eat all that. That's why they left it be.

The octopus probably thought something similar since it also didn't engage them. Sometimes, there was just no reason for a fight.

So, like this, they arrived at a peculiar location after a month.

"The ocean is quickly growing shallower," Orthar said. "Are we getting closer to the central landmass?"

"I think so," Gravis said with furrowed brows. "I have feared this outcome."

"What do you mean? Isn't the landmass our goal?" Orthar asked.

"Not directly," Gravis answered. "Remember the map of the world I showed you? We are aiming for the ocean territories that stretch into the landmass. Like this, we don't need to leave the water, and you can fight in your usual territory."

Now, Orthar understood why Gravis wasn't happy. "So since the Energy density lead us right to the continent, it means that we are not on the side of the continent from where we can enter via water."

Gravis nodded. "Exactly," he said. "We might need to change our plans here."

"What do you want to do?" Orthar asked.

"Traveling around the continent until we reach our destination might take us years. You may not mind the wait, but I do. I want to become more powerful and get my perfect body," Gravis said. "I think we should hunt near the shoreline until we both reach the Unity Rank."

Orthar hummed for a bit. "Because we can then form our bodies so that we can go on land without a combat disadvantage, right?" Orthar asked.

Gravis nodded. "With the body I have in mind, I can fight comfortably on land and in water, though maybe a bit better on land. Starting at the Unity Rank, beasts are also able to fly. If you make your

body smaller, your tentacles longer and thinner, and attach some claws to them, you should also be able to fight on land effectively."

"I agree to the plan," Orthar said. "I can't always be bound by the ocean. Adaptability to the environment is important."

Gravis nodded again. "Alright. Then, let's get closer to the shoreline," Gravis said.

"I have never seen the shore before. I'm interested in how it looks," Orthar said.

Like this, they continued swimming for a couple of minutes. The ocean grew shallower until it was only around five kilometers deep, no comparison to its usual depth of about 60 kilometers. After reaching that spot, they stopped.

It wasn't that they didn't want to continue, but that a new situation required their attention.

A vast gathering of Spirit Beasts appeared before them. They were all tightly packed together and seemed to wait for something. Gravis saw no weaker beasts around. Everything was just full of Spirit Beasts.

"Why are there so many Spirit Beasts here?" Gravis asked Orthar with furrowed brows. "On top of that, they don't show any indication of fighting, even though there is a lot of prey for them around."

"This is a horde," Orthar said.

"Horde?" Gravis asked with furrowed brows. "Are you just referring to the fact that there are a lot, or is that a word for something specific?"

"A horde is a gathering of beasts under a leader. You can liken it to the Sects, villages, cities, Clans, or other similar gatherings of humans that you have told me about. The beasts belong to one faction and are, therefore, not enemies," Orthar explained.

Gravis' eyes shone a bit. "Interesting," he said as he scratched his chin. Just as Gravis had expected, Orthar's knowledge about beasts was useful. Initially, Gravis had only been interested in staying with Orthar until he became powerful enough, but he quickly grew to like the octopus. For some reason, the two really hit it off.

Maybe it was because of their mindsets? Orthar was rather smart and logical, similar to Gravis. Gravis might get annoyed by Orthar's constant questions, but Orthar never asked a question twice. He was also quite impressed by how well Orthar was assimilating the knowledge.

"So, this means that they are either gathered here because it's their home or because they want to do something," Gravis said as he watched the horde. He was sure that he could find some indication for their gathering.

He saw all kinds of beasts. Eels, sea snakes, octopuses, aquatic lizards, slugs, crabs, lobsters, and shrimps, nearly everything could be found here. Yet, Gravis noticed a peculiarity, which quickly explained their reason for gathering here.

"There are nearly no fish, even though the fish make up the biggest portion of the sea population," Gravis said. "I think I know what they're planning."

"They're attacking the land," Orthar said as he also realized the peculiar makeup of the horde. He didn't need Gravis' words to get on that idea. Orthar was smart enough to realize it by himself.

Gravis nodded. "I think so too. Is there a war between land and sea happening?"

"I don't know," Orthar said. "Let's ask somebody."

"I think it would be better if you do that, Orthar," Gravis said. "On the outside, you appear stronger than me. It should be easier for you to talk to them."

Gravis and Orthar didn't think about attacking the beasts, at least, not until they knew what was going on. If the other beasts got involved when one of them fought, Gravis would be forced to use his Will- Aura. At that point, they wouldn't be able to gather any combat experience.

There were plenty of fish in the sea. Because of that, they didn't need to attack everything they saw. They could find other opponents without any issues later. After all, they were as close to the continent as possible. Nearly every high-rank Spirit Beast born in the sea should be here.

Not many high-rank Spirit Beasts had bodies fitting for combat on land, which was why they wouldn't leave the water until reaching the Unity Realm. Lots of beasts didn't even know about the continent before reaching the level of a Spirit Beast. If one didn't know about the existence of a different environment, they wouldn't be able to modify their bodies to fit that environment.

At that point, they would need one more evolution to confidently go on land. That's why there should be plenty of Spirit Beasts swimming around.

Orthar talked to one beast after another, but it was difficult to glean much from their weak minds. After a while, he just decided to talk to another octopus. This should make the conversation way easier.

Orthar talked to the octopus for several minutes and then returned.

"We have a problem," Orthar said to Gravis.

 

Chapter 380

"What problem?" Gravis asked.

"As we've expected, this is a horde, and they are here to assault the land," Orthar explained. "The problem I'm referring to is the fact that we are now also part of the horde."

Gravis narrowed his eyes. "I don't remember joining," he said.

"That's the problem," Orthar said, "none of them joined voluntarily. Apparently, a chieftain of a larger group is staying here, forcing every passing Spirit Beast to join her cause, which is to attack the land. If any beast tries to leave the area, they will be attacked by him."

Gravis' eyes shone a bit. "And I'm guessing that she is at the Unity Rank. Otherwise, I doubt that she would be able to keep all these Spirit Beasts under control."

"The beasts don't know the specific strength of the chieftain, but she's more powerful than them by far," Orthar said. "So, what do you plan on doing?"

Gravis smirked. "Isn't it obvious? I've been drafted to fight against my will. I'm not a huge fan of that. On top of that, I didn't vote for her. I think I should talk with that chieftain," Gravis said with a smirk.

"Are you sure about that?" Orthar asked. "Apparently, she's very powerful."

"Don't worry. My Will-Aura can stop anyone at the Initial Unity Rank. I doubt that they would send more powerful beasts than that. After all, you said that she is from a more powerful organization."

"But won't that create enmity with the more powerful organization?" Orthar asked.

"More enemies and food for us. I've explained the concept of a Will-Aura to you. I need tempering, and for that, I need pressure and enemies. You can still back out if you want. I won't mind," Gravis said.

Orthar remained silent for a bit. This was a serious situation, and it might end in his death. He had to think carefully about this.

"No," Orthar said. "Ever since I met you, I felt my hot-bloodedness return. So what if I die? I accepted my death a long time ago!"

Gravis smirked. "Good! Then, let's go, but stay behind me."

"Okay," Orthar said. "The chieftain is at the very front, away from everyone else."

Gravis nodded and swam in that direction. He had to shove the beasts in his way to the side, eliciting some complaints. Sadly, the beasts were too afraid of the chieftain to attack. Like this, Gravis made his way to the chieftain.

After some minutes, Gravis was at the front of the group and saw the chieftain. It was a mantis shrimp, about 15-meters-long. Her claws seemed incredibly hard and powerful.

When Gravis saw her, his eyes shone. 'Mantis Shrimps have a powerful defense and attack. On top of that, her legs are longer than normal. This probably allows her to fight very well on land. That's an effective body.'

The chieftain noticed the new arrival and narrowed her eyes. She had been bugged by many of these beasts before. All the beasts living here knew how devastating it was to invade the continent. Nearly all of them would die. Because of that, the beasts had come and begged for their lives. This was not the first time where she took part in such a raid.

BANG!

She punched with her claws, creating a powerful shockwave that traveled right to Gravis. No mid-rank Spirit Beast would be able to evade that. The meddling beast would die without much fanfare.

Ssshhhh!

The shockwave slowly vanished while it traveled to Gravis until it was gone entirely. The attack had been casual, and it was performed from over two kilometers away. This distance gave Gravis easily enough time to eat away at the shockwave with his Spirit.

Whooooom!

An incredible pressure pressed into the chieftain. She felt herself unable to move and continued looking forward with shock. She hadn't even deigned to look at Gravis before. Now, she couldn't look at him, even if she wanted to.

"That's all I needed to know," Gravis transmitted with a smirk as he swam closer.

"Stop!" she transmitted in panic. "I'm a chieftain from the Stone Tribe!"

"Interesting," Gravis transmitted as he swam around her and looked into her eyes. His long tail was coiling around her as only his upper body peeked into her vision. "And where is that tribe?" he asked with a sinister grin.

The chieftain looked at Gravis with confused and fearful eyes. She felt that he was only at the level of a mid-rank Spirit Beast, which was obviously way weaker than herself. Yet, she somehow knew that this incredible pressure came from him.

"I have been tasked with invading the land and reconquering it for the sea," she said, dodging the question.

Of course, Gravis noticed that. "Quite loyal," he commented. "What do you get out of such a raid?"

The chieftain was a bit confused that Gravis didn't know such basics, but she had no choice but to play along. "When we conquer a territory, our Water Makers reclaims it for the sea. The land will drown, and

the new territory will be part of our tribe."

"Hmm," Gravis transmitted. "And what do you get out of such a territory?"

By now, the chieftain realized that Gravis wasn't from here. Otherwise, he would know such basics. Maybe she could get out of this. "It's a territory with lots of natural essence. Others will flock there, and we can hunt them. This will increase our power," she explained.

'Natural Essence is probably their word for Energy,' Gravis thought. 'So, by reclaiming territory, they get more prey that they can hunt. That's a bit similar to humans, but also very beast-like.'

"Our Stone Tribe is powerful," the chieftain said. "Leader Stone is a level four Lord. If you kill me, you won't know how you died."

Gravis' eyes shone a bit. "What's this level four Lord thing?" Gravis asked.

The chieftain gained more hope as she realized that Gravis didn't even know that. He probably came from the boundless ocean, away from the continent.

"It refers to our power," she said. "I am a level one Lord. You might be stronger than me, but you're not stronger than Leader Stone. Don't make a mistake and become our enemy!"

'So, a Lord is a Unity Beast. Level one should refer to initial, level two to early, level three to mid, level four to late, and level five to peak Unity Realm. This means that this Leader Stone is a late Unity Beast. Even if I reach the Unity Realm again, I won't be able to win,' Gravis thought with narrowed eyes.

The chieftain saw that Gravis remained silent for a while and finally felt some hope. She waited for around a minute where Gravis was just thinking about things until she spoke up again.

"I can lead you to- "

"Oh, right," Gravis interrupted her. "I forgot about you. Sorry, let me just send you on your way."

BZZZZZ!

A small hole was burned in Gravis' torso as a thin strand of lightning came out of it. "This will hurt just for a second," he transmitted.

Fear returned to the chieftain and evolved into terror. The lightning transformed into a thin and long needle. Then, it stabbed into a soft part of her head and unloaded itself from the tip.

Her brain was immediately fried, killing her quickly. Gravis knew that he wouldn't be able to tear her brain apart with his Spirit. His Spirit was only at the Initial Unity Realm, and it wasn't so strong that it could do anything to such a powerful beast. So, he needed to use his lightning.

Gravis looked at his lightning and noticed that it was slowly absorbing the Energy in the atmosphere. This made him sigh. 'I feared that my lightning wouldn't be able to regenerate without my control, but that worry was obviously unfounded.'

Bzzz!

The lightning returned through the hole it had burned until it was gone again. About half of the lightning had vanished when Gravis had used it to attack the chieftain.

Whoop!

The body vanished as Gravis absorbed it into his Spirit Space. 'I should be able to eat the body in two sittings. A Unity Beast should be enough to get me halfway to the Unity Realm. After all, a Realm increase could be counted as two Stages.'

"Guess what. The Stone Tribe probably hates us now," Gravis transmitted to Orthar.

"At least I know our enemy now," Orthar transmitted back. "I feel fear for my life, but strangely, I also feel more alive. I don't know if it was the right decision to follow you, but right now, I don't regret it."

Gravis smirked. "The more pressure, the better. You're also not the only one. After over a year, I also feel alive again. The nervousness, fear, excitement, and pressure is what I've been longing for. This is not the first time that I have a way more powerful enemy, and it won't be the last time."

Gravis' eyes narrowed as he looked in the direction of the continent, with eyes burning with motivation.

"I'm back in action!"