Ch. 571..580

Chapter 571 - 571 – Keeping Himself Together

This special task from the Empress truly was special. Normally, Gravis wouldn’t be interested in fighting such weak beasts at all. Every fight was a precious tempering opportunity, and if he increased his Realm by eating weaker beasts, he was basically throwing away the advantages he had built for years.

Yet, Gravis didn’t have to consume the beasts. Everything was up to him. Usually, Gravis wasn’t the biggest fan of wasting food, but if there were no other way, he could do it either way. When it concerned his path to power, he was morally flexible.

Gravis also remembered something else. What had been his goal in making his incredible foundation and Battle-Strength? What was the driving factor for creating such a powerful Battle-Strength in the first place?

It was to make it easier for him to find resources relevant to his current cultivation level.

This was very basic and the whole reason why Gravis was so hellbent on having a powerful Battle-Strength. For example, Emperors generally wouldn’t care about resources that Kings needed, like the corpses of other Kings. The corpse of a King did nothing for an Emperor, after all.

Wasn’t this exactly such a situation?

Every King desired to win this incredible opportunity of staying in the world’s best Law Comprehension Area. Yet, Emperors couldn’t directly participate in this opportunity. Because of that, the Battle-Strength of the King was what would decide if they managed to take hold of this opportunity or not.

Gravis also desired this opportunity, just like every other King. Yet, if he had decided to waste some of these tempering opportunities, he wouldn’t have understood nearly as many Laws. On top of that, he might have never met the Empress if the Red King hadn’t taken note of him. Maybe he also wouldn’t have comprehended the Law of Suppression.

The most powerful Kings in the world surely all understood a ton of Laws and maybe even several level two Laws. Undoubtedly, some of them could easily become level two or level three Emperors with their Battle-Strength but decided to wait for precisely this opportunity.

If Gravis hadn’t been so hellbent on tempering, his Will-Aura alone would maybe only weaken them by 30% or so. Then, they could still attack him with level two Laws. These Kings were so powerful that there wouldn’t be any certainty of Gravis receiving this opportunity.

Yet, all of Gravis’ preparations had paid off in a major way. As he was currently, no King in this world could even defend against him, no matter how many Laws they had comprehended. His Law of Suppression and Will-Aura suppressed every level five King by over 90%.

If Gravis used this combination, he wouldn’t even need to use his lightning. He could just walk up to them and behead them with his saber. Due to Gravis’ insane tempering, grabbing ahold of this opportunity wasn’t much more difficult than walking to him.

This was the fourth time that his insane tempering allowed Gravis to grab ahold of an opportunity that everyone in his Realm desired. Yet, even though it was the fourth one, it was definitely the most notable one.

The first one had been Gravis’ fighting against the Fire Guild in the lower world’s middle continent. Without outstanding Battle-Strength, he wouldn’t have been able to temper his body that quickly.

The second one had been the Heaven’s Trial in the core continent. Only Seed Stage cultivators had had the opportunity to take part in it, and if Gravis hadn’t had such an insane Battle-Strength, he would have died. This allowed him to temper himself in a significant way.

The third one had been the competition to be a mate to the Empress. If Gravis hadn’t won that, he would have needed to father over a thousand children. He was already overwhelmed with three of them. Making a thousand would have probably torn him apart.

This was the fourth one, and taking ahold of this opportunity would allow him to comprehend a ton of Laws. Maybe there were even unique Laws he could comprehend at the Ultimate’s Meet. This was probably worth even more than 200 years in any other Law Comprehension Area.

"You’ve been lost in thought for quite a while, Gravis," the Empress said suddenly, interrupting Gravis’ train of thought.

"Oh, sorry," Gravis said as he smiled at the Empress. "I was just thinking about how my tempering has paid off. If I hadn’t tempered myself so much, I probably wouldn’t be able to grab this opportunity."

The Empress looked at Gravis neutrally. "You act like you’ve already won the competition," she said.

Gravis only smirked. "Haven’t I?" he asked.

The Empress remained silent for some seconds. "There is a 99% chance of you winning, but unforeseen situations can still occur."

"Like what?" Gravis asked.

"A powerful Emperor might attack you, or an Ultimate could throw in a veto since your Battle-Strength is already in its own league," the Empress said.

Gravis only continued smirking. "Haven’t you said that one of the Ultimates has a lightning affinity?"

The Empress remained silent as her insides shook a bit. The Ultimates were at an entirely different level for her, and inside her mind, there was no way to resist them. Yet, with Gravis’ words, she remembered that any beast with a lightning affinity would die in front of him.

If Gravis decided to kill the Lightning Ultimate and then use his Energy to attack someone...

Who would be able to resist him?

"I feel like all my tempering and comprehension has been for nothing in front of you," the Grand Elder said with a sigh as he took part in the conversation for the first time.

"Well, it’s because you have a lightning affinity," Gravis said helplessly. "Also, I’m pretty sure that I am the only one in the entire Cosmos that can do that. I’ve told you how I’ve managed to gain my powers. If it weren’t for the highest Heaven and my father intervening, I wouldn’t even be alive anymore."

"The highest Heaven only allowed my existence due to my father, and my father has absolutely no interest in creating a second one of me. So, I’m certain that I’m the only one that has this ability."

Suddenly, Gravis’ eyes narrowed. "At least, to this degree," he said.

Now, the Grand Elder became interested. "What do you mean with that?" he asked.

Gravis explained to the Grand Elder the usage of the different elemental Composition Laws and how it might even be possible to make Gravis disappear.

The Grand Elder frowned as he realized that he would also fall in that category. In comparison to humans, beasts stored the elements directly in their bodies instead of transforming Energy into elements. This meant that a human that understood the Composition Law of Punishment Lightning could make all his lightning vanish.

In comparison to Gravis, this wasn’t as bad. After all, the Grand Elder would only lose his lightning for the current fight, while Gravis would die. In the worst-case scenario, the Grand Elder could still fall back on the power of his body.

"Do you want to try?" the Grand Elder asked.

Gravis looked with confusion at the Grand Elder. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I have understood Punishment Lightning, which means that I have also comprehended its composition. I can use this knowledge and try it out on you. Of course, I won’t kill or injure you," the Grand Elder said.

Gravis’ eyes sparkled. He didn’t want to acknowledge that any cultivator could potentially turn him into dust. Additionally, this had been a possibility for the future, not for the current him. Yet, this future possibility had quickly become a present possibility.

Gravis had to confront it.

"Yes, please try it," Gravis said. "I need to know how it feels and if I have a way to defend myself."

The Grand Elder nodded solemnly as he walked over to Gravis. He didn’t have a Spirit, so he needed to have physical contact with Gravis. The Grand Elder put his hand on Gravis’ chest. "Ready?" he asked.

"Do it," Gravis said.

BZZZZZZZ!

Gravis felt his whole being shake, and he immediately felt unimaginable pain. The last time he had felt a pain this intense had been when he had tempered his Spirit with Destruction Lightning. It felt like a powerful force was pulling at every particle of his being.

Gravis’ body swelled as he felt like his being tried to fill an endless vacuum. Yet, thanks to his Will-Aura, Gravis still managed to remain clear-headed. The pain was unreal, but Gravis still managed to fight against the sensation.

Gravis used all his power to fight against the pain and the sensation of being torn apart. He used all his will and concentration in an effort to stay whole. If he lost this battle, he would become nothing. Of course, the Grand Elder would stop if he saw that Gravis was about to die.

Several minutes passed in silence in which Gravis only gritted his teeth. His Will-Aura had long activated and shook the surroundings. Of course, the Mountain of Pride was too hard to be shaken, and the Empress and Grand Elder were too powerful to be suppressed by it.

The Empress watched with interest at what was happening to Gravis.

"Gravis, are you ok?" the Grand Elder asked.

"Yes," Gravis said through gritted teeth.

"Do you want me to increase the intensity?" the Grand Elder asked.

"What?" Gravis asked in shock and confusion.

"I’ve only been using 10% of my power. I can increase the intensity if you want," the Grand Elder said.

Gravis only looked like the world was crashing down.

Chapter 572 - 572 – Rare Opportunity

The Grand Elder was only using 10% of his power? Gravis already felt it difficult to resist. If the Grand Elder used 20%, there was a genuine possibility that Gravis would immediately turn into nothingness.

The future possibility had become a present possibility and then had transformed into a present certainty. Someone could simply turn him into nothingness with but a thought, which was absolutely terrifying to Gravis.

Thanks to his unique Spirit, Gravis could do these things to every lightning cultivator and lightning beast. Yet, now, some beasts and cultivators could also do the same to him. Knowing that some people or beasts could kill him with just a thought was horrifying to Gravis.

The Grand Elder had noticed Gravis’ change of emotions and furrowed his brows. "Is it worse than you’ve thought?" he asked.

Gravis took a deep breath while he continued resisting. "Yes. If I didn’t trust you fully, I would have already attacked out of fear."

The Grand Elder nodded. "I can understand you. When I realized that you can kill me with only a thought, I felt the same way. I know this feeling very well."

"Please continue, but keep the intensity as is," Gravis said.

The Grand Elder nodded again.

Around two hours passed in which Gravis fought against the force trying to pull him apart. As time passed, Gravis got used to the sensation and managed to resist it without having to use all his power.

Gravis’ eyes shone. ’It has become easier. This means there is a way to increase my resistance. Yet, this doesn’t make much sense.’

Beasts didn’t have Will-Auras. Yet, they still had certain resistances to Will-Auras. Every beast always had a will that corresponded to their Realm. They just couldn’t use it in an active manner. For example, in lower world terms, a level one Lord, which was an Initial Unity Beast, had a will that corresponded to an Initial Unity Realm cultivator with a level two Unity Will.

In comparison to beasts, the Will-Auras of humans were much more dynamic. At some Realms, their Will-Aura could even be weaker than their Realm. Yet, it could also be vastly superior to their Realm. Gravis was a good example.

Since a level one Emperor was around two levels higher than a level five King, the Grand Elder, as a level two Emperor, was four whole levels above Gravis, a level four King. Gravis’ Will-Aura was at the upper half of a level three Emperor, but that was only the theoretical power of his Will-Aura.

In front of the Grand Elder, Gravis’ Will-Aura was suppressed intensely. Without using the Law of Suppression, Gravis’ Will-Aura could completely suppress a level four King. Even a level five King would be suppressed by around 60%.

Yet, Gravis wouldn’t even be able to suppress a level one Emperor at all. Due to the level suppression, Gravis’ powerful Will-Aura would be fully canceled out by a level one Emperor. The Grand Elder was a level two Emperor, and the level suppression was so powerful that if he had a Will-Aura, it would be Gravis who would be incredibly suppressed.

’The Law of Composition uses the will as a medium. This means that if it becomes easier for me to resist over time...’

Suddenly, a fire of motivation appeared in Gravis’ eyes.

’My Will-Aura is becoming stronger!’ he thought.

The Grand Elder noticed the massive change in Gravis’ eyes and lifted an eyebrow. "You seem like you found something you like?" he asked.

Gravis nodded. "I have told you about how Will-Auras work."

The Grand elder nodded.

"Resisting this Law allows me to increase my Will-Aura. You should know that the Will-Aura is the most important thing for a human’s Battle-Strength. If I can’t suppress a beast more powerful than me, I won’t even be able to react to their attacks. This is, by far, the biggest component in my Battle-Strength," Gravis explained.

"Oh?" the Grand Elder said with interest. "So, I can increase your power just by doing this?" he asked.

Gravis nodded.

Then, the Grand Elder smiled. "You don’t need to ask, Gravis," he said. "As a Judge, I also receive access to Law Comprehension Areas by finding traitors. That one Elder you found a couple of years ago and the most recent one have given me many rewards. I was already trying to think of a way to help you in return."

Gravis relaxed as he heard the Grand Elder’s words. "You would do that?" he asked.

The Grand Elder laughed. "Sure! This isn’t much harder than breathing for me. Additionally, your explanations about how Laws work have also helped me in finally understanding Punishment Lightning. As far as I’m concerned, what you have done for me far outweighs what I’m doing for you right now."

Gravis released a sigh but then remembered something. "What about the Ultimate’s Meet?" he asked as he turned to the Empress.

"You have about 23 years until we need to go," the Empress answered in a bored manner. "The Grand Elder still needs to do his job, so it’s better that you remain here during your training."

When Gravis heard that, he sighed again. This was plenty of time. Then, Gravis turned back to the Grand Elder. "Thank you," he said sincerely.

By now, the Empress and the Grand Elder were used to Gravis’ weird way of talking, so they just let his thanks slip by without a comment. The Grand Elder and Gravis went to the Mountain of Pride’s side since other beasts would also visit occasionally. Staying in the middle would be awkward.

"Alright, let’s start," Gravis said to the Grand Elder. "Please use 11% this time."

The Grand Elder nodded.

"Master," Morus suddenly said from beside Gravis.

Gravis furrowed his brows. He was just about to temper his Will-Aura, but his servant interrupted him. "What?" he asked with annoyance.

"A traitor just contacted me. A lot of them still don’t know that I’m now following Master. How shall I proceed?" he asked respectfully.

Gravis blinked a couple of times in surprise. Then, he looked at the Grand Elder with a questioning gaze.

The Grand Elder combed his beard in thought.

"It seems like your servant will go on a tour for the next couple of years," he said with a smirk.

Gravis’ eyes shone when he heard that. "Yes, I think he will." Then, he turned to Morus. "Morus, travel around the Icy Pride Empire and show yourself as much as possible without seeming suspicious. If any traitors contact you, give them some unimportant information to reduce suspicion. Remember the names and give us a list of traitors every year."

"Yes, Master," Morus said respectfully as he left the Mountain of Pride.

Meanwhile, the Grand Elder continued smirking. "This will be profitable. Seems like my Inquisitors will have a lot to do in a year."

Gravis nodded. "Make them gather in a year when Morus returns. This should be the perfect opportunity to catch all of them."

The Grand Elder chuckled. "That’s what I had in mind." Then, the Grand Elder put his hand on Gravis’ shoulder. "You ready?" he asked.

Gravis nodded.

Then, the insane pain returned even stronger than before. Yet, instead of despairing at the pain, Gravis felt great. This pain symbolized his growth. The more pain he felt, the more powerful he would become.

"Make it 12%," Gravis said through gritted teeth.

The Grand Elder felt a bit nervous when he heard that, but he complied.

Gravis started grunting in pain as blood flowed out of his mouth due to how hard he was gritting his teeth. The Grand Elder felt uncomfortable when he saw that.

"Should I-"

"Make it 13%!" Gravis nearly shouted.

The Grand Elder was a bit taken aback. "Are you sure?"

"Do it!" Gravis shouted.

On this day, the Grand Elder realized that Gravis was a masochistic maniac.

Chapter 573 - 573 – Will Tempering

As time passed, the Grand Elder started to understand the true extents of Gravis’ masochism in regards to power. At some point, his body even started writhing, and he began shouting. The fact that such an act was quite humiliating was not nearly important as becoming more powerful.

The Grand Elder felt incredibly uncomfortable for several days until he finally started getting used to Gravis. As far as he saw, it seemed like Gravis was constantly wrestling with death. These shouts were not normal at all.

When Gravis started laughing maniacally due to his rapidly increasing willpower, the Grand Elder gave up trying to understand him. Such a lust for power was definitely not normal. What was the problem with just waiting a couple more years?

Yet, the Grand Elder also started asking himself if that was the reason why Gravis was progressing so rapidly. If Gravis weren’t willing to go to such insane lengths for his power, would he even be able to fight an Emperor as a level four King? Maybe such craziness was necessary to become as powerful as him.

Several Elders visited the Empress in the following years, and they always threw uncomfortable glances at Gravis. Was Gravis being punished by the Grand Elder? They were lucky that they were on the Grand Elder’s good side.

"More!" Gravis shouted, and the Grand Elder increased the intensity. In the beginning, Gravis had asked for an increase every couple of hours, but now he was only asking for an increase every couple of days. Apparently, it became harder and harder to increase his will as time passed.

It truly became more difficult for Gravis to increase his Will-Aura. When he had absorbed lightning back at the Punishment Lightning Law Comprehension Area, his progress had also slowed down the further he progressed.

Back then, he hadn’t thought much about it, but this time he noticed it. The further his Will-Aura grew, the harder it was to increase. Gravis was also sure that this wasn’t simply because of his Will-Auras growth but because of its growth in relation to his current Realm.

There surely were ways to increase someone’s Will-Aura to incredible heights in the Body Tempering Realm in the highest world. Yet, Orpheus had told Gravis that very few people could increase their Will-Aura quickly.

So, Gravis guessed that there was an upper limit that a Will-Aura could have at every Realm. Right now, Gravis was a level four King while his Will-Aura was at the level of a level four Emperor. This was already a full Realm higher than his actual Realm.

Yet, Gravis could still see progress. As long as there still was progress, he could continue. So, the times between increases became longer and longer, but he continued.

After five years, Gravis had to withstand the same level for over a month before he could ask the Grand Elder to increase it again. After ten years, he had to withstand one level for several months.

Yet, Gravis still kept at it. Every second of every day, he felt incredible, soul-tearing pain, but Gravis accepted all the pain. This pain signified his Will-Aura becoming more powerful! This meant that this pain was good and that he needed to feel more pain.

"We have to go," the Empress suddenly transmitted to Gravis’ Spirit.

Gravis’ eyes widened in shock. "What? Already?" he asked.

The Grand Elder retrieved his hand, and for the first time in over 20 years, Gravis was without pain. After such a long time of feeling pain, it almost felt uncomfortable to not feel any pain anymore. To Gravis, not feeling such pain felt more uncomfortable than feeling pain.

Of course, Gravis knew that this was only a side-effect of being under such incredible pain for such a long time. His being had gotten used to feeling pain. Gravis knew that he only had to get used to not feeling pain, and everything would return to normal again.

Gravis stood up and dusted himself off. He had been writhing so long on the ground that even the Mountain of Pride was ground down some centimeters. Of course, no one would notice such a minor change.

"Have I truly been under so much pain for over 20 years? It didn’t feel that long," Gravis said absentmindedly.

"That’s because you were fully concentrating on only yourself and nothing else," the Grand Elder explained. "To me, it had felt like forever. It was quite boring, actually," he said with a chuckle.

"Sorry," Gravis said with embarrassment.

"It’s what I should do," the Grand Elder said with a sigh. "I’m exhausted. Maybe I will take a nap for the first time in forever."

"That’s what I’ve thought," the Empress commented from her throne. "That’s why I stopped your training two weeks before we actually have to go. Get your mindset in order, Gravis."

Gravis closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yes, maybe it’s better this way." Then, he turned to the Grand Elder. "How much percentage of your power have I reached?"

"87%," the Grand Elder said. "As I’m seeing it currently, you would probably need another 20 years for the remaining 13%. Your Will-Aura should be powerful enough, and I would suggest learning more Laws next. The chances are rather high that I won’t be able to help you anymore as soon as you become a level five King."

Gravis nodded. "I want to increase my Will-Aura more, but I also realize that this might not be the most efficient use of my time. I’m also quite sure that I’m close to the upper border of what’s possible for my Realm. Right now, I expect that my Will-Aura is equivalent to a new level five Emperor. That’s already more than a full Realm higher than my actual Realm."

"I presume there won’t be any issues in your fight against the other Kings?" the Empress asked neutrally.

"No, everything should go over smoothly. Together with my Law of Suppression, I should have the ability to stop every level five King from moving, no matter how many Laws they have understood. It is absolutely impossible for any level five King to kill me," Gravis explained.

The Empress nodded. "Good," she said. "Also, you don’t need to ask. Your children have had two fights with the enemy’s defensive line in the last years, but all of them are still alive. They have also donated a lot of corpses, which gives them already many years of access to Law Comprehension Areas."

First, Gravis was a bit surprised that the Empress brought up their children before he asked, but it actually made sense as he thought about it. First of all, Gravis had always asked this question when he had met the Empress again.

Additionally, his three little kids were already powerful level five Kings. As Lords, the Empress didn’t care about them, but as level five Kings, the three of them now counted to the Empire’s strongest force, except for the Elders. The Empress had to know the status of her powerful assets.

"Thank you for informing me," Gravis said, making the Empress frown due to his unnecessary words. "I will relax for the next two weeks to ready myself for the battle. Only when I have a calm mindset will I be able to make full use of the opportunity to understand more Laws."

The Empress nodded. "Go," she said.

Gravis and the Grand Elder left the Mountain of Pride for the first time in over twenty years. Gravis went to a quiet forest at the Empire’s edges to stabilize his mindset while the Grand Elder went to sleep due to all the strain he had been under. He couldn’t even fathom how Gravis had been able to remain clearheaded after such a long time of pain. Was this the effect of a human’s will?

After some days, Gravis’ mindset had recovered, and for the last remaining days, he kept watching the CMO again. It had been a while since he had looked at it. With his new understanding of different Life Laws, many things that the CMO did made more sense now.

Gravis understood the general Life Laws even faster than before. Before he had understood so many Life Laws, he had only looked at a conglomerate of scattered information. Now, he could categorize a lot of information and concentrate on the things he didn’t understand.

Yet, before Gravis could fully concentrate on the CMO, the Empress had called for him.

Time was up.

It was time to stomp some Kings.

Chapter 574 - 574 – The Empress Becomes Azure

Gravis went to the Mountain of Pride and stood before the Empress. "I’m ready to go," he said.

The Empress nodded. Then, she turned to the Grand Elder, who stood right beside her. "I’ll leave everything up to you," she said.

The Grand Elder sighed. "I knew that this time would come, but I’m still not looking forward to it. This will be a pain."

"This was our deal," the Empress said coldly.

The Grand Elder sighed again. "I know, and I will keep my word. You’ve helped me for centuries. I guess now it’s my time to help you."

Gravis thought that the Grand Elder was making a big deal out of nothing. He only had to watch over the Empire for a little more than 50 years.

"Let’s go," the Empress said as she turned to Gravis.

Then, for the first time, the Empress rose from her throne. Gravis had never seen the Empress leave her throne before. It even felt weird for Gravis to see her floating.

Gravis also started floating, and then they flew towards the north. The Empress’ tail was over ten meters long, and it gracefully moved around in the air behind her. Even while flying, she had an aura of royalty to her.

"Empress, why did the Grand Elder react like this? It’s only a little more than 50 years," he said.

"I’m not your Empress anymore," she said.

Gravis was taken aback. "What? Why?" he asked.

"Styr and I have known each other ever since we were Kings and our personalities were very compatible," the Empress said as she started a long explanation.

’Styr? That’s probably the Grand Elder’s name,’ Gravis thought, but he didn’t interrupt the Empress’ explanation.

"We both had supreme power as a goal, and we promised each other that the first one of us that manages to become an Emperor will create an Empire. The other one will then become the Grand Elder of said Empire."

"The Emperor would take over most of the administrative tasks and lead the Empire while the Grand Elder would mainly concentrate on their own power. Yet, as soon as one of us manages to understand a level three Law, we would switch until the other one also manages to comprehend a level three Law or dies in battle," the Empress explained.

"And you were the first one that managed to become an Emperor?" Gravis asked.

Azure nodded. "I could have increased my Realm slower than him, but I was thinking more about the long term. I’ve expected that he would understand a level three Law faster than me. Even back then, he had known more Laws than me. I simply had more powerful Laws at my disposal. That’s why I thought that it would be better if I became the Emperor."

"Additionally, having the power to ascend but not being able to would feel worse than being an Emperor and not having the means to ascend. Because of all these reasons, I voluntarily became the Empress," Azure said.

But then, she frowned. "Yet, it seems like I’ve been scammed," she grumbled.

For the first time, Azure was openly showing frustration without hiding it behind a mask of royalty. Yet, Gravis liked it more when Azure acted more "human".

"What do you mean with scammed?" Gravis asked.

Azure huffed as she threw a side-eye at Gravis. "I’m talking about you," she said with annoyance.

"Me?" Gravis asked with widely opened eyes.

"Yes," Azure said. "Your unique perspective on Laws has allowed both of us to profit immensely. There is a high chance that I will learn enough about the Laws in the Ultimate Law Comprehension Area to condense my first level three Law after my next fight."

"I’ve been the Empress for over a millennium, but Styr will probably only be the Emperor of the Icy Pride Empire for not even a century. It feels like I’ve been scammed," she grumbled.

Gravis chuckled a bit. "So, I shouldn’t have appeared?" he asked.

Azure huffed again. "You know what I mean," she said.

Suddenly, she turned around and stretched her arms and tail in a display of relaxation. Gravis was not used to her acting like this.

"But hey, it feels good to finally return properly to the path of power," she said with a relaxed voice. "This entire burden of being an Empress is finally gone. Now, I can relax and fully concentrate on myself. Well, except for some minor tasks I still have to do."

"You can’t imagine how stressful it was to always keep up this royal mask," she said in exasperation. "Always acting this coldly and uptight all the time. It’s way too boring. You think I wanted to stay on this throne for such a long time?"

Gravis couldn’t even answer as Azure kept venting her frustrations on him.

"Day in and day out, I need to check up on the reports regarding the Offspring Areas. Then, I need to check the status of our elite force. Then, I need to inform every Elder about any new developments. Then, I need to plan our future strategy. Then, all these other beasts from other Empires want to meet me."

"Then there are all these annoying small-fry Emperors that want to mate with me, but I can’t just directly tell them to leave since that would sour our relationship. Then, some annoying but promising young beast comes and thinks they’re hot stuff."

"What would I have given for some random Emperor to challenge me for my throne. That would have been a welcome change. Yet, every level two Emperor was only interested in the Grand Elder position, and Styr just ran over them."

"Day in and day out, I had to stay at the Empire to be ready for any new developments. Then, there was this whole debacle with the spies that annoyed me to no end. Then, some Elder wants more time in the Law Comprehension Area, and I have to tell them that they haven’t done enough."

"At least, every 50 years, I get some entertainment with this useless mate competition. Yeah, sure, I can comprehend a lot about Life, but I mainly created this for entertainment. There are so few fights going on around me. I’ve been so bored that I’ve even taken a look at everything in my surroundings. I even know the number of leaves on the trees."

"At the beginning, I built the Mountain of Pride to occupy myself with understanding the Law of Pride, but that didn’t hold for more than 200 years. What then? I’ve already comprehended basically everything in my Empire that I can comprehend."

Azure grumbled as she was talking herself into a frustrated rage. Meanwhile, Gravis only watched her with shocked eyes. Azure was really going off, and he was not used to this at all. Was he supposed to say something? Was he supposed to agree with her? Should he just let her vent?

"Then, as we got more beasts, I needed to restructure the Empire’s living space and solve disputes about territories. Honestly, I should’ve just allowed everyone to kill each other, but that wouldn’t have made the Empire as stable. Do you know how annoying it is when some new..."

Azure continued venting, and Gravis only listened. He was still taken aback by her frustrated and open conduct. This was so weird to him!

They traveled for several hours in which Azure didn’t stop talking even once. Emperors didn’t need to breathe, and that surely was an advantage in talking.

By the end of it, Gravis only stared absentmindedly into space.

This was more stressful than his 23 years of pain.

Chapter 575 - 575 – An Acquaintance

They finally arrived at the meeting spot. Gravis didn’t know where the meeting spot was, but the fact that he saw a ton of Emperors and Kings was indication enough. Right now, Gravis and Azure were close to the Grand Lake. Gravis could even see the Grand Lake in the distance.

Additionally, Gravis was now close enough to see the Striders in their full glory. From this close to the lake, the Striders looked like a whole new world. Their size was just incomprehensibly massive.

Gravis wasn’t even sure if any Emperor came even close to such a size. One would have to increase their size with every single evolution ever since they were born to become that big, and even then, Gravis doubted that one would be able to become so incredibly massive.

The slow-moving feet on the horizon created a tremor every time they hit the lake’s ground again. The lake was probably hundreds of kilometers deep, but the Striders were just so big that it seemed like they directly stepped on the Grand Lake’s surface. The depth of the Grand Lake seemingly made no difference to them.

Gravis could see Emperors with many different elements and powers standing beside other Emperors. They were probably socializing while most of the Kings were off talking with other Kings. Yet, there were still some Kings that simply stood respectfully behind their Emperor while their Emperor was talking. When an Emperor talked, a King had no business in butting in.

"Do you think I wanted to act this reserved and cold all the time? I’m a very talkative and socializing beast, but nooooo, Styr said that this would be bad for my image. Hey, if you want to act all royal-y and stuff, you go be the Emperor."

And Azure was still talking.

She hadn’t taken a single pause. Gravis felt like he needed to pay attention to her words, but everything she said just seemed so unimportant. It was like she was filling his head with useless garbage. Yet, what was he supposed to do? Azure had helped him immensely, and listening to her complaints didn’t even come close to repaying her. Of course, that didn’t change the fact that it was frustrating Gravis.

By now, several Emperors were throwing weird glances at Azure since she didn’t transmit these thoughts to Gravis but spoke them openly. Most of the Emperors knew Azure, and her conduct was very different from the last time they saw her. Additionally, she was talking that much with a mere King? Where was her dignity as the leader of a level three Empire? Such a powerful Emperor shouldn’t talk to a measly King like that.

After having been distracted by the new environment, Gravis went back to aimlessly staring into space. Azure was exhausting him.

"Greetings, Empress from-"

"Shut up! Don’t interrupt me!" Azure shouted aggressively at the level one Emperor that wanted to strike up a conversation with her. The Emperor only looked with shock and an opened mouth at Azure. What was going on? No Emperor talked to him like that!

"And then the Mountain of Pride needs polishing, and I need to assign some Emperor to polishing duty, and they always want payment even though they’re just polishing some useless stone. Did you know how much I had to argue with these..." Azure continued as she turned to Gravis again.

Gravis only continued staring into space as he tried to keep track of what the Empress was saying. By now, he had come to the brilliant conclusion that Azure was not a big fan of being the Empress. He also guessed that it was probably rather annoying to keep an Empire going.

Several more Emperors tried to strike up a conversation with Azure, but every single one of them was shot down just as abruptly and rudely as the first one. After several hours passed, Gravis was hoping for salvation. Yet, even the level three Emperors were sent off by Azure. Apparently, she didn’t respect any of them.

"Oi, watch where you’re going. I’m growing here, asshole!" a melodious voice transmitted to the surroundings. "Were your parents a bull and a mosquito, or why are you so careless while walking!? Did no one tell you that you should watch where you’re going? They probably didn’t since you seem to be quite good at listening with these Strider-sized ears of yours!"

Gravis recognized the voice and looked over. Sure enough, he saw a tiny flower growing on the ground. Besides the small flower, an elephant stood and looked at the flower with disdain and rage. It was a level five King.

Gravis actually had to chuckle when he saw the elephant. Yes, a trunk looked kind of similar to a mosquito’s stinger. He could see the resemblance.

The elephant looked incredibly shocked and enraged. He had probably never been shouted at by a small flower. Additionally, that flower only exhibited the power of a level three King.

"Are you part of the Bulwark?" the elephant asked coldly. He probably wanted to make sure that he wasn’t about to crush a plant from the Bulwark, which would result in heavy punishment.

"Fuck you, I AM the Bulwark!" Meadow shouted back with her harmonious voice. "You think these shitty weak-ass plants in the Bulwark can touch this mighty flower!? Don’t insult me, you brain-dead, malformed bull! How are you so bad at listening with these huge-ass ears of yours!? Are they just accessories that you use to make your enemies think your head and brain are bigger than they actually are!?"

The elephant stomped on the flower in disdain. How dare this weak flower insult him!? He was about to become the most powerful King in this world! Even if this flower were from the Bulwark, it had insulted him enough that he wouldn’t receive any punishment.

CRRR! SHING! SHING! SHING!

Suddenly, several huge roots shot out of the ground and impaled the elephant across his whole body. The disdainful look of the elephant didn’t even leave his face as he immediately died. Then, the roots pulled the corpse into the earth.

"Your ears were definitely just for show," Meadow commented smugly.

Gravis had to laugh when he saw that. "Hey, Meadow!" he shouted from a distance, beside the ranting Azure.

The flower turned its head to Gravis. "Oh, it’s my boy Gravis. You’re also here?" she asked, some pleasant surprise appearing in her voice.

"Hey, I’m talking to you!" Azure shouted from beside Gravis, but then she noticed the flower in the distance. "Hello, Meadow," she said with a friendly tone.

"Sup, Azure?" Meadow answered. "You’re not your prissy, stuck-up self for once. What happened? Did my boy Gravis give you a good dicking and fucked that stick up your ass out of your mouth?"

If Gravis didn’t have scales, his face would have become red. He knew that Meadow was only joking, but her wording was just too direct.

"No, Styr finally took over as the Emperor of the Icy Pride Empire. I’m finally free!" Azure said with elation. It was almost like she didn’t even notice Meadow’s inappropriate comment.

"Oh? Styr managed to comprehend a level three Law? I always knew that this young boy had it in him," Meadow said.

"Yes, and it took him over a millennium to do it! I’m so happy that I’m finally free. You can’t believe what I had to deal with in the last thousand years. Do you know how many ways an Elder has to ask for mating or time in a Law Comprehension Area? You won’t believe me!" Azure said as she started ranting again.

Gravis wanted to talk to Meadow some more, but, apparently, Azure reserved Meadow entirely for herself. It seemed like they knew each other.

Gravis saw Azure flying closer to Meadow as they continued talking. Instead of taking part in their conversation, Gravis slowly backed off. He was finally free from this torment!

’Fuck, I can finally talk freely. Now, I want to vent to someone else!’ Gravis thought with frustration and elation.

When he gained quite some distance from the two beings, he released a sigh.

"Hey, Gravis! Over here!" someone transmitted to him. At first, Gravis didn’t recognize the voice, but after he looked over, he saw the one talking to him.

It was one of the Emperors he had met at the defensive line when he had fought Morus. It was a green sparrow.

Gravis flew over to the group of Emperors. The green sparrow welcomed him happily and introduced him to the other Emperors...

Who looked at Gravis with disdain.

Chapter 576 - 576 – Conflict

The green sparrow introduced Gravis enthusiastically. Gravis was the pride of their region, a level four King that managed to beat an Emperor. There had been a select few beasts that managed to fight an Emperor as level five Kings, but they were the stuff of legends. There hadn’t been one in millennia.

"How far has the southern region fallen?" a grey elephant said with disdain. "A measly level four King is already considered equal to an Emperor. You are really throwing away the last bits of respect I had for you."

Gravis furrowed his brows. He was pretty sure that the whole continent knew about him by now. Additionally, did that elephant just comment on the southern region? Did this mean that there were regions?

"Don’t judge a snake by its scales, Borro," the green sparrow said. "The Emperor he has beaten is standing right behind him."

Of course, the green sparrow was referring to Morus, who always stood quietly behind Gravis.

Borro, the grey elephant, huffed in disdain as he threw a side-eye at Morus. "A traitor that colludes with fish," he commented. "We land beasts are much more powerful than the sea beasts, yet the northern and southern region can’t even deal with some fish. I’m ashamed to call myself an Emperor when you’re also calling such a fish-fucker an Emperor."

Morus remained silent, but his tail cramped up in rage. Morus followed his master’s orders, which was why he didn’t act.

Gravis’ brows furrowed even more. "Why are you talking to these idiots?" Gravis transmitted to the green sparrow.

"They are from the western region," the green sparrow answered with a voice transmission. "Nearly all Emperors from the western region are like this."

"Why?" Gravis asked.

"Because only the northern and southern regions fight the eastern sea. The sea beasts already have it quite hard resisting our two regions. If we send the third region at them, they might collapse. The Ultimates don’t want that since they want tempering. This means that the western region is not fighting with the sea beasts."

"They see that our southern and northern regions are not able to overwhelm the sea beasts and think us to be useless. That’s why they always show such disdain," the green sparrow explained.

"That’s great and all, but why are you talking to them?" Gravis asked back.

"Because of you," he answered.

"What do you mean?" Gravis asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Whenever a known Emperor from our southern area challenges one of them to a duel, they always back off for a multitude of reasons. Yet, their small-mindedness won’t accept that you have the power of an Emperor as a level four King. That’s why I called you over," the green sparrow explained with some mirth in his voice transmission.

"So, you want me to kill them instead?" Gravis asked.

"You want tempering, don’t you?" the green sparrow asked smugly. "Isn’t fighting an Emperor some good tempering?"

Gravis actually had to agree. If the green sparrow hadn’t so openly explained his reasoning, Gravis might have felt manipulated. Yet, since the green sparrow was so forthcoming, he actually appreciated the sentiment.

"Some insults are not reason enough to kill someone from our side," Gravis sent back. "I’m actually interested, but such useless words are nothing. It doesn’t matter what someone else thinks of you."

The green sparrow didn’t like the answer, but as long as Gravis didn’t agree, there was nothing he could do. It was all up to him.

"Look at them," the grey elephant said to the brown buffalo beside him. "They are obviously talking to each other merrily. The southern region has truly fallen."

Gravis turned to the elephant and looked neutrally into his eyes. "Your words are meaningless," he commented.

"Be silent, King! Know your place!" the elephant shouted with disdain.

"You’re truly lost in your own world," Gravis commented again. "I have better things to do than to talk with a blind and deaf elephant."

With that, Gravis turned around and flew away.

"You’ve finally realized your place, King of trash," the elephant commented. "Trash begets trash, and as long as such trash keeps existing in your region, you will forever only have trash."

Gravis stopped.

Then, he turned around. "Repeat that," he said emotionlessly.

The elephant huffed. "I said that trash begets trash. Your useless southern region can multiply however much it wants, but as long as trash like you exists, all the southern region’s offspring will also be trash. It’s your southern region’s fate to remain trash. That’s why our western region doesn’t procreate with your southern region. We don’t want trash offspring," the elephant said.

Gravis flew over and stopped before the smirking elephant. "So, my offspring is trash?" he asked coldly.

The elephant spat in disdain to the side. "Of course it is! Look at you! How can anything good come from such a black lizard-thing like you?"

"You and me, life and death duel," Gravis said coldly.

Gravis could ignore insults about himself. Yet, his children were his weak spot. No one was allowed to insult them!

The grey elephant was taken aback by the sudden challenge, but then his disdain only increased. "Me, an Emperor, fighting a mere King? Fighting you would be a loss of status for me." Then, the elephant’s disdainful smirk widened. "But you can fight my chosen King. If you manage to beat him, I will duel with you."

"Who is your chosen King?" Gravis asked without emotion.

Some seconds passed in silence, after which a black raven appeared. "Yes, Emperor?" the black raven asked the grey elephant with respect.

"This black lizard-thing wants to fight you," the grey elephant said.

The raven turned to Gravis, and when he realized that Gravis was a level four King, he also looked with disdain at him. The raven was here to fight other outstanding level five Kings, not some mere level four King. To him, having to deal with Gravis was also a loss of status.

The raven ruffled his feathers as they stood up aggressively. "You want to fight me? Know your pla-"

BOOOOM!

And the raven was dead.

Gravis activated his Law of Suppression and blasted the raven’s head off with some lightning without even looking at him. Dealing with a level five King was no harder than breathing for him.

"Now, you and me," Gravis said to Borro.

Silence descended on the area. All the Emperors and Kings kept check on their surroundings, and they had all noticed the sudden and loud appearance of Gravis’ lightning. All beasts looked at Gravis from a distance with shock.

Usually, even if one of these Kings insulted an Emperor, the fight would, at least, take some seconds. After all, all of these Kings were absolutely outstanding. Yet, Gravis, a level four King, killed one of these level five Kings in less than a second.

The beasts from the southern region noticed Gravis and grimaced. They knew Gravis, and they also knew that none of their Kings would win as long as he partook in the competition. The appearance of Gravis told them that they wouldn’t receive any Law Comprehension this time.

"You dare to sneak-attack my chosen King!?" the grey elephant shouted in rage. "Your conduct is not the conduct of a land beast! You act like the sea beasts! Are you a spy!?"

"It doesn’t matter if I am a spy or not," Gravis said. "You said you would fight me if I managed to beat your chosen King. Keep your word."

"Fighting you would be stepping into a trap of a traitor!" the grey elephant shouted with righteous indignation. "You only want to distract me so that your traitorous servant can sneak-attack me!"

Then, the grey elephant turned to the western Emperors. "We must seek justice for our fallen comrade from the western region!"

Many of the western Emperors narrowed their eyes at Gravis. Gravis had disrespected the western region by sneak-attacking one of their chosen Kings.

"Gravis, what did you do this time!? Can’t I get a single day without you creating trouble!?" Azure shouted in frustration as she arrived beside him.

"He called our children trash," Gravis said.

Azure was taken aback a bit. "So? He’s an Emperor. He can call Kings trash since they are just Kings," she said, confused.

"You might not care, but I care," Gravis said. "You know how I see our children. He promised me that he would fight me if I killed his chosen King. Now, he wants to break his promise."

Azure frowned as she turned to the grey elephant. "Is that true? Are you truly breaking your word?" she asked coldly. She couldn’t care less about someone calling her offspring trash, but not keeping one’s word was a loss of face for every Emperor.

"This has nothing to do with you, Empress from the Icy Pride Empire," a level three Emperor from the western region said as he appeared beside the grey elephant. "This candidate is obviously a traitor. After all, it’s forbidden to kill other Kings before the competition starts. He has broken the rules."

"I’ll allow it," Meadow said nonchalantly from the ground.

The Emperors turned to the flower, but as soon as they saw Meadow, they shivered. "Plant Ultimate," the level three Emperor said with respect. "Isn’t it against the rules to- "

"Did I stutter?" Meadow asked. "Or are you just too retarded to comprehend normal thoughts? We make the rules, and I say that it’s okay. Now, go tell your mosquito-bull to fight Gravis. After all, he promised."

The grey elephant shivered. He wasn’t a very powerful Emperor. Even he wouldn’t have been able to kill his chosen King that quickly. The grey elephant might be arrogant and self-absorbed, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew that Gravis was a huge issue, which was why he wanted Gravis to attack first. Then, he could complain and disqualify him from the tournament.

Yet, Gravis had killed his chosen King immediately! He had, at least, expected that his chosen King would be able to resist until other Emperors got involved and stopped the fight. Then, he could blame Gravis.

Now, he had to fight Gravis?

"Stop!" a powerful voice echoed throughout the horizons.

Everyone turned to the source in respect as they all remained quiet.

A greyish-black deer stood on top of the tallest mountain in the surroundings. Lightning continually jumped from one antler to the other, which emanated an unreal amount of Energy.

"Lightning Ultimate," the grey elephant said with respect to the deer as he lowered his body.

"This is an obvious transgression of the rules," the Lightning Ultimate announced. "but, since the Plant Ultimate allowed it, I’ll overlook it this time. Yet, there will be no further fights before the competition starts. This is my decree!"

Gravis glared at the Lightning Ultimate, while the Lightning Ultimate looked with disdain at Gravis.

Chapter 577 - 577 – Ultimate Conflict

Gravis knew that look inside the Lightning Ultimate’s eyes. It was the look of disdain, envy, and hatred. The lower Heaven had looked at Gravis the same way when he had held it in his hands. Yet, Gravis couldn’t be sure about the reason behind the Lightning Ultimate’s feelings.

He noticed that the Lightning Ultimate only looked at the other beasts with disdain, but only Gravis had the luck to receive his envy and hatred as well. Obviously, this Lightning Ultimate had issues with Gravis, but Gravis had no idea why. He hadn’t even met or talked to the guy. How could there already be enmity?

Borro, the grey elephant, released a sigh of relief. He didn’t want to fight Gravis since he couldn’t gain anything from it. He knew that Gravis was a danger to his life, but even if Borro won, he would gain nothing. Gravis’ corpse would be worthless to him. Taking a fight without a possibility of a payout was stupid in his eyes. That was why he didn’t want to fight Gravis.

"The Lightning Ultimate has spoken, Gravis," Azure said from his side. "He has the authority as one of the Ultimates to make such a decree. Don’t worry, after the Ultimate’s Meet is over, you can search for the elephant."

Gravis was not a fan of this at all. Gravis felt a familiar feeling that he hadn’t felt for a long time.

He felt suppressed!

The grey elephant, obviously, had promised to fight him. This was a life and death challenge, and no beast would care about something like that, even at this particular time. The Lightning Ultimate was targeting him for some reason.

"The Lightning Ultimate is jealous of your Punishment Lightning, Gravis," Azure transmitted to Gravis as she noticed his confusion. "Even after thousands of years, he never managed to comprehend it. Yet, you were able to comprehend it as a Lord. He knows that, and he hates that you have something that he can’t have. That’s why he’s making your life difficult."

Gravis’ eyes shone. Now, this made a lot of sense. Yet, being envious of someone that had something that they didn’t was a weak mindset. Everyone had the ability to comprehend powerful Laws. They only had to risk their lives to comprehend it.

This weak mindset was probably also the reason why the Lightning Ultimate was an Ultimate and not an Ascender. He had probably sought power above anything else, but instead of pursuing Battle-Strength, he pursued the power that came with his Realm. Yet, the Striders blocked his path forward since he wasn’t powerful enough to battle them.

The Lightning Ultimate had sacrificed long-term gain for short-term gain. Now, he was stuck in this situation due to the errors he made earlier in his life, which made him bitter. This was precisely the same situation as Old Man Lightning and the High Priest had been in.

Both of them had had issues with becoming more powerful and were stuck at the peak of the world. Yet, the power of one’s personality could be seen when one compared the High Priest with Old Man Lightning.

Old Man Lightning had helped the Sect and the future generations while he tried to find a way to temper himself. He never gave up. Meanwhile, the High Priest had gone insane. Instead of risking his life to become more powerful or fight Heaven, he had used his power to satisfy his urges and distract him from his shortcomings. This Lightning Ultimate was more akin to the High Priest than Old Man Lightning.

Silence came upon the beasts, and they started scattering again. With the Lightning Ultimate watching over them, there would be no fight. Posturing also might give the Lightning Ultimate a bad impression of them. So, without much noise, every beast started scattering.

"Oi, fuck your decree," a harmonious voice suddenly transmitted to everyone.

All the beasts stopped what they were doing as they looked at the tiny flower with shock. Was the Plant Ultimate about to confront the Lightning Ultimate?

The Lightning Ultimate frowned as he looked at Meadow. Obviously, he was not happy with her interference. He had already shown his respect towards her by letting the earlier incident pass by. Meadow should have realized that, but she still insisted on going even further. This was unreasonable and childish in the Lightning Ultimate’s eyes.

"I have respected your judgment on the earlier incident, Plant Ultimate. So, respect my judgment in this incident. Everyone has gathered to find the most powerful King in the world, not to fight each other. We are all land beasts, and we are one united force against the sea beasts," the Lightning Ultimate declared grandly.

"The fuck are you on about, mate?" Meadow asked. "United force? Dude, have you smelled the shit that’s coming out of your mouth? Everyone knows that we let the sea beasts live to create more level five Emperors for us to fight. Yet, you come walking out here with these shitty-ass dicks on your head and try to tell everyone that you’re not a dickhead?"

The beasts took a collective deep breath in shock. The Plant Ultimate was really going all-in with the disrespect.

The Lightning Ultimate narrowed his eyes in rage as the lightning between his antlers became more violent. "Don’t push me, Plant Ultimate," the Lightning Ultimate said coldly. "I might not be able to defeat you, but I can outrun you easily. Think about your Empire and if that’s not enough, think about yourself."

"You are a plant. I am a beast. You are bound to a location and need to grow to spread. Yet, I, as a beast, can attack you, flee, regenerate, and attack you again. Don’t mistake the other Ultimate’s kindness for weakness. You might be the strongest in theory, but in practice, every other Ultimate can kill you with enough time."

All the Emperors and Kings scattered into the distance. If they got caught up in such an intense fight, they wouldn’t know how they died. Even if the chances were rather low that the two Ultimates would fight, they just couldn’t take the risk.

Gravis furrowed his brows. ’Sadly, he’s right,’ Gravis thought. ’Meadow can only spread in the ground. The Lightning Ultimate can use nearly all his lightning, run away, and attack again with all his lightning. Life Energy takes much longer to regenerate than lightning. It would only be a matter of time until Meadow would die.’

"Oh?" Meadow asked with a provocative voice. For the first time, there was no harmony in her voice. Now, it sounded like the echo of a world that was about to erupt. "You say you can defeat me? You? The four-legged, furry thing with dicks on your head?"

The Lightning Ultimate became even angrier. "Disrespect me one more time and see what happens," he said threateningly as the lightning around his body seemingly went out of control, striking the mountain below him and grinding it to dust.

All the beasts fled even further. Now, the chances of a fight were rather high. Was this the first time that the Ultimates would ever fight?

"You’re over 6,000 years old, boy," Meadow said. "You are the second oldest beast and fourth oldest being in this world. In these short 6,000 years, how often have you seen anyone fight me?"

The Lightning Ultimate huffed in disdain. "As I’ve said before, don’t mistake the fact that we didn’t attack you out of kindness for weakness. You and your Empire are important for our core defense. Killing you would only hurt us. Yet, if you continue, I will find a reason to kill you."

"So, the answer is not a single time, right?" Meadow asked. "Not one single Ultimate has attacked me during these 6,000 years of your life. And you say that it’s because of your kindness? Did you honestly think that I have never fought an Ultimate in my 50,000 years of life? Do you think that every Ultimate in the past has been so ’kind’ as you?"

"Enlighten me," the Lightning Ultimate said with hostility.

"I have killed and consumed five Ultimates in my life, boy," Meadow said with a threatening voice. "Every couple thousand years, the Ultimates forget the previous fights I had with them and become disdainful towards me again because I’m a plant."

"Have you ever talked to Sary? Due to her mastering of the Life Laws, she has lived for over 12,000 years and is the oldest beast in this world. She has seen my last fight. You know that Sary and I are good friends. Yet, you don’t see her here, do you?"

"In actuality," Meadow continued, "She was here but fled far into the distance. Why is that?"

The Lightning Ultimate wasn’t deterred by Meadow’s empty boasts. "That’s because Sary is the Life Ultimate and knows how to conduct herself as an Ultimate. This is our conflict, not hers. And, as for your question, no, we don’t talk much."

Meadow chuckled, her chuckle appearing way colder and more threatening than any chuckle Gravis had ever heard.

For some reason, Gravis got the feeling that Meadow was very powerful. Of course, as the Plant Ultimate, she was very powerful, but that was not what he meant.

Right now, Gravis felt a feeling he hadn’t felt before. This feeling was unreal. It felt like a mix of helplessness, respect, and even a bit of envy. Gravis almost couldn’t believe that he was feeling this feeling right now. He also quickly knew what this feeling was.

This was the feeling of being inferior to a peer.

Gravis felt like, even if he were at the same Realm as Meadow, he might not win. For the first time in Gravis’ life, he felt like he found someone that had a Battle-Strength even more powerful than his own. Meadow was terrifying, no, beyond terrifying.

The other beasts didn’t react to her words, but Gravis felt it.

Meadow was a monster!

"You all might want to move back a couple 10,000 kilometers," Meadow announced to the beasts.

Chapter 578 - 578 – Meadow's Power

All beasts fled. The Ultimates were about to fight, and they had to flee. Gravis was among them. Even if the Lightning Ultimate was no danger towards him, a single error on Meadow’s part might end his life. Meadow, obviously, wasn’t his enemy, but accidents happen.

The beasts didn’t stop until they were over 50,000 kilometers away. There were even two Empires between them and the Ultimates. From this distance, none of them could hear or feel anything that was going on in the distance. They had no idea what was happening over there.

CRRRRRRR!

Suddenly, the earth started trembling. At first, the tremor wasn’t very powerful, but as time passed, it became more powerful. Did this tremor originate from the Plant Ultimate? They could feel it even from such a distance!? No beast, not even the Ultimates, should be able to unleash so much power that it could be felt from such a vast distance.

CRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

The tremor became more and more powerful. The beasts looked at the shaking floor that started to split apart into vast crevices. What was going on?

Yet, when they returned their gazes to the horizon, they all froze. What did they see? What even was this!?

A brown sphere made out of an uncountable number of roots rose in the distance. They were over 50,000 kilometers away, but they were still able to see this sphere. How big was this sphere!?

The sphere rose and rose as the ground got destroyed. The two Empires between them and the Ultimates were being decimated. The earth split apart and swallowed the ore and the weaker beasts. It was like the apocalypse had arrived.

After some seconds, the sphere finally fully rose from the ground. Yet, the sphere was still connected to the ground by some kind of wide pillar. The pillar wasn’t as wide as the sphere, but it wasn’t small in any sense.

CRRR!

All beasts felt a cold shudder run down their body as they witnessed something incredible.

The sphere wasn’t just some sphere. It was a head!

And it had just opened its eyes!

Then, this pillar below the head... could it be?

CRRRRR!

The earth exploded as the Empires were annihilated. Only the beasts that could fly managed to survive. Everything else was swallowed by the earth.

In the distance, the body below the neck appeared. It had broad shoulders, and the beasts could even see arms growing out of its shoulders. How massive was this body!?

"I comprehended my first level three Law 42,000 years ago," a majestic and deep voice echoed throughout the world. It was like this voice was ever-present as it stretched into infinity.

CRRRR!

The body began rising as the second pair of arms was visible.

"At that time, I already had the power to ascend," the deep voice resonated throughout the world. It was like the world itself was speaking to them.

The third pair of arms was now visible as the body rose further and further.

"My first level three Law is the Law of Size," the voice echoed as the fourth pair of arms was now visible.

"This Law increases my power as my size increases," the voice said.

CRRRRR!

The beasts couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Meadow’s body was already bigger than a Strider! How could any beast be bigger than a Strider!?

CRRRRRR!

The earth shook as a blast went throughout the world when Meadow took a step out of her hole. Black streaks appeared in the sky that surrounded her.

Gravis couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He knew these streaks! These were the streaks that appeared when someone was powerful enough to destroy the space of this world.

Yet, this was only possible if someone reached the Realm in which they would ascend. Did this mean...

Meadow was already as powerful as an Immortal, even though she was still an Emperor!?

CRRRRR!

Meadow fully righted herself, and now, she could be seen in her full glory. She had the appearance of a gigantic, muscular human made out of roots. Yet, instead of having only two arms, she had eight. On top of that, she was around ten times as high as a Strider! How tall was that!?

CRRRRRR!

Suddenly, green liquid came out from across her gigantic body. In a matter of seconds, the green liquid hardened and transformed into black bark, which covered her entire body.

"My second level three Law is the Law of Ancient Bark," Meadow declared to the world as one of her right arms lifted to demonstrate her now, skin-like, barky texture. "Except for Inner Metal, this is the most durable and powerful material in this world. No beast in this world can penetrate my defense."

SHING!

Suddenly, the body vanished as it appeared above the Grand Lake. The eyes of the Emperors nearly fell out of their heads. How could such a gigantic body be that fast!?

"My third level three Law is the Law of Supreme Speed," Meadow said. Then, her arm stretched, but not towards the Lightning Ultimate, but towards a Strider!

BANG!

Her arm took hold of the Strider. Her hand was so big that it managed to nearly encase the entire Strider’s torso!

BRRR! BRRR! BRRR!

Some pulses appeared around the Strider as some of the bark on Meadow’s hand fell off. The Striders were powerful, and even if Meadow was stronger, a Strider was still powerful enough to injure her powerful bark.

Gravis saw these pulses and guessed that this was some kind of space-shaking Law that the Striders had. This was probably the reason why someone needed to understand a level three Law to kill them. Anything weaker than the force of a level three Law would cease to exist in this domain.

The Strider seemingly didn’t react. It simply stared forward aimlessly. Its companions also ignored the huge giant, which was even bigger than them.

Then, something unbelievable happened.

Meadow lifted the Strider with one hand!

"My fourth Law is the Law of Supreme Strength," Meadow announced calmly to the world, her words being proven by the fact that she was lifting a Strider with just one hand.

The humongous Strider was lifted until Meadow held it above her head.

BANG!

And then, she crushed it with her grip.

The pieces of the Strider slowly fell towards the ground. The pieces were so big that it would take a long time until they landed on the ground from such a height.

Meadow had just killed a Strider like it was a weak animal!

CRRRRR!

Yet, before the Strider pieces could land, they were penetrated by roots coming out of Meadow’s body. After some seconds, the pieces of the dead Strider turned into eight large pieces of wood.

Meadow’s eight arms grabbed one piece each. Then, she held them together until they touched.

BANG!

With unbelievable speed, Meadow moved the pieces back as they all ground at each other. Wood exploded into the horizons as something was left behind in Meadow’s arms.

Gravis’ eyes widened. In just one fluid motion, Meadow had created eight different human weapons!

From top to bottom, Meadow carried two spears, two halberds, two sabers, and two axes. The Strider had died and had been crafted into eight mighty weapons.

SHINGSHINGSHINGSHING!

With unreal speed, Meadow slashed with all eight weapons in alternating order. Her motions were unbelievably fast and fluid as black streaks were left behind after every swing. Every attack destroyed the space in the world as Heaven was forced to fix the tears.

In the end, she stood in a battle-stance, with all eight weapons ready.

SSSSSSHHHHH!

Yet, that wasn’t the end. Suddenly, some white streaks came out from across her whole body, including her weapons. Her weapons were wood and had fused with her body, which made them part of herself.

It was like steam was coming out of her body, but it wasn’t steam. It looked more similar to the tears in space. Yet, instead of being black, they were pure white. Her weapons, in particular, had so much of these white streaks coming out of them that they looked like they were on fire. Around these white streaks, black tears of space continually appeared and disappeared.

"My fifth and final level three Law is the Law of Deep Wood, which is the level three Law equivalent to the element of Wood. With but a mere touch, I can attack your soul. My physical power can be transferred to your soul, and it will be torn apart with but a single slash."

"So," Meadow said evenly. "You wanted to fight me, yes? If you wish for death, I will be happy to accommodate you."

"Yet," Meadow said with more power in her voice. "In this world, I am the most powerful beast or plant, bar none. I’ve even killed an Ascender once after they were ready to ascend."

"In this world, except for Heaven, I am God!" she declared, her voice shaking the world.

Deep in the Grand Lake, the Ultimates of the sea beasts ordered their beasts to never attack the Bulwark again. Only now had they realized that they had been playing with fire this entire time.

No beast could kill Meadow. Not even all the beasts in the entire world combined could kill her. Even if all Ultimates in the world attacked her at the same time, they still wouldn’t even be able to leave a scratch on her.

She was the undisputed God of this world. Nothing but Heaven could stand in her way.

"So, what’s your choice, boy?" Meadow asked as one of her spears pointed towards the ground, where the Lightning Ultimate stood.

The Lightning Ultimate didn’t move. In fact, he couldn’t move.

He was frozen in pure terror and fear.

What had he done!?

Chapter 579 - 579 – Sary

Everything was silent after Meadow said her piece. No one dared to talk in front of Meadow, as she was simply too overpowering.

"I’m sorry," the Lightning Ultimate whimpered. "I was arrogant and wasn’t able to see the power before me. Please forgive me," he said quietly and quickly.

Saying sorry as a beast was very humiliating, which was why Azure and Styr, the Grand Elder, always looked at Gravis weirdly. To them, it was like Gravis was flopping over and showing his belly, even though he obviously didn’t mean it like that.

"When I only had the appearance of a flower, your arrogance knew no bounds," Meadow said, her voice echoing throughout the horizons. "Yet, now, in front of someone that is an actual threat to you, you keel over and pronounce your weakness."

Meadow retrieved the spear she had pointed at the Lightning Ultimate. "That is the reason why you are an Ultimate and not an Ascender."

The Lightning Ultimate didn’t feel humiliated at all. To beasts, it was normal that more powerful beasts established their dominance in front of them. It was only natural. The Lightning Ultimate even went as far as falling on his knees in front of her. He didn’t want to die.

"Hmph," Meadow said as her body shrunk. "I haven’t shown my power in the last millennia because now, nobody will attack my Empire anymore. Us plants also need tempering. Yet, now that you all know, it’s impossible to return to the past."

"So," Meadow said as she was already smaller than a Strider. While her body was shrinking, she also sunk into the earth. "We will now only have four land beast Ultimates. I will take the mantle of the ruler, but most of the time, I will keep myself out of any affairs."

Her head glanced at the other Ultimates, who were watching from a distance. "If anyone has a problem with that, you can tell me honestly."

"But," her voice grew colder. "The next time I reveal my true self, an Ultimate will die," she announced.

Everyone remained silent as Meadow shrunk. Her gigantic feet had flattened an entire Empire. If the fleeing Emperors hadn’t informed the beasts in the Empire, they would have all died.

Yet, surprisingly, not a single plant was injured. Even though the earth had been sundered, no plant died. This showed Meadow’s incredible control regarding plants.

Her shrinking got faster as the seconds ticked by, and in less than ten seconds, she was a single flower again, but instead of growing on land, she grew inside a crater.

CRRRRR!

Something beneath the earth moved as waves of earth were created. It was like someone was flattening a sand-garden with their hand. After a minute, the craters were gone, and the crevices had vanished.

Meadow’s gigantic body had transformed into a gigantic root network again, which had repaired the ground. Yet, in comparison to Heaven, her work was more rudimentary. She couldn’t restore things by infusing them with Energy but had to manually move earth around with her roots.

Normally, such a thing required the earth element, but with enough power, one could manually move the earth. It was just way harder to do it this way.

The forests had returned since no plant died. The earth had flattened. Meadow even tried to repair the mountains, but she couldn’t remember how everything looked exactly. So, she simply eyeballed it. The terrain had somewhat returned to normal, but it had still been changed forever.

Now, Meadow no longer grew in a crater, but in the middle of a grass field, inside a forest.

As everything calmed down, the Lightning Ultimate released a sigh of fear. He had never felt so afraid or weak in his life. The Striders, the beasts that he couldn’t kill, couldn’t even resist Meadow. The gulf between their powers was simply too vast.

"Everyone, return," Meadows usual, harmonious voice echoed throughout the world.

"Yes, ruler," the beasts echoed as they flew back to the meeting place for the competition.

’It’s really ironic,’ Gravis thought. ’I hadn’t met many plants worth my attention in this world. Everywhere I looked, I only saw powerful beasts. I thought that this was only natural since this was, well, a natural world. Yet, in a world filled with beasts, a plant has become the undisputed hegemon.’

All the Emperors and Kings returned to the meeting place as they respectfully looked at the flower, their heads lowered. They didn’t dare to make any mistakes. After all, they were in front of their ruler.

"Whatchu lookin at!?" Meadow said, making the beasts shiver.

No beast dared to say something.

"I think they’re waiting for your command, Meadow," an unknown voice said, shocking the beasts. Someone dared to call their ruler by her name!?

The beasts looked over, and they saw a ten-meter-long, emerald snake. Her scales shone with a calm green light, and nearly all Emperors recognized this beast. This was the Life Ultimate, Sary, one of Meadow’s close friends.

"Fuck that," Meadow said. "I ain’t interested in this administrative stuff. See? That’s why I didn’t want to do this shit."

Sary chuckled a bit. "That’s what you get for boasting so much," she said with a smile.

Meadow groaned. "What was I supposed to do? That dickhead was basically pissing on my head and telling me it’s raining. You ever seen this shit?"

Sary laughed. "Yes, once before."

Meadow groaned again. "Right, that guy. At least that guy had the balls to actually fight me in comparison to this weak dickhead."

The Lightning Ultimate didn’t dare to get angry.

Gravis saw this and also chuckled. For a while there, he had felt distant to Meadow. It was like she had been an entirely different being than before. Yet, when Gravis saw the old Meadow return, all his worries disappeared.

"How did you get so good with those weapons?" Gravis asked as he flew closer. "We practiced some of them, but not to this extent."

The surrounding beasts were shocked when Gravis approached Meadow this casually. It was one thing when an Ultimate talked to Meadow like this, but Gravis was only a King.

"Oh, wow," Meadow said sarcastically. "You think I can only train with other beings? Ya think when you’re not around, I just put my head in the earth and wait for dust to gather on my ass?"

Gravis chuckled. "I mean, your head currently is in the earth," he said.

Meadow remained silent for two seconds. "Fuck you," she said. "Anyway, I can just make two bodies and make them fight. I’m already perfect with a shield and spear, so I simply made one copy with a spear and one copy with a different weapon. Then, I make them fight each other until the fight becomes even."

Gravis blinked a couple of times. "You can do that?"

"It requires a Law, but yeah, I can do that. Combat experience isn’t hard for me to gain. Of course, I can’t temper myself like this since I won’t be in danger," Meadow answered.

"Meadow," Sary said from the side. "Why don’t you introduce him to me? Is he your boyfriend?" she asked with a grin.

"Shut the fuck up, Sary!" Meadow shouted. "Have you seen the guy? He doesn’t even have bark nor flowers! What the fuck am I supposed to do with that!?"

"Come on," Sary said with a laugh as she poked the flower with her tail. "Introduce us."

"Ugh," Meadow groaned again. "This is Gravis, the guy that I told you about. You know, the guy that told me about these weird connections between the Laws? That’s him. Gravis, this is Sary, the Life Ultimate. She is also super intrusive and doesn’t know the concept of boundaries."

Gravis laughed when he heard Meadow’s introduction. "Hello, Sary. Nice to meet a friend of Meadow," Gravis said with a light, polite bow.

"Hmmm," Sary hummed with interest as she looked Gravis up and down. Then, she slithered closer until she was around him.

Gravis felt a bit weirded out by Sary’s conduct. What’s up with her?

"Your scales are beautiful," Sary said in a husky voice. "I’ve also never seen such a perfectly suited body for battle."

Gravis’ felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

"So, are you single?" Sary whispered into Gravis’ ear.

"See? No concept of boundaries!" Meadow shouted from in front of Gravis.

Meanwhile, Gravis was wholly weirded out. Right now, the oldest beast in the world, a snake on top of that, was hitting on him.

"Come on, don’t be shy," Sary whispered into Gravis’ ear.

Gravis’ body shook with discomfort.

Chapter 580 - 580 – Physical Fight

Gravis quickly stepped forward to get away from Sary. "Hey, listen," he said as he lifted both of his hands. "I have no interest in mating or starting a relationship with anyone right now. My goal is supreme power, and every additional connection I make is a threat to my path."

Sary was surprised that her charms didn’t work. She was the most desirable female beast in this world. Her power and Life Energy pulled every beast to her like a magnet.

"Huh," she said in a flat tone. "That never happened before."

"Hah! Get fucked, Sary!" Meadow shouted from the side with mirth.

Sary frowned at Meadow. "That’s what I’m trying to do right now!"

"Shit," Meadow said in frustration. "My insults have been countered too easily in the past years. I really need to check my wording."

Then, Sary turned back to Gravis and looked at him weirdly. "Okay, I mean, this hasn’t happened before, sooo..." she said as she stumbled on her own words. Apparently, she was really unused to getting rejected.

Awkwardness reigned its head and ruled the atmosphere, and no one could resist its mighty pull.

Clap!

Sary’s tail hit the floor as she remembered something. "Oh, right, what about that one grey elephant?" she asked as she turned to Meadow. "Wasn’t his promise the whole reason why all of this even started?"

"Oh, right!" Meadow exclaimed as she also remembered the grey elephant.

In the distance, the grey elephant shivered. This wasn’t how all of this was supposed to go!

"Hey, Gravis," Meadow said as the flower turned to him. "You still want to fight him?" she asked.

Gravis looked at Borro, the grey elephant. The Lightning Ultimate also glared at the grey elephant. This guy was the whole reason why the Plant Ultimate went against him! Of course, the Lightning Ultimate didn’t notice that it had been his own hubris that brought Meadow’s wrath upon him.

"Yes," Gravis said coldly. "He gave his word, and I said I wanted to fight him. In comparison to him, I keep to my words."

"Alright, everyone!" Meadow shouted as two roots came out of the earth that clapped three times to get everyone’s attention. "We have a fight on our hands, claws, roots, or whatever! Everyone make space for our two opponents!"

Gravis flew up as he summoned his saber and returned to his true size. Borro, the elephant, hesitated but complied in the end. It wasn’t that he felt like he would lose. He just didn’t want to fight for no payout. Yet, this time, he had no choice. Their ruler had ordered him to fight. If he defied her orders, he would die. At least, by killing Gravis, he could survive.

"On the right side, we have ya boy, Gravis," Meadow announced. "On the left side, we have the cowardly elephant! Let’s get some excitement into this shitshow of a competition!"

"You’re supposed to announce the sides from the perspective of the audience, Meadow," Sary said from Meadow’s side. "Otherwise, beasts might start thinking that the elephant is Gravis."

"Eh, fuck that," Meadow said dismissively. "They know what I mean."

Sary only rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Azure!" Meadow shouted. "Who’s gonna win?"

Azure flew over and stopped beside them. "Gravis, obviously," she commented like it was no big deal. Then, she turned to Sary and bowed a little. "Greetings, Life Ultimate."

"Oh, Azure," Sary said with a friendly voice. "I haven’t seen you in a while. So? Is my technique of comprehending the Life Laws working out for you?" she asked with a chuckle.

Azure nodded. "Seeing the development of my own offspring as they grow up gave me a lot of insights into the Life Laws. Your advice has helped me immensely."

"Aw, shucks," Sary said as she waved her tail in a dismissive wave. "You’re making me blush. Creating new life is just part of our life."

Then, Sary looked with more interest at Azure. "So? Did you have some good offspring?" she asked with a quiet voice.

Azure nodded. "Yes. One of them even became an Emperor already, but he left my Empire."

"Oh! Tell me all about it, darling," Sary said with interest.

Meadow groaned when she heard them talking about such unimportant stuff. So, instead of listening to them, she concentrated on Gravis. This was bound to be an interesting fight!

Meanwhile, Gravis looked at Borro. "Now, you can’t run anymore," he commented.

Borro remained silent as his body transformed into metal. Then, he charged forward.

WHOOOOM! SSSHHHHHH!

Suddenly, an incredible pressure pressed into Borro, which slowed him by over 70%! Gravis’ Will-Aura had made tremendous leaps forward since his last fight with Morus. Additionally, Borro’s body started turning into dust.

"I would advice you to return to your flesh-form," Gravis said. "I’ve comprehended the Composition Laws of all kinds of metal. If you remain in your current form, you will die."

Usually, Gravis wouldn’t be so powerful to completely turn the element of an Emperor into dust. Yet, since the Composition Law used the Spirit and Will-Aura as a medium, its strength had increased tremendously.

Borro couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Gravis was telling him that he could turn him to dust!? Yet, even if Borro didn’t want to believe Gravis, he couldn’t ignore the facts. Right now, his body was truly dissolving.

CRR!

Borro returned to his usual body, but a layer of skin was missing. He wasn’t bleeding yet, but the old skin on his body had vanished.

Gravis only coldly looked at Borro.

BANG!

Gravis charged forward with his full speed as he closed in on Borro. Borro had been suppressed to a ridiculous degree, but his body was still several times more powerful than Gravis’. Gravis slashed at Borro, but Borro blocked Gravis’ saber with his tusks.

BANG!

Then, Borro used his trunk and attacked Gravis’ chest. Gravis summoned his armor towards the end but still got thrown into the distance due to the strength difference. Yet, the trunk of an elephant couldn’t use all the power in the elephant’s body. Due to that, Gravis’ armor survived the clash.

What was going on?

Gravis normally didn’t fight like that!

Usually, Gravis would have immediately unleashed a Lightning Crescent from such a close range to end the fight quickly. Yet, instead of unleashing a powerful attack, he had only attacked physically with his saber, without any lightning.

The reason for that was quite simple. Actually, there were three reasons for Gravis’ weird fighting style.

First reason: Gravis’ Will-Aura was already too powerful. He had been able to temper himself against Morus, but with the increase of his Will-Aura, Borro would only give him a bit of tempering. He wasn’t in true mortal danger.

Second reason: Tempering wouldn’t increase Gravis’ Will-Aura by much. His Realm was limiting his current Will-Aura. Because of that, the biggest gain of tempering was lost. First, Gravis had to become a level five King and fight a level two Emperor to continue tempering his Will-Aura.

Third reason: If he couldn’t increase his Will-Aura by fighting, he decided to take advantage of the next best thing he could gain, which was comprehending Laws. Gravis wasn’t in mortal danger, but he could focus more on the body’s Laws by fighting a more powerful physical body.

Due to all of this, Gravis didn’t want to end the fight. Usually, Gravis thought that not killing an enemy immediately was playing with one’s life, but in this case, he wanted to do it regardless. He knew that he was playing with his life like that. After all, an Emperor still had enough power to kill him.

If the enemy wasn’t powerful enough to pose a real danger to his life, he had to make the enemy powerful enough to pose a danger. As long as Gravis fought like this, his enemy would take advantage of a chance to kill him. This would give Gravis an opportunity to comprehend more Laws. He had to put himself in danger to expedite his comprehension of Laws!

Gravis hadn’t done this before since that wouldn’t increase his Will-Aura. After all, he wouldn’t feel like he was in genuine danger if he didn’t give his best. Yet, since the Will-Aura wasn’t important right now, he could, for once, fight in such a reckless fashion.

This time, Gravis’ goal was to comprehend as many Laws regarding the body as possible. In order to fight Borro in close combat, he needed to comprehend more Laws regarding physical power.

If he didn’t, he would sooner or later die.

As usual, Gravis was very masochistic in his training.