Ch. 661..670

Chapter 661 - 661 – Parents And Children

Gravis appeared inside his father’s room in his human form. The fight against Heaven had ended, and Gravis no longer needed to remain in his beast form.

Right now, Gravis had the appearance of a young adult, maybe in his middle twenties. He was clean-shaven with short black hair. Yet, the color of his clothing had changed. Gravis felt that being dressed entirely in black was no longer that fitting for his person. He preferred a light blue shirt with black pants.

Gravis noticed his father and also immediately noticed the Life Ring lying in front of him. After a short sigh of relief, Gravis only grinned at his father.

His father grinned back.

"Sorry that you had to see that, father," Gravis said as he sat down in front of him.

"No problem, son," the Opposer said as he summoned some coffee. "I have to be honest. I felt some pain when the Old Bastard demonstrated his control over you, but you brought it back beautifully."

Gravis sighed again. "What could I have done? Just let my family stay isolated inside the Life Ring for hundreds or thousands of years? Some people would argue that this is worse than death. Heaven has proven that it doesn’t want to hurt me."

Gravis laid back. "However, forcing me to first hand over my Life Ring to the middle Heaven and then transporting it was what brought me to the edge. If the highest Heaven had just taken the Life Ring after a verbal consent from my side, I would have never seen the suppression."

Gravis sneered. "But, come on, forcing me to hand over my Life Ring first? That was just a dick move."

Gravis looked out of the window and saw Opposer City. "But I have to thank the highest Heaven for that. Without this forced showing of control, I would not have realized what true freedom meant."

Gravis chuckled a bit. "Of course, I won’t just feel indebted to the highest Heaven. I think it would be fair to just call it quits. As long as it doesn’t try something like this again, I won’t mind."

"Gravis," the Opposer said with a severe tone. "I think there is something that you might not fully understand."

Gravis noticed the serious tone of his father. "Yes?" he asked.

"Would you want one of your three kids to fight against your middle Heaven because you had an enmity with it?" the Opposer asked.

"Of course not," Gravis said. "This is my fight, and my-"

And then, Gravis fell into silence.

He looked at his father and then back at the Life Ring. After that, Gravis began frowning.

"Is this also how you look at me?" Gravis asked.

The Opposer nodded as he pushed a cup of coffee over to Gravis. "You are your own person, Gravis. If you have no enmity with the Old Bastard, you don’t have to get involved in my fight. So, don’t feel like a traitor when you decide to not act against the Old Bastard."

"The only thing I wish for is that you don’t directly go against your mother or me," the Opposer said. "But I don’t need to say that."

Gravis took a deep breath and looked out of the window again.

Gravis wasn’t specifically targeting the highest Heaven because of his father, but it would be a lie to say that being the Opposer’s child didn’t influence the decision. Gravis always felt like he should help his family against their enemy. After all, wasn’t this how family worked?

Gravis had also known that his father probably wouldn’t force him to fight the highest Heaven, but there had always been a feeling in the back of Gravis’ mind that it was his duty to help.

Yet, when his father related his feelings towards Gravis to Gravis’ feelings towards his children, Gravis truly understood. If one of Gravis’ three kids wanted to fight against the same enemy as him, he wouldn’t stop them, but he would also never force them. It was entirely their own decision.

"When I saw the Life Ring in front of me," the Opposer said, "I felt pained, but that was not because I felt like you betrayed me. I felt pity for your situation. Back then, you had been fully under the Old Bastard’s control without even noticing it. I felt sad for your situation, not my own."

Gravis sighed again and took a swig from his coffee.

"Urgh!" Gravis suddenly coughed. "Holy shit, what is in there!?" he asked as he stared at the cup like it had just offended him.

The Opposer sighed. "Nicely done, Gravis," he commented. "Now, you destroyed the entire mood of the conversation with your antics."

"Hey!" Gravis shouted. "That’s not my fault! It’s you that made this weird coffee. You could have just-"

Then, Gravis stopped as he looked at the Opposer’s serious face.

Then, Gravis narrowed his eyes.

"Is this a prank?" he asked.

The Opposer narrowed his eyes.

"Yes."

Gravis blinked a couple of times, but then he had to laugh.

"Seriously, how do you always get me with these deadpan deliveries?" he asked with a smile.

The Opposer smiled. "I decided to make this coffee more bitter than usual. After all, weren’t you the one that said you were a middle-aged man or something? We old people like bitter tastes."

Gravis smirked. "Do I look middle-aged to you, old man?" Gravis asked. "That was past Gravis. The current Gravis realizes that he had overestimated himself. There is so much more to learn about this world and myself. When there is so much more to learn about myself, how can I have the guts to see myself as someone middle-aged? I think a young adult is more fitting."

"Well," the Opposer said. "Age may be relevant for mortals, but for us Cultivators, age is only a feeling. Someone at the end of their lifespan can appear and act like a child, and someone that is only 80 can act and look like an old man. Age is only a feeling."

"Yeah, great. Now that that’s out of the way," Gravis said as he waved his coffee cup from side to side. "Can you give me some actually good coffee?"

The Opposer had to smile when he heard Gravis. After the lower world, Gravis had shown some more individuality, but he still wouldn’t have sounded so "demanding" in front of him. Of course, the Opposer knew that Gravis was only speaking like this because he felt comfortable enough with his father to talk without a filter.

If the Opposer would actually get offended over Gravis’ "disrespect", Gravis would probably apologize and say that he hadn’t meant it that way, which was true. After all, Gravis didn’t want to hurt his father. One could liken this kind of conversing to how Gravis and Meadow talked. The fact that they could openly insult each other without the other getting angry showed how much they understood and trusted each other.

The Opposer summoned some new coffee and gave it to Gravis, who quickly drank it.

After drinking it, Gravis released a content sigh.

"Man, that’s the stuff," Gravis said. "It’s just as good as I remembered. Hey, can I create that stuff myself?"

"Not entirely," the Opposer said, "but before we get to that, don’t you want to introduce my grandchildren to me first?"

Gravis smiled as he glanced at the Life Ring.

"They have been inside this Life Ring for 57 years. They are probably quite confused by now."

Gravis sighed again. "It’s so weird that only 57 years passed for them while 750 years passed for me."

"Time is weird."

Chapter 662 - 662 – Big Family

Gravis took ahold of the Life Ring but started frowning. There was something he had just remembered.

"Hey, father," Gravis said. "Could you do me a solid?"

"What?" his father asked.

"I don’t really want to see Morus again. Somehow, the guy just rubs me the wrong way. Could you send him to the Sky Community or something?" Gravis asked.

"Already done," his father said.

"When?" Gravis asked in surprise.

"Just now," his father said.

"Then why don’t you just say done?"

"Because it is already done."

Gravis looked at his father like he didn’t fully agree but just let it slide. Gravis turned back to the Life Ring and summoned the occupants.

Whoop!

And the sizable room immediately got cramped by scales and flesh.

Gravis had forgotten to tell them that they would be summoned into a small room. Because of that, they all walked around with their true sizes. Gravis got pushed to the side by a wall of scales while his father didn’t seem to react at all. His body was probably far too heavy to be moved by something like that.

Whoop!

The four of them quickly realized what was happening and shrunk to normal sizes again. Surprisingly, the room took absolutely no damage during all of this. Even the flower vases, courtesy of Gravis’ mother, hadn’t been moved.

Sure enough, nothing inside the Opposer’s room was simple.

The four of them looked around the room with different expressions. Yersi quickly searched for Gravis and sighed in relief when she found him. Aris looked around in skepticism. Cera looked more nervous like she expected that enemies were around, while Orthar only looked transfixed at the Opposer.

"Hey, everyone," Gravis said with embarrassment. This whole awkward situation was his fault. "So, everyone’s alive, and you’re in the highest world currently. So, welcome to my home, I suppose."

Yersi smiled at Gravis. "I’m relieved that you’re alive, father," she said.

Meanwhile, Cera and Aris were busy being shocked at the ridiculous density of Energy. To them, it felt like the Energy had become a thick liquid that suppressed their movement. This was thousands, if not millions of times denser than the core of the middle world.

Well, one had to consider where they currently were. This was the highest world, and on top of that, they were in the room of the Opposer. The Opposer was pulling all the Energy in the world to him, and his room probably had more Energy inside it than if one filled this room with Immortal Stones.

Surprisingly, none of Gravis’ children seemed to notice the Opposer sitting in the middle of the room. Only Orthar looked at him with an unreadable expression. Well, it was rather hard to determine the expression of an octopus with a ton of eyes.

The Opposer looked back at Orthar, and Orthar seemed to freeze.

The three children looked around in wonder while the staring contest between Orthar and the Opposer kept going.

"Hi," the Opposer said with his usual voice to Orthar.

One wouldn’t see it, but the Opposer felt a bit awkward with Orthar constantly staring at him. It was one thing when strangers looked at him, but this was one of his son’s closest friends.

The three kids noticed that another person was here. They glanced at the Opposer but quickly ignored him again as they looked around the room. He felt like a mortal to them.

One couldn’t fault them for that. After all, Skye had also reacted like this when she saw that one clerk back then. They had always been able to feel the power of others, and when someone exhibited no power, it meant that this someone was weak.

Obviously, the Opposer kept his aura in check. He didn’t want to scare his grandchildren to death.

"Greetings," Orthar said very politely.

When one only glanced at the Opposer, they wouldn’t feel anything right now. Yet, if one looked closer, one would be able to feel... something indescribable. It was like the Opposer was the world, but also like he wasn’t the world. It was a unique feeling that only the Opposer was able to elicit in others. It was like he was as powerful as all worlds combined but also not part of the world.

The three kids looked with confusion at Orthar’s behavior, but Gravis claimed their attention with a cough.

"This is my father, your grandfather," Gravis said as he gestured to the Opposer. "Father, these are my three kids."

Yersi looked at the Opposer, and her eyes widened. "Hello, grandfather!" she said with a slight bow.

Aris also bowed politely. He wouldn’t do that to anyone, but he trusted that his father’s father was probably more powerful than his father. "Hello, grandfather."

Cera noticed how the other two acted and also nodded her head. "Hello, grandfather."

Gravis’ brows furrowed while the Opposer sighed.

WHOOOOOOOM!

Everyone in the room but Gravis felt like they had been condemned by the Heavens. It was like they had been thrown into hell. The sheer pressure they felt for a split second was indescribable.

Gravis rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration as he sighed.

Beasts.

Beasts always needed a show of force to truly realize that someone more powerful than them stood in front of them. The three of them had only acted respectfully but didn’t truly feel it.

Yet, this couldn’t be blamed on the three of them. This was simply how beasts were, and no amount of teaching could change that. It was deeply ingrained in their instincts.

Gravis also felt the pressure, and surprisingly, he was able to pinpoint the power. "Was that the pressure of an Immortal King?" Gravis asked. According to the pressure, he felt like the person able to exhibit this pressure was far more powerful than him but was still inside a Realm he could see with his eyes.

"Correct," the Opposer said as the four beasts looked at him with terrified eyes. "You should realize that showing some power before beasts is the best way to communicate with them."

It felt weird to Gravis to talk about his children like this. It was like his father was talking about animals, but it was also true. It just felt weird.

"I apologize for my disrespect," the three of them said, genuinely feeling sorry now.

"It’s alright," the Opposer said.

WHOOOM!

And then, something appeared beside the Opposer, and Gravis was immediately pulled over to that spot without his control.

"Gravis!" a female voice shouted as Gravis felt himself being pulled into a tight embrace.

His mother had arrived.

"Aw, I missed you!" Gravis’ mom said with exhilaration as Gravis was thrown around in her embrace. "It’s been 20 years!"

Only 20 years...

Gravis had spent about 2.000 years in the middle world, but in the highest world, only 20 years had passed.

"Hi, mom," Gravis said as he became red in the face. Did she have to do that in front of his three children? What about his image as a father?

Then, Gravis realized it.

This was not a mere coincidence!

His mother knew precisely what was happening, but she still decided to appear only now.

Gravis had fallen for his mother’s scheme!

Chapter 663 - 663 – Socializing

Everyone watched as Gravis was thrown around in the embrace of his mother. Gravis felt quite embarrassed, but what could he do? He also missed his mom, and he decided to just let her have her fun, even if she planned to embarrass him in front of his children.

"You deserve that," Cera said. "Now you know how we feel."

Aris and Yersi nodded solemnly.

"Gravis!" his mom shouted with excitement. "You’ve become so heavy! Oh, my boy is an adult now!"

His mom was throwing him around in her embrace like he was nothing more than a pillow. One had to remember that Gravis’ body was incomprehensibly heavy. Yet, that didn’t matter to his mother.

After a while, she put him down, put her hands on his shoulders, and inspected him. "Blue looks good on you," she said with a smirk. "You have become a real looker! Don’t start bringing home one girlfriend after the other, okay?"

Gravis groaned. "Mom, I have better things to do than to go into a relationship."

His mother glanced at the three children. "Doesn’t look like it," she commented.

Gravis wanted to explain, but she just giggled. "I already know," she said. Then she turned to the others and performed a polite and graceful bow. "Hello everyone. I’m Gravis’ mother. I hope you can ignore my direct greeting towards my son. I’ve just missed him so much."

In comparison to the Opposer, his wife naturally felt very mysterious, beautiful, and powerful. The present beasts didn’t doubt her power for a second, especially since they had seen her ability to throw the body of an Immortal around like they were nothing more than a pillow.

The three kids, as well as Orthar, greeted her politely.

WHOOOP!

Then, a table appeared in the middle of the room while everyone was teleported onto some chairs. The four beasts hadn’t even known that it was possible to teleport someone against their will. The Opposer also sat on a chair at the table. Apparently, he didn’t resist his wife’s forceful teleportation.

Gravis felt that it was a bit funny that his father had been moved against his will. His glowering and serious face was still visible for everyone to see. It was like nothing had happened.

"Storytime!" Gravis’ mother shouted. "We should all get to know each other by telling something about ourselves. I’ll start!"

The four beasts felt somewhat awkward in the current situation. Talking just like this at a table felt weird to them. Stories were usually only shared when they were relevant and then only to companions that they trusted. After all, if an enemy learned of their stories, they might come into danger.

Gravis decided to not intervene. It was already hard for him to break the ice between his friend, his three kids, and his parents. His father, obviously, also wasn’t the most sociable person. The arrival of his mother and her taking charge was actually the best-case scenario.

His mother was absolutely incredible in story-telling. Additionally, she included others as well by asking them what they would have done in her situation. Instead of story-telling, she was actually using her own experiences as a tool for teaching.

Orthar was very accepting of the current situation. He had already heard a lot about humans from Gravis, and he had also already prepared himself to walk and talk among humans. This meant that he wanted to learn as much about humans as possible. The grand tales of Gravis’ mother counted as valuable knowledge about the human worlds.

Orthar had heard a lot about humans from Gravis, but Gravis had only been in contact with humans for around 24 years. Additionally, he could only talk about his own experiences and some general assumptions. The stories of an ancient being like Gravis’ mother were leagues above Gravis’ stories in a matter of wisdom.

Gravis’ three children felt differently about the current situation. They felt like they were in a dream. Not only had they seen unimaginable power today, but they had also seen the personalities of these powerful beings.

The personality of the Opposer was very fitting for his power, but the personality of his wife baffled the three of them. She was so incredibly powerful, but she acted and talked like a naïve girl that only wanted to have some fun. Weren’t powerful beings supposed to be prideful in their power? Instead, she acted like she was on their level. There was no hidden pressure or anything when she spoke.

The fact that such a powerful being only wanted to talk and get to know them without considering them as beneath her was astonishing to them. Was this how a human was?

Of course, this was not how a typical human was. Among mortals, one would find a lot of these kinds of people, but the more powerful one became, the rarer such a pure mindset became. One should also remember that Gravis’ mother had been born with this power. She never had to fight for her life, even once.

Several hours passed until Gravis’ mother was finished. By now, everyone felt rather comfortable with the current situation. In the beginning, they had still thrown some nervous glances at the Opposer, but his wife quickly managed to destroy the veil of mystery around him.

"Don’t worry! He always looks this grumpy. Maybe you have seen Gravis’ thinking face before. It should look very similar to my husband’s standard expression. If you don’t have any questions for him, just act like he isn’t there. Just think of him as a horribly sculpted bust that glowers into the middle of the table," she said with a chuckle.

Everyone looked at him, and sure enough, he looked like an angry bust.

The Opposer turned his head and looked at his wife, who only smirked at him victoriously. After some seconds, he looked back into the middle of the table, which only increased the width of his wife’s grin.

Gravis had to laugh when he saw that.

Yet, thanks to these words, the atmosphere became very relaxed.

After Gravis’ mother was done, it was Gravis’ turn. Everyone already knew of his story, so Gravis decided that this would be a good opportunity to tell his kids and friend about what had happened while they had been in the Life Ring.

When they heard about Heaven’s power, they gasped in shock. A level five Law? How had their father survived!?

As Gravis continued his tale, they finally realized how they had survived.

Gravis had handed them over to Heaven.

Yet, instead of feeling betrayed or angry, they realized the deeper meaning behind this. If Gravis had refused, all of them would have been forced to remain in the Life Ring for hundreds of years. Just these 57 years had already felt far too long.

They had only been able to look at the CMO. Every other Law had been cut off inside the Life Ring. They couldn’t progress in their Realm, and they couldn’t comprehend more Laws. Staying inside the Life Ring had been like a prison to them.

Handing them over to Heaven had been the best option due to the time dilation of the worlds. Instead, it was Gravis who was hurt the most. Being forced to hand over his loved one’s fate into the hands of his most hated enemy must have felt horrible.

Gravis could have refused, believing that only he was allowed to protect his children. Yet, they would have been forced into a horrible confinement for hundreds of years because of this. Why? Because of Gravis’ unwillingness to sacrifice his pride and illusion of control for their wellbeing.

Fortunately, Gravis had made the correct decision, even if it had hurt him immensely. This short moment had probably been the most painful moment in his entire life.

Because of this action, Aris and Yersi now had a different impression of Gravis. Teaching them something was different from sacrificing something for them. It felt unreal to the two of them that someone would be willing to go to such lengths for merely their offspring, but Gravis had shown it. There was no gain to be had by doing this.

Meanwhile, Cera had no idea how she should feel about this. On one hand, seeing someone sacrifice themselves to this degree for her felt insulting to her pride. Yet, on the other hand, her father had still helped her immensely with this.

Was she supposed to repay him for that?

Orthar knew Gravis better than his three children. Yet, he was still impressed with his decision-making. He, himself, would definitely not have done this. Why should he sacrifice himself for someone else?

Yet, Gravis had managed to comprehend the level four Law of Suppression and the level four Law of Freedom because of these actions. This seemingly foolish decision had granted Gravis an incredible boost in power.

Everyone had their own opinions regarding Gravis’ actions, but in total, the opinions were on the positive side.

When Gravis told them about his 700-year-long fight against Heaven, they almost couldn’t believe it. 57 years had passed for them, but 750 years had passed for Gravis? How was it possible that so much more time could pass for one person?

Time had always been a constant in their lives, and they never had to deal with these absurd time dilations. Accepting such a situation was difficult.

When Gravis told them about his victory over Heaven and about his decisions, the reactions were mixed. On the one hand, Gravis managed to get one over the highest Heaven, but on the other hand, he had thrown away the best tempering opportunity possible.

Rapidly getting Laws punched into someone with the constant threat of death was the ultimate tempering. Was it worth it to waste such an opportunity just so Gravis could do what he wanted?

The opinions were very split on that.

After Gravis finished his tale, it was time for his family to tell their tale.

Well, not immediately.

First, it was Orthar’s turn.

Chapter 664 - 664 – Killed Them

Orthar told his story.

He had only been an insignificant octopus at the edges of the world, but when he became a Spirit Beast, he had believed that he had reached the peak of the world. Because of that, he had fathered a ton of children and simply decided to watch other beasts.

This life had dragged on until Gravis arrived one day and opened his eyes to the wider world. After that, Orthar told everyone about the River Tribe and how the Tribe grew with incredible speed until it eventually collapsed into itself. It had grown too quickly.

Then, he told his story about the time between the River Tribe and the death of his backer. Gravis’ three kids hadn’t really talked much with Orthar inside the Life Ring. Because of that, his story was also a new one for them.

They felt like Orthar’s methods were cowardly since he mainly relied on his intellect and scheming, but they also realized that their impression might be misplaced. After all, Orthar was more powerful than them. Power was most important, and since Orthar’s path had brought him to his current power, they couldn’t doubt it. Yet, it just felt alien to them.

The rest of Orthar’s story went over very quickly since he had only stayed in his abyss from then on.

After that, it was Aris’ turn.

He told his story very honestly, even insulting his past, arrogant self for his stupidity. The descriptions of his fights were especially detailed.

After Gravis had heard Heaven talk about saving his children’s life, Gravis could now see Heaven’s hand in some of these fights. For example, Aris once had a feeling about an ambush that he couldn’t explain. He just felt like he was in danger even though he hadn’t comprehended the Law of Danger at that point. This was one of Heaven’s helping hands.

When he became an Emperor, Punishment Lightning came nearly naturally to him. He had decided to visit a Law Comprehension Area for Punishment Lightning out of curiosity but had managed to understand it in only twenty years.

Obviously, the three of them knew why Punishment Lightning came so easily to them.

It was Gravis.

His body was comprised of Punishment Lightning, and since they were his children, Punishment Lightning came very naturally. One could say they were part lightning.

His story also ended when Gravis killed the Tornado Emperor. After that, he and his siblings only comprehended some Laws.

Cera also told her story, but since she had mostly remained with Aris and Yersi, there was not much more for her to add. Her story didn’t take up much time.

Yersi’s story also didn’t need much time. Aris and Cera had already told nearly everything. The only thing to add had been her time when she had been forced to kill weaker beasts, but that was basically it.

After that, everyone looked at the Opposer.

"I don’t want to bore you with my entire life story, so I will just tell you about some interesting events before I became an Immortal," the Opposer said.

Then, the Opposer simply summarized some events he had been in. He didn’t include much detail, and especially the fights were very brisk. Nearly all of them were described the same way.

"I have been attacked by this person, so I killed them."

"I needed his treasure, so I killed him."

"He insulted me, so I killed him."

"He tried to scam me, so I killed him."

"He tried to order me around, so I killed him."

"She thought she could slap me just because she was a woman, so I killed her."

"He looked at me funnily, so I killed him."

"An elder of his clan came to kill me, so I killed him."

"The Clan has sent someone to kill me, so I killed them."

"The teacher didn’t like me, so I killed her."

"The school wanted to execute me, so I killed the headmaster."

This was how most of the Opposer’s story went. Someone did something, and the Opposer killed them. It was rather straightforward and simple, but it showed his mindset.

Yet, the listeners noticed several nuanced details. The Opposer never fought anyone that he couldn’t kill. Sure, his Battle-Strength was absolutely unreal, but he still couldn’t jump an entire Realm. Additionally, when he offended some big organization, he always became just powerful enough to resist the incoming attackers.

That was not a coincidence.

By now, everyone was sure that the Opposer made as many enemies as possible to put himself under more pressure. This increased his comprehension of Laws and expedited the growth of his Will-Aura immensely. He was under a constant threat for his life for nearly all his time.

It even went so far that he had been branded as a crazy mass murderer by a ton of organizations, which wasn’t inaccurate. After all, he had killed a lot of people for unsavory reasons. He definitely wasn’t a good guy.

Yet, before he became an Immortal, he stopped his insane behavior. He had noticed that his opponents had known increasingly more Laws. He had also noticed that his Battle-Strength had fallen.

That was when he decided to just spend over 9,000 years with nothing else but comprehending Laws. This was the perfect situation since he had just killed the most powerful organizations in this area.

His reasoning for comprehending Laws for such a long time was that he really disliked comprehending Laws. It felt like work to him. So, he decided to finish his work first and then go crazy again.

After comprehending Laws for so long, he basically shot through the Realms in an insanely short amount of time until he realized that his Battle-Strength was becoming dissatisfactory again. So, he went back to comprehending Laws.

And that was where he ended his story.

Obviously, there was far more to tell, but talking about the Immortal Realms and God Realms was irrelevant right now. After all, from the five listeners, only one had reached the first Realm of Immortality.

"You’re really very straightforward, father," Gravis said after his father stopped talking.

"Yes," his father said.

"So," Gravis said again. "To summarize your story: You offend as many people and organizations as possible and then just have to survive. Like this, you will naturally become more powerful."

"Yes," the Opposer said.

Gravis still remembered the high praises that Heaven had given the Opposer. After listening to his father’s story, these praises felt misplaced, but Gravis wasn’t so stupid as to think that. It was just that his father simply skipped the parts he deemed as dull or unnecessary. Yet, these details were probably what allowed him to survive these dangers.

After all, judging by what his father just said, Gravis had thought more than once that his father should have died. Some of these situations sounded impossible to escape from or survive, but then the Opposer simply said his trademarked "Killed them".

"You’re boring," Gravis’ mother said to her husband.

"No," Gravis’ father said.

Gravis’ mother groaned while Gravis had to laugh at the irony. Saying no to the claim that he was boring in the most boring way possible just sounded way too funny to him.

After that, everyone talked about some random things for several hours.

When some seconds of silence appeared, the Opposer talked again.

"It is time to talk about your futures, Aris, Cera, Yersi, Orthar," he said.

The four of them perked up with interest.

Chapter 665 - 665 – Children's Future

The four of them perked up. They had just now entered the highest world, and everyone but Orthar was uncertain about their future paths. The three children wanted to know what their grandfather would tell them.

By now, all three of them knew fully well that they sat on the same table as one of the most powerful beings in all the worlds. The wise words from such a being were worth more than gold.

"Cera, I will start with you," the Opposer said as he looked at her.

Cera felt nervous. Why was she first?

"Your current circumstances are damaging to you," the Opposer said.

Everyone at the table but Gravis’ mother was surprised about this. Even Gravis was a little surprised. What was damaging about Cera’s circumstance?

"You see your siblings, and you see that they feel things that you don’t," Gravis’ father said. "You see how Yersi is happy when she sees Gravis, and you see the bond between Aris and Gravis. Yet, you do not feel these things and try to adapt."

"You try to find these feelings that your siblings have to not feel left out, but you just can’t. If you continue like this, eventually, you will succeed, but is that truly who you are? Is it correct to adapt yourself to the others around you when it means that you will be someone you are not?" the Opposer said.

Aris and Yersi were quite surprised as they looked at Cera. Was this true? They knew that Cera acted far more like a typical beast in comparison to them. Yet, was she genuinely trying to find these feelings inside her? She always seemed so sure of herself.

After a while, the present people and beasts understood. Cera probably felt left out and different, making her feel like someone else had something that she didn’t. This could even result in feelings of inferiority.

"Don’t," the Opposer said. "You are you, and being more beast than human is not worse than being more human than beast. Don’t try to change who you are. Accept yourself as you are and concentrate on your own growth and power."

At first, Cera didn’t want to acknowledge that she strived to have something that her siblings had. Acknowledging this would mean acknowledging that she felt inferior. Yet, as time passed, she slowly accepted it, even if it felt horrible.

Running away from these feelings was easy, but confronting them was hard. If she wanted to progress, she needed to confront these feelings. Fortunately, Cera was old and experienced enough to see the truth with her current circumstances and managed to accept it.

"What should I do, grandfather?" Cera asked. Calling the Opposer grandfather felt unnatural, but she wanted to do it anyway.

"The best way is to split you three up and send you to different worlds according to your personalities," the Opposer said, his words hanging heavily in the air.

Yersi felt shaken, while Aris felt uncomfortable. Gravis also felt terrible for them, but he knew where his father was going with this. Family was great and all, but for their own good, the three of them should be split up. Up to now, they had always stayed together and progressed together. The problem with that is that they didn’t truly grow by themselves but together.

The three of them had to learn to live by themselves, without the help of their family. One always had to find compromises with themselves when constantly being with someone else. Yet, with supreme power as a goal, this was not optimal. One needed to be able to rely on themselves.

The three of them looked at each other with hesitation and reluctance. Even though Cera was more beast than human, she still saw the other two as her closest companions. They had been together for over a thousand years, nearly ever since they were born. The siblings had been a constant in each other’s life.

"If your wish is not to reach real power, you can stay together," the Opposer said. "No one forces you into the path to power. It is your decision. What I have said is also only a suggestion. In the end, it is up to you to decide your futures."

The three looked at each other in uncertainty, and they didn’t know what each other wanted. Aris wanted to reach supreme power really badly, but he wasn’t sure if his siblings also wanted that. If they didn’t want to reach supreme power, leaving them for his own future felt like a betrayal.

Due to her mindset, Cera could accept this. Beasts always put their own power above feelings of companionship.

Surprisingly, it was Yersi that wasn’t as hellbent on achieving supreme power as her siblings. She liked growing more powerful, but she preferred the companionship of her siblings more. She would rather stay with them than go her own way.

Gravis had to sigh. It felt horrible to see his three little kids getting separated, but he knew that it was for the best.

"I want power!" Cera said with motivation.

Aris heard Cera and felt relieved. He glanced at Yersi once and then also looked at the Opposer. "I want power!"

Yersi felt a sting in her mind. Her two siblings were willing to separate for supreme power. She didn’t want to leave them, but she also felt happy for them. It was their own path, and she wouldn’t stay in their way. "I also want power," she said.

Gravis, his mother, and his father noticed the lie. With their power, seeing through such a lie wasn’t difficult. Yet, none of the three exposed the lie.

"Good," the Opposer said. "Then I will tell you now which worlds would be best for you."

"Cera," the Opposer said, and Cera nodded. "You need to be apart from humans. Accept that you are a real and pure beast. Don’t be ashamed of your different emotions and priorities. In here, you feel like a stranger, but among beasts, you feel at home."

"Because of that, I would suggest sending you to a higher natural world. There will be no humans in this world, and you can fully mature into yourself," the Opposer said.

Cera felt a little uncertain. "But I’m not an Immortal yet," she said.

"Sending you to a middle world is also possible, but you will have a minimal number of enemies there," the Opposer said. "There are plenty of Law Comprehension Beasts in a higher world. It doesn’t matter that you have come from a middle world."

Cera thought about this for a while and nodded. "I accept that suggestion."

The Opposer nodded to her and turned to Aris. "Aris," he said.

Aris felt a little nervous, but his greed for power was stronger. He wanted to know what his grandfather would tell him.

"In comparison to Cera, you have it more difficult with your mindset," the Opposer said. "Half of you is thinking like a beast, and half of you is thinking like a human. When you see Yersi feeling for her father, you can understand, but you also feel that it is unnatural. When you see Cera not feeling for her father, you can understand, but you also feel that it is unnatural."

"No matter what you see, you feel that it is not entirely right. The entire world feels unnatural to you," the Opposer said.

Cera and Yersi looked with shock at Aris. Was that true? Did their brother have such intense feelings of isolation?

Aris’ body shook slightly. He had grown used to feeling unnatural about everything and had put it in the back of his head. Yet, when these feelings were confronted like that, he couldn’t ignore them. These feelings were hurting him more than he wanted them to.

"Don’t try to fully fit into one side. That won’t work," the Opposer said. "Accept that you will have mixed feelings about everything. Being human and being a beast are not mutually exclusive. You can be both at once. Simply follow what feels right for you without thinking what someone else would do."

Aris took a deep breath and nodded. Of course, he couldn’t immediately change himself just like that. This would take time and effort.

"Because of that, I would suggest sending you to a mixed higher world where humans and beasts live together without any differences," the Opposer said.

"That exists?" Gravis asked in surprise. "I thought most worlds would find the closest and best reason to go to war, which would be the difference in their beings."

The Opposer looked at Gravis. "You have only seen two worlds. Don’t expect that all worlds are like that."

Gravis groaned, but his father was probably right. One more thing he didn’t know.

"There are worlds where beasts and humans live in as much harmony as possible," the Opposer said. "The tempering and war in these worlds come from organizations, not race or species. Sects, Clans, Guilds, and many different kinds of organizations accept both beasts and humans in their ranks to kill their enemies. In these worlds, loyalty doesn’t lie with their race, but with their organization or country."

"Aris, in these worlds, you will see how humans and beasts can live together without much conflict. Both sides accept the mindset of the other side and accommodate it. Instead of feeling like an outsider on both sides, you will feel belonging to both sides. This is the perfect world for you," the Opposer said.

Aris imagined such a world and felt it to be too good to be true. Yet, would his grandfather lie? Probably not. Aris just couldn’t imagine how it would be to not feel left out.

"I accept," Aris said.

The Opposer nodded at Aris and turned to Yersi. "Yersi," he said.

Yersi still felt nervous. She had decided to sacrifice her wish for companionship for her sibling’s wish for power. Of course, she still wanted to become powerful, but that wasn’t her most important goal. She mainly just tagged along with her siblings.

"You are basically like Gravis, a human inside a beast’s body," the Opposer said. "This makes it hard to find a fitting world for you."

"When you go to a natural world, you will feel alienated. When you go to a human world, you will be hunted down because of your body. When you go to a similar world as Aris, you will feel alienated by beasts but will also feel not fully accepted by humans. After all, except for Gravis, you are unique in your mindset."

"You need a world where no one cares about if you are a beast or human. You need a world where there is basically no difference between beasts or humans, a world where there are so many unique beings that being unique is just normal."

"Because of that, I would suggest for you to stay in the highest world."

Chapter 666 - 666 – Aris And Cera

Everyone was shocked when they heard that. Yersi would not go to a higher world but would stay in the highest world? Was this truly the best path to reach supreme power for her?

"I should stay here?" Yersi asked with uncertainty.

The Opposer nodded. "In the highest world, no one differentiates between beasts and humans. There are only cultivators. Beasts are simply being seen as body cultivators that rely more on their body than their Energy, while humans are Energy Cultivators. Of course, there are humans that cultivate their body and beasts that cultivate their Energy, but that is generally how it is."

"If you want to temper yourself, you can simply take one of the portals to a fitting area and stay there. If you want to take a break, you can come back to the city and visit your family. You have the freedom to do whatever you want, but the disadvantage is that you don’t have much pressure since you always have a place to come back to," the Opposer said.

"This world will be your home until the day you die," the Opposer said.

Gravis had to smile when he heard his father’s world. Yersi would stay here. In this world, she could decide to live out her life in peace or continue on her cultivation whenever she wanted. Even better was that Gravis could visit her whenever he wanted, at least until he left for the next higher world, but that wouldn’t be for a long time. Gravis already had several plans.

Yersi looked at her siblings. She knew that the time dilation between the highest and higher worlds was one to ten. This meant that her siblings would overtake her in power very quickly.

Aris and Cera noticed their sister’s feelings.

"So what if you have less time to cultivate and become weaker?" Aris said with power. "You are our sister, and we won’t forget our time together. Do what you feel is right."

"Yes!" Cera shouted. "You have always looked out for us, and I will never forget this. Do what you feel is right!"

Yersi showed a warm smile at her siblings’ encouragement. Then, she looked back at the Opposer. "I accept."

The Opposer nodded and turned to Orthar. Orthar hadn’t spoken much, but that was because everyone simply talked about seemingly irrelevant stuff. Orthar was a pure beast and had no familiar ties to anyone here.

"Orthar," the Opposer said. "You already know what you want to do. You can stay in the highest world, but I would suggest following Gravis for a while until you are more familiar with this world."

Orthar nodded. "Logical. That was my intention," he said.

The Opposer nodded and turned to the three children again. "When do you want to leave?" he asked.

The three of them looked at each other with a bit of reluctance. Then, Aris turned to his grandfather. "In one month," he said.

The three of them didn’t need much more time with each other. Getting to know this world was irrelevant for two of them, and staying inside for years felt stifling. One month seemed to be the perfect amount of time to say their goodbyes.

The Opposer nodded. "You can have the rooms across from mine. For the next month, do whatever you want," he said. "If you want some advice on how to cultivate, you can ask me for advice."

The three of them were very thankful to their grandfather. Not everyone had access to the most powerful being when they had questions.

After that, everyone talked for a couple more hours, but most of the things have already been talked about. When a lull in the conversation appeared, the three of them decided to retreat to their rooms. They wanted to spend the last month with each other.

Of course, that also included Gravis. Aris and Yersi had a close bond with Gravis, and they also wanted to spend more time with him. Even though Cera didn’t hold the same feelings for Gravis as her siblings, she still saw him as a close companion.

For the next month, the four of them stayed together for most of the time. From time to time, one of them went to the Opposer to ask for advice. The Opposer gladly gave them the answers they wanted. Orthar simply waited in a different room, just feeling the different atmosphere of the highest world.

And before they knew it, time to say goodbye had come.

Everyone gathered in the Opposer’s room. The three siblings looked with reluctance at each other, but they also wanted to get back to cultivating.

WHOOOM!

Two portals opened in front of Aris and Cera. They threw one last hesitating glance at each other.

PACK!

Not before Gravis pulled them all into a hug. "I will miss you," he said with sadness.

PACK!

And then Gravis’ mother joined them in the hug. "We haven’t spent much time with each other, but I still see you as family. I will also miss you," she said.

Yersi returned the hug, and Aris did so too, after some hesitation. Cera simply let it happen. She didn’t feel these things that humans felt and started to accept that.

After a minute, everyone split up again.

Cera looked at Yersi one last time. "I will miss you, sister," she said.

"I will miss you too, sister," Yersi said, her voice shaking a bit.

Then, Cera turned to Aris. "When we meet again, I will be more powerful than you," she said with confidence.

"Try it," Aris said with a smirk. Then, he also turned to Yersi. "Goodbye, sister. I wish you all the best," he said.

"I wish you also the best," Yersi said, some tears appearing in her eyes.

Cera charged through the portal, and it quickly closed behind her. There was a possibility that they would never see Cera again.

Aris looked at Gravis. "When I return, I will be the stronger one of us," Aris said with a smirk. "But even if you are the weaker one, you will still be my father."

Gravis nodded with a smirk. "Do your best, kiddo!" he said with a thumbs up.

Aris smiled warmly one last time and also entered the portal, which quickly closed.

Aris and Cera were gone, and there was a chance that they would never return.

Gravis’ smile broke when they vanished, and a heartbroken look appeared on his face. This might have been the last time he would ever see those two. He didn’t want to let them go. He was their father, and he had to look out for them. Yet, Gravis knew perfectly well that he needed to let them go. They needed to forge their own paths.

"Hey," Yersi said softly as she put one of her hands on Gravis’ shoulder with tears. "I’m still here. I know how difficult this has to be for you."

Tears appeared in Gravis’ eyes as he tightly hugged his daughter. He had remained strong for Aris and Cera, but now they were gone.

There was a time to be strong.

There was a time to be weak.

Right now, Gravis only wanted to hold his remaining daughter. He just wanted to feel the closeness of family.

Yersi broke into tears as she also hugged her father. She felt just as much pain as her father, and she also wanted to hold her remaining family.

Fortunately, the two of them could stay together.

Chapter 667 - 667 – Money!

After a while, the two of them separated again.

The time with his family had helped Gravis to get in tune with his emotions again. He had had them suppressed for 700 years, and unlocking them was difficult. Thankfully, him comprehending the level four Law of Freedom helped a lot. He could do what he wanted, and he could feel what he wanted. He no longer needed a massive crying session to feel good again.

"What’s your plan now, Gravis?" his father asked.

Gravis smiled. The fact that his daughter remained gave him an additional reason to go through with his plan.

With a smirk, he turned to his father.

"I will open a forge and earn lots of money!" he shouted.

Yersi was surprised. She had not expected that. Orthar was also a bit surprised, but he very quickly discerned the reason for Gravis’ decision.

"Why?" the Opposer asked with a smirk. He already knew why Gravis wanted to earn money, but he was still interested in what Gravis would say.

"First of all, I am now powerful enough to live in the actual city," Gravis said. "I can’t always live with you two. Otherwise, I will always feel like a kid. I need my own place, and for that, I need money."

Gravis’ mother smiled when she heard that. Sure enough, her son was becoming an adult. This was also the reason why she loved Gravis so much.

Most of their children decided to not cultivate. Due to that, their father elevated them to become Immortal Emperors. Yet, when someone young was granted so much power with no effort, the person had a very high chance to become arrogant and conceited.

Gravis’ mother wanted them to be happy, which was why she supported that, but she also disliked what her children often became. Because of these reasons, a feeling of alienation often appeared. They were still her children, but she simply didn’t like their personalities.

Gravis’ mother was much more in tune with her emotions than Gravis’ father. Yet, this also allowed her to easily shut out people from her life.

This might seem contradictory at first glance, but it actually made sense. The Opposer was still unsure about his feelings and wanted to learn how to love again. This made him decide against disliking his family, even if his personality clashed with them.

Meanwhile, Gravis’ mother had no problems with that. She knew whom she liked and whom she disliked. If one of her children became arrogant and conceited, they had basically already died in her eyes. She would still remember the innocent kids they had been, but the new person was no longer the old person.

She had seen so many of her children dying that she had no problems with cutting contact with some of them. Of course, this only counted for those who actually grew up to be arrogant and conceited without peers. She still loved the good ones with all her heart.

So, surprisingly, even though Gravis’ mother was much nicer and accommodating than Gravis’ father, the arrogant children would hit a brick wall when wanting something from her. They had much higher chances to get something out of their father.

Gravis was one of her few children that actually earned nearly everything himself. He might feel a lot of pride in his power, but that was okay. After all, he had earned most of it himself. If one put a lot of work into something and then felt pride in it, they deserved to feel prideful of their creation or what they had become.

"And?" the Opposer asked with a smirk. There were more reasons why Gravis wanted to earn money.

"And I need to check up on some Laws!" Gravis said with a smirk. "If a middle world has Law Comprehension Areas, the highest world must have something even better. I bet there is no better place to comprehend Laws than this very city."

"Yet, nothing comes for free in this world. So, to learn more about Laws, I need money. I already rejected following Heaven’s path, and that means that I have to work even harder. Heaven said comprehending the Situational Laws requires luck and chance."

"Yet," Gravis shouted as he lifted his index finger, "others must surely also need these Laws, and there must be people that know these Laws. This means that there is a need for these kinds of Laws, and when there is a need, there is business to be made. I’m certain that, if I have enough money, I can gain insights into these Laws. So, I need money."

Yersi was intrigued. Business? What was that? She had heard stories about her father’s life, but she hadn’t heard about something like business. Was this something that humans created?

In comparison, Orthar had siphoned as much knowledge out of Gravis as he could. This meant that he also saw the appeal of business and how it worked. It was a genius idea, which he hadn’t been able to implement since there was no such thing as currency in his old middle world. Everyone only needed corpses and fights.

Yet, humans needed more.

They needed Energy to cultivate.

They needed resources for weapons.

They needed resources for armor.

They needed resources for Formation Arrays.

They needed resources for their homes.

They needed resources for their families.

This was another integral difference between humans and beasts. Beasts gained access to Law Comprehension Areas by offering their services, but humans had money.

Money was great!

If someone had a problem, they could just throw money at it until it weakened the problem to a minuscule degree.

Don’t have power? Go buy a super powerful weapon or one-time-use talisman.

Is your home threatened by an attacker? Go buy a super powerful Formation Array.

Do you need to raise your Realm? Go buy a ton of Immortal Stones.

Do you need Laws? Go buy exclusive access to books, tomes, teachers, and Law Comprehension Areas.

Do you need tempering? Go buy access to exclusive arenas for your Realm! The administrators will find just the right opponent for you.

Money couldn’t completely solve everything, but it allowed someone to vastly weaken the difficulties of overcoming a problem.

The Opposer smirked. "And?" he asked. There was one more reason.

Gravis smiled and pulled Yersi closer to him. "And I want my daughter to have a great Avatar when she becomes an Immortal."

Yersi was shocked. She couldn’t accept that!

Some guilt appeared inside her. "Father, I have lied previously. I would rather stay with my family than chase supreme power."

Gravis dismissively waved his hand. "I know," he said, "but that is how you feel right now. If you ever feel the need to increase your power again, I want you to have a great start. I want you to have the freedom in your decision. If you ever want to cultivate again, and you don’t have a good Avatar, you will feel regret, and I don’t want that!"

Yersi was still uncomfortable with the idea. "But father, I wouldn’t have worked for that power myself."

Gravis snorted. "What? You think you will just get that?" he asked with a smirk.

Now, Yersi was confused again.

"You will help me!" Gravis said as he pointed at her. "You will be employed by me. You will be the store clerk and will be responsible for customer relations and making them buy as much as possible."

Yersi was shocked. She? She was supposed to sell stuff? She hadn’t even heard about business until today! Additionally, she had never spoken to any other human! How was she supposed to sell stuff!?

"Don’t worry," Gravis said with a smirk. "You will get the hang of it. Take it as a learning opportunity and a way to get familiar with humans and your new home."

Yersi still felt unsure, but these feelings quickly transformed into thankfulness. She was old enough that she could see all the facets of this decision.

"Okay," she said quietly with a smile.

"Orthar!" Gravis shouted as he pointed at Orthar.

"Business opportunity, intelligence, haggling, resource acquirement, market study," Orthar answered immediately. He also liked this idea.

Gravis’ outstretched finger faltered. "Yeah, that," he said, all his momentum gone.

Gravis’ mother chuckled when she saw that. Her son was creating his own business.

She just waited for the inevitable question.

Gravis turned to his father with an embarrassed smile.

His father knew what was coming, but he still wanted his son to say it. "Yes?" he asked.

"Ehm," Gravis said with some embarrassment, "Could you show me the best direction on how to create a business?"

"Also," Gravis said as he became red in the face. "I kind of need some starting capital. So, can I loan some money, please? I’ll pay you back, I swear!"

And there it was.

Chapter 668 - 668 – Mom's Power

"You don’t need more money," the Opposer said.

Gravis was a bit surprised when he heard that. "But I need a shop, and I need additional resources to forge. I probably also need other things."

"Gravis," the Opposer said as he stopped him. "You have half a middle world of ore in your Spirit Space. That’s plenty enough to buy a shop."

Gravis was taken aback. "That ore is worth so much!?" he asked in shock.

Of course Gravis was shocked. There were plenty of Immortal beggars in the city. This showed how expensive it was to buy a property in the city. He had expected that he needed much more. Additionally, a shop was more expensive than a house.

The Opposer sighed. "You have been in a natural world for far too long," he said. "Every ore node is worth incredibly much, and you have several of those inside your Spirit Space. You are sitting on several mountains of gold."

"Huh," Gravis uttered as he scratched his chin. "That makes things easier, but I still need to know how to create a business."

"Gravis," the Opposer said. "I might be nearly omnipotent, but creating a business is not something I have ever done. I only fought without a home or business until I became as powerful as the Old Bastard."

Gravis sighed. "Fuck, that makes things harder. Who am I supposed to ask then?"

BANG!

Gravis felt the powerful flick of a finger on his forehead.

"Am I only air to you!?" Gravis’ mother asked with puffed cheeks.

"Mom?" Gravis asked in shock. "You know how to create a business?"

Gravis’ mother seemed insulted, and she huffed. "Where do you think we get all our money from? Your father only sits on his ass all day, glaring into the room."

Gravis shook his head. "Wait," he said. "Does that mean you are earning all the money?"

His mother huffed again. "Who else?"

Gravis looked at his father with a weird expression.

"I’m letting her earn the money because it’s her hobby," the Opposer said, feeling his dignity being threatened by Gravis’ expression.

Then, Gravis looked at his mother again, who huffed and looked to the side. "So what?" she said. "I like earning money."

It was obvious that the Opposer could get all the money he wanted. He only needed to kill some supremely powerful cultivator and loot all their belongings. Yet, there was no reason to do that. After all, at his level, money was irrelevant. The progress of his power didn’t rely on money at all.

It also made sense that Gravis’ mother had a hobby. If she had nothing to do for her entire life, she would get bored to death.

Gravis’ mother puffed her chest out. "Your father’s title might be in the name of the city, but I own this city!" she proclaimed with pride. "I can ruin all the businesses in this city with but a flick of my finger. Do you think every business owner in the past has been so deferential to you because you’re your father’s son? No! They were afraid of angering me!"

"Your father might not do something to them if they mistreat you, but I will ruin the life of anyone that mistreats my baby boy!" she said with power.

Gravis became red in the face. "Mom, I’m not a kid anymore."

Suddenly, a kind smile reappeared on her face. "Oh, I know, honey," she said warmly. "I was talking about the past, not now."

Gravis felt like he saw his mother’s true self for the first time today. His mother had such a ridiculous amount of soft power? He had always thought that his mother only lived her life in peace. Apparently, that wasn’t true. She was also a scary businesswoman.

"Okay, mom," Gravis said. "Then, can you help me with creating my business?"

"20%," his mother said.

Gravis was a bit confused. "What?"

"I want 20% of your shares," she said.

Gravis was still confused. "What are shares?" he asked.

His mother huffed. "You want to create a business but don’t even know what shares are?"

Gravis just stayed silent with a confused look on his face. Wasn’t he just supposed to forge stuff and sell it?

"It’s the ownership of your business," she said. "You can publicly trade the ownership of your business with other people. They give you money for partial ownership. Of course, since you already have a large enough capital and are not planning on expanding, you shouldn’t need that."

"But if you want my help, I want to own 20% of your company," she said.

Gravis felt like this was a bit much, but he had already felt the pressure of his mother. He needed her, and she knew that Gravis knew that he had no other choice.

Gravis sighed. "Okay," he conceded.

Suddenly, Gravis was pulled to his mother and found himself in a firm handshake.

"Happy to do business with you," his mother said with a smile.

Yersi watched this with interest. She still didn’t exactly know what a business was, but she somehow felt like her father had just lost to her grandma.

"And that’s how she makes her money," the Opposer commented, eliciting a venomous glare from his wife. "She only needs to give you advice without having to invest any money into your business. Like this, she will earn a ton of money with just some words."

Gravis looked with shock and betrayal at his mother, but she held firm with her smile. "Take this as your first lesson. Inform yourself before you make any major decisions, or you will be taken advantage of."

"But how am I supposed to inform myself when I don’t know how to inform myself?" Gravis asked.

"Well," his mother said as she stopped speaking for a while.

...

"Sucks to be you, I guess," she said after some seconds.

Whooop!

Suddenly, a ten-meter-long parchment appeared in front of Gravis. Gravis looked at it and saw that the writing on it was tiny!

"This is our contract," she said. "Sign it."

Gravis looked at the bottom where he was supposed to sign but stopped. Instead, he decided to read through the contract. Gravis was an Immortal now, and reading through such a ton of writing didn’t take long.

One passage made Gravis blink a couple of times.

"I forfeit every right to me as a person and will forever make my mother lunch."

Gravis looked at his mother with narrowed eyes and pointed at the passage.

PACK!

His mother put her hand on Gravis’ shoulder. "Well done!" she said happily. "Always look at what you sign."

Whooop!

A new contract appeared, and this one was much shorter. He looked at the contract, and it basically only said that his mother should give him guidance and that she gets 20% of the company.

Yet, Gravis felt that something was different.

"This contract doesn’t exhibit the same fluctuations as the last one," he said.

PACK!

Another hand on his shoulder. "Well done!" his mother said. "Important contracts need to be issued by the Contract Officiation Office first. Normal paper can be altered easily after signing it, making it unfit for contracts between people that know Laws. Because of that, every important contract needs to be sent to the Contract Officiation Office for processing. This makes it impossible for the contents of the contract to be altered."

Gravis was taken aback. He thought doing business was much more straightforward.

Another contract appeared, but Gravis found a tiny clause, which he wouldn’t have found if he hadn’t looked carefully. Once again, he was supposed to make lunch every day.

"Great!" his mother said. "This clause is just big enough to still count. Anything smaller wouldn’t be counted as official."

Another one appeared, and Gravis saw another problem.

’This isn’t going to end soon, is it?’ Gravis thought.

Chapter 669 - 669 – Opposer City

Over the next two hours, Gravis and his mother went through a ton of contracts, all having been manipulated in some way. If Gravis hadn’t learned all of these secrets and ways to screw people over, the chances would have been high for him to get scammed.

Some of the ways to screw someone over were insane. For example, there was a way to change the consistency of the paper so that the coloring of it would spell out an additional clause. As long as the contract went through the Contract Officiation Office, this would still be okay. After all, the office only made it so that the contract couldn’t be altered. The contents and how they were displayed were of no concern to them.

After a while of looking at one of the contracts, Gravis signed it.

Pack!

"Well done," his mother said. "This was the correct contract. It is important to see if contracts include shady clauses, but it is also important to accept true sincerity. If you continually mistrust your business partner, they will also start to mistrust you. If I were a normal business partner, you should have cut contact with me long ago after offering you so many scummy contracts."

Gravis sighed. "Why can’t things just be simple? I just wanted to make a forge and sell my weapons and armor."

"Because business is like power, Gravis," his mother said. "You need to kill and steal from others to become powerful. The same is true in business. You need to siphon the money out of other companies to become richer yourself. Even if you act very honestly, your wares will inevitably drive other people that offer similar wares out of business. The only selfless thing would be to not create a business at all."

Gravis looked at the mountain of discarded contracts. "If I look at it like that, it seems more reasonable," Gravis commented. "I have probably already ended billions of lives without me actually trying to. Driving other forgers out of business isn’t such a bad thing in comparison."

"Good," his mother said with a smile. "Now, I will take Orthar and my cute granddaughter out on a tour of the highest world. They need to learn more about our city and how everything works."

"Is that alright with you?" she asked Yersi and Orthar.

"Optimal first action," Orthar commented.

Meanwhile, Yersi beamed with excitement. She was about to meet more people! "Sounds great, granny. Can I call you granny?" she asked.

Gravis’ mother beamed when she heard Yersi’s words. "Of course you can, sweetheart," she said.

"What am I supposed to do?" Gravis asked.

"You need to exchange for some small base capital, Gravis," his mother said. "But first, I need to take a look at what you have. I would like to request access to your Spirit Space," she said.

"Sure thing," Gravis said.

Yet, his mother didn’t immediately enter Gravis’ Spirit Space.

"Gravis, you should know that you can’t give people access to your Spirit Space lightly. Usually, people only trade via Space Rings," she said.

Gravis furrowed his brows. "That has been one concern of mine. I can’t just unload all my stuff in the city, or it would get buried. Yet, giving other people access to my Spirit Space is also dangerous. What are these Space Rings?" he asked.

"Space Rings are Artifacts specifically created for trade exchanges," his mother explained. "These rings have a compressed room inside them where you can store your wares. With these, you can trade large chunks of resources at once."

"How do I get one of these?" Gravis asked.

"Space Rings are relatively expensive in comparison to what they actually accomplish," his mother said. "The cheapest ones cost about 10% of what an apartment would cost while the more expensive ones are ridiculously overpriced."

"Can I make them myself?" Gravis asked.

"No, silly," Gravis’ mother said with a laugh. "There’s a reason why they are so expensive. If you only need to know the Law of Space, every Immortal could create them. Theoretically, you could make the cheapest one, but it would cost you more money to learn how to create one than necessary."

"Why is it so hard and expensive to learn?" Gravis asked. "I know the Space, Time, and Gravity Laws. I even know the Law of the Dead World. Something like a Space Ring shouldn’t be a problem."

"Normally," his mother said. "You would be right, but the problem is that you can’t create a reliable Space Ring with lightning. You need Energy, and you need to be very, very, very good at manipulating it. Your Spirit is not even attuned to Energy. How would you be able to learn something like that?"

Gravis thought about it. If he put his mind to it, he probably would be able to learn it, but it would probably be many times more difficult for him than for others, thanks to his unique Spirit.

"Would I be able to learn additional Laws by learning how to make a Space Ring?" Gravis asked.

"No," his mother said with a shake of his head. "You already know all the Laws to make the cheapest version."

Gravis sighed. "Okay, then forget it. I should concentrate more on my abilities as a forger."

His mother nodded. After that, Gravis felt a force knocking gently at his Spirit Space. This was his mother, and he let her in.

A small version of herself appeared in Gravis’ massive Spirit Space, and she quickly checked out all the contents inside Gravis’ Spirit Space.

After a while, she frowned. Yet, her eyes widened in exhilaration, and she quickly picked up a watermelon-sized sphere of something shiny. She inspected this ball for a while, nodded, and left Gravis’ Spirit Space again.

Gravis opened his actual eyes again and looked at his mother with a questioning gaze.

Instead of looking at Gravis, his mother looked at the Opposer with a disappointed expression. "You are behind on the prices," she said.

Gravis’ father blinked a couple of times in a bored manner. "So?" he asked.

Gravis’ mother groaned. "Gravis has barely enough to afford a shop, and even if he manages to get one, he would have no capital left to purchase actual resources to forge equipment. You said he doesn’t need any money, but he sure does."

The Opposer blinked two more times. "But he has a Middle World Core," he said in an even manner.

Gravis’ mother ruffled her hair in exasperation. "Yes, but exchanging that for money is a huge waste! It’s way more economical to forge something with it! Did you honestly expect Gravis to exchange that massive chunk of a Middle World Core just to buy a shop!?"

"Yes," the Opposer answered immediately. "Money is money."

"Sometimes, I just can’t with you," Gravis’ mother groaned. "I just can’t."

"Yes, you can," the Opposer said.

And that was when the ultimate ability to deal with the Opposer’s straightforward mindset appeared.

Gravis’ mother simply ignored her husband like he didn’t exist.

Then, she turned to Gravis. A list of different materials appeared in Gravis’ mind and an associated price tag. After that, a map of the city appeared with some buildings marked on the map. "Exchange these materials for these prices. Try to get the price."

"But you need to keep something in mind," Gravis’ mother said. "These are the prices that a trusted businessman would be able to achieve after lots of haggling. You won’t be able to sell these materials for these prices. So, instead, go to all the stores and accept the best offer you can get. After that, contact me again. Your Spirit should be powerful enough to encompass nearly the entire city by now."

Gravis nodded. "Will do," he said.

For now, if he wanted to be successful, he needed to follow what his mother said. She was far more experienced in these things, and he needed to learn as much from her as possible.

Gravis had already accepted that he had no such thing as a pure path to power. Might as well ask for help in these things.

The four of them walked out of the Opposer’s palace and looked at the bustling city.

The city was absolutely massive, and with their powerful souls and Spirits, all of them could take in the grandeur of the actual city.

Yersi and Orthar were taken aback by the number of teleporting humans. Everyone in the city was an Immortal?

Meanwhile, Gravis took a deep breath. He had never known how big the actual city was, but he hadn’t expected it to actually be that big.

It was over 150,000 kilometers across!

Chapter 670 - 670 – God Realms

For the first time, Gravis could appreciate the true size of the city. It was absolutely massive.

Gravis turned his gaze to the Sky Community, and what he felt shocked him even more.

His Spirit couldn’t even reach the highest point!

Gravis’ Spirit Sense had been absolutely humongous in the middle world, but it was suppressed in the highest world. Yet, his Spirit could still see around 150,000 kilometers into the distance, but even at such a height, a ton of people were still moving around erratically. The Sky Community was absolutely packed with people.

Yersi and Orthar were also shocked by the number of buildings and people flying around. They had never seen so many living beings in one place before.

Gravis’ mother noticed their shocked expressions and had to giggle a little. "Do you want to know the actually surprising part?" she asked.

"Tell me," Orthar said, but then he remembered something. "Please," he added. Humans used please and thanks a lot, and he had to adapt to that way of talking, even if it felt unnatural.

"Nearly every person you can see on the streets are either below the Immortal Realm or beggars," she said. "You actually can’t see the true inhabitants."

The three of them looked at the packed streets. Yet, over half of the people were still teleporting around. Additionally, as they looked closer, they saw that Gravis’ mother was right. There were a ton of people below the Immortal Realm.

How was this possible? All of these teleporting people were beggars? Then, where were the actual inhabitants?

Everyone looked at Gravis’ mother with curious eyes, and she enjoyed the feeling of telling someone else about her home city.

"The actual inhabitants teleport from building to building," she said. "They don’t even go into the streets. As long as you have a registered home in the city, you are allowed to directly teleport into public buildings and teleport back into your home."

"In actuality, the number of beggars in comparison to inhabitants is one to 10,000," she said.

The three of them looked in shock at the streets. Not even Gravis had known that. They could already see tens of millions of beggars. Did this mean that this city had over a hundred billion people!?

Where would they even all fit!? Immortals needed some space, and they wouldn’t be fine with just some square meters of living space.

"I already know your next question," Gravis’ mother said. "Look over there," she said as she guided their senses to an inconspicuous building. It was a one-story tall, normal-looking house.

"This house houses around 1,000 people," she said.

"How!?" Yersi shouted.

Gravis narrowed his eyes. "The Law of Space," he commented.

"Correct," his mother said. "The space inside the house is compressed to allow more people to live inside it. Every house needs a Formation Array that compresses space. Creating and maintaining this Formation Array is very expensive, especially since it requires an Array Formation Grandmaster that has comprehended the Major Law of Space to set it up. Generally, only Star Gods or stronger can do that."

"But the owners probably still earn a lot, I presume?" Gravis asked.

Gravis’ mother nodded. "The owners mainly set these Formation Arrays up themselves. So, even though Immortals, Immortal Kings, and Immortal Emperors can live in the city, the actual buildings are mainly owned by Gods. It’s uncommon that an Immortal can actually own a building in the city."

"Of course, things have changed drastically recently. In the past, most Gods only owned a single building, but now, most of the buildings are owned by a few people more powerful than Star Gods," Gravis’ mother said.

Gravis narrowed his eyes. "What happened?" he asked. What could shake up this city with such intensity?

"Gravis," his mother said with a chuckle. "You forgot the time dilation. You are now around 2,000 years old, but ever since you have started cultivating, only around 25 years or so have passed in this world. 25 years for the highest world feels like yesterday to us old people."

Now, Gravis understood.

What had happened?

His father had happened!

His father had killed every Star God in the world. Because of that, most of the owners of the buildings in the city died at the same time. After this event, the even more powerful Gods probably split up all the buildings, increasing their revenue by a ridiculous amount.

"Only 25 years have happened since that event, huh," Gravis commented, lost in thought. "To me, it feels like it was so long ago."

Stella.

That was a name Gravis hadn’t thought of in forever. Back then, he had been devastated, but he had also just been a young teenager. After 2,000 years, even such an emotional event had faded into obscurity.

It was like his dead childhood friend had never existed.

This was one of the effects of time. Everything faded.

Gravis also remembered something else as he thought back.

"How powerful was Stella before she died?" Gravis asked.

"She was a Shooting Star," his mother said solemnly. "Her cultivation was artificially increased by Heaven, but that amount of power also sapped Heaven of a lot of Energy. In the end, she was only a single Realm below me, and I’m at the same Realm as the most powerful beings in the world, except for your father."

"Her Realm is called a Divine God," she said. "After the Star God Realm comes the Ancestral God Realm, and only then comes the Divine God Realm. The highest, normally achievable Realm is called a Heaven’s Magnate."

The three of them made some quick calculations and finally knew how powerful the Opposer and his wife actually were. If one said that the Body Tempering Realm or Demonic Beast Realm were the first Realms, a Heaven’s Magnate would be the thirteenth Realm!

Gravis could still resist the impact, but the other two felt a feeling of helplessness. They were only in the Law Comprehension Realm, which was the sixth. Yet, beside them stood someone in the thirteenth Realm. The difference between them and Gravis’ mother was even greater than the difference between them and a mortal!

They had already lived for over a thousand years, but there was still so much farther to go?

Meanwhile, Gravis tried to come to terms with the fact that his childhood friend had been a Divine God. He had always known that she had been powerful, but only now could he truly see the true extent of her power.

The only feat of power she had ever shown Gravis had been that one star she had created at the end. She had shown nothing else of her power to him. It was like she had been a mortal, just like him.

Gravis opened his right hand and looked at it.

WHOOOM!

He used the level three Law of the Elements to create fire and fused it with the Laws of Gravity, Space, and Time. In no time at all, Gravis also had a small star floating above his hands.

It was not hard for him to do that.

Gravis looked at the star for several seconds, not knowing what he was actually thinking about.

PACK!

Gravis felt the flick of his mother’s finger on his forehead. "Hey, stop imitating your father," she said. "I don’t want you to become someone that always sits at home, glaring into his room."

Gravis quickly regained his bearings. "Have I been glaring?" he asked.

Everyone present nodded.

Gravis sighed and shook his head to forget these melancholic thoughts. He had better things to do.

Suddenly, two rings appeared in front of Yersi and Orthar.

"Beings below the Immortal Realm are only allowed in the city if they have an Immortal King as a backer. Gravis is not an Immortal King yet, so I will be your backer for the time. Put these rings anywhere on your person. They automatically give off an aura that the guards and everyone else can feel."

Yersi flipped open one of her scales and put the ring beneath it while Orthar put it somewhere near his hidden octopus-beak. After they put the rings away, Gravis felt a peculiar feeling from them. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was, but they somehow felt a bit different. This was probably the aura his mother was talking about.

"Gravis, get your ring," his mother said. "Immortals without a residence or a backer are not allowed into most shops."

Gravis remembered his Obsidian Ring, which he still kept inside his Spirit Space. He had briefly used it in a fight, but he hadn’t actually worn it in forever.

Gravis summoned it and put it on his person. After that, he looked at it.

Sure enough, it was no different from the other two rings. Only the design and aura were slightly different.

After that, Gravis’ mother, Orthar, and Yersi parted ways with Gravis. Gravis’ mother would take them on a tour while Gravis had to sell some stuff.