Ch. 701..710

Chapter 701 - 701 – End Of Gravitas

"This is bullshit! I demand to speak with the manager!" someone shouted in front of the Gravitas.

Yersi stood in front of that person with a smile. "We have publicly shown the time until the Gravitas closes for the past decades. You have seen the countdown when you have bought your current weapon. The time is up, and we have just closed shop. You should have come earlier."

"And what am I supposed to do with this weapon now?" the person shouted angrily as he showed his spear. "I have already reached the next Realm and don’t need this weapon anymore! You told me that I could sell it back for 80% of its cost!"

"As I’ve said," Yersi answered. "We are closed. For the last couple of months, we have mostly processed the buying back of our previously forged weapons. If you had come earlier, there wouldn’t have been any issues."

The person just wouldn’t relent, but at this point, Gravis stepped out of the Gravitas. Orthar already stood beside Yersi without saying anything.

Gravis retrieved a jade token and looked at it. "We are finished with our business. Please proceed with the last inspection," Gravis said to the token.

A supremely powerful Spirit Sense entered the building and inspected it for a second. Yet, none of the present people were able to feel this Spirit Sense.

This was the Spirit Sense of an Ancestral God, the owner of the building.

"Everything’s in order," the owner of the building transmitted to Gravis. "You still have three months until you have to hand the shop over. Are you sure you want to hand it over now? I won’t reimburse you."

"It’s fine," Gravis said. "We’ve already closed."

"So be it," the voice said.

Whooop!

And the jade token in Gravis’ hand vanished. From this point on, none of the three could enter the building anymore, even if they wanted to. The key had been handed back to the owner.

Right now, the Gravitas greyed out again to show that no one was inside it. The new owner had already won the auction for this property and was only waiting until their lease began.

Gravis had already retrieved the several Certificates of the shop. The shop might belong to another person, but the Certificates were his.

The Gravitas didn’t exist anymore. The century of business was over, and now it was time to use their money to increase their power.

"Hey, I want to sell my weapon!" the irate customer said to Gravis.

"To whom?" Gravis asked.

"What do you mean to whom!?" he angrily asked. "To you!"

"Sorry, I’m not interested," Gravis commented.

The customer was taken aback. "But you said you would buy it back!"

"No, I didn’t," Gravis said. "That was the Gravitas’ policy, and the Gravitas doesn’t exist anymore. Right now, I’m just a dude standing on a street, just like you."

"This is bullshit!" the customer shouted. "Take the weapon back, or I will ruin the Gravitas’ reputation."

"Okay," Gravis said.

"You’ll take it back?"

"No, you can go ahead and ruin the Gravitas’ reputation," Gravis said. "Why would I care about the reputation of something that doesn’t even exist?"

The customer only became angrier. "You are sup-"

Whoop!

And the three of them were gone.

Now, the customer stood alone in front of the Gravitas in shock. After recovering from the shock, he searched through the city with his Spirit Sense, but he couldn’t find them.

The customer complained and grumbled several more times, but it was irrelevant. The Gravitas didn’t exist anymore. Whatever he did had nothing to do with Gravis, Orthar, or Yersi anymore.

After a while, the customer angrily stomped off.

Meanwhile, Gravis, Orthar, and Yersi appeared inside the Opposer’s room.

As soon as they appeared, Yersi sighed in relief and stretched herself. "Finally done!" she said with happiness. "I never want to deal with another customer in my life!"

"Congratulations!" Gravis’ mother said as she also appeared in the room. "You’ve earned a ton of money! Oh, I’m so proud of all of you!"

PACK!

Gravis and Yersi were pulled to Gravis’ mother, who quickly hugged them. "My cute little babies finished their first business venture!"

The two of them only laughed and returned the hug.

Some seconds passed.

"Can you do that somewhere else?" the Opposer asked evenly. "You’re sidetracking us."

The Black Magnate still sat in front of the Opposer, casually drinking some coffee. The two of them had really hit it off. As soon as they became more comfortable with each other, they just didn’t stop talking.

"Hey!" Gravis’ mother said as she put her hands to her hip. "You’re part of this family too!"

The Opposer remained silent for some seconds. "Okay," he said. "So, what do you want?"

Gravis’ mother groaned while Gravis had to snicker. "You’re supposed to feel happy for your son and granddaughter!" Gravis’ mother said.

"Okay, I feel happy for them," the Opposer said evenly.

Gravis’ mother just groaned again.

"Father?" Gravis asked.

"Yes?" the Opposer answered.

"Do I have enough money to understand the remaining level three Laws of the Elements?" Gravis asked.

"If you fully focus on cultivation without any distraction, you should only need 80 million Immortal Stones. In the worst case, you will need 160 million," the Opposer answered.

Gravis had been ready for a big number, but hearing the actual number was still shocking. He needed around 100 million Immortal Stones for eight level three Laws!

One had to remember that a weapon for his Realm would only cost between 50,000 to 100,000 Immortal Stones, and weapons were generally the most expensive thing that cultivators spent money on.

100 million Immortal Stones was one thousand times the amount of money Gravis would need for a weapon for himself. Most cultivators had to save up money to even buy their weapons. Yet, even with that, many Cultivators weren’t able to purchase a fitting weapon for their Realm. That was how expensive weapons were.

Because of that, 100 million Immortal Stones seemed like an absurd amount of money. Virtualization Arrays were truly expensive.

"Speaking of money," Gravis’ mother said with a smirk as she trailed off.

Gravis looked at his mother and nodded. "Your cut, sure," he said. "Just take it out of my Spirit Space."

Gravis’ mother smiled warmly, and Gravis felt a knock on his Spirit Space. He let his mother in, and she quickly took away one of the huge mountains of Immortal Stones.

One had to remember that Gravis’ mother owned 20% of the Gravitas. This meant that she also got 20% of all the profits.

"Thank you," Gravis’ mother said to him. "I just earned around 65 million Immortal Stones by simply teaching you some stuff."

One would think that this trade was definitely not worth it. Yet, one had to remember what these few words had done for the Gravitas. Gravis wouldn’t have known which Certificates to purchase without her. There was even a possibility that he wouldn’t have even known about them.

Additionally, she had chosen the shop, and the location of the shop had been absolutely perfect. With more forges in the area, Gravis would have had far fewer customers.

Without his mother’s guidance, Gravis would have had to compete with a ton of other forges and wouldn’t have been able to sell anything for a long time since no one would have believed his abilities. After all, without her, Gravis wouldn’t have known the importance of the Certificate of Honesty.

So, even though she had claimed an entire 20% of their profits, she had probably provided more profit to them with her knowledge than she had taken.

Gravis couldn’t have wished for a better start. Everything had been perfectly set up for success. Exchanging 65 million Immortal Stones would have seemed like a far too ridiculous number back then, but now, Gravis saw that it was worth the price.

"Now then, father, mom," Gravis said. "Today is the official day I move out!" he said with a smile.

"So?" his father said. "You’ve barely been living here for the past 120 years. There isn’t much difference."

"Argh," Gravis’ mother groaned again. "Why can’t you just be happy for your son!?"

"Okay," the Opposer said. "Gravis, good job."

Gravis had to snicker again. "Thanks, father. Anyway, you three can come visit us at any time. Yes, even you," Gravis said as he looked at the Black Magnate.

"I’ll politely decline," the Black Magnate said with a smile as he drank more coffee, courtesy by the Opposer. He was far more relaxed than previously. Talking to the Opposer had helped him immensely.

The three of them said their goodbyes and left the palace.

Whooosh!

And appeared in a completely different environment.

Warm light shone upon a silent forest at the edge of an ocean. Just like with the Grand Lake in the middle world, this area had absolutely no life except for the plants. There were no animals, no insects, nothing.

There was only silence and a gentle wind that created small waves on the ocean.

This was their new home.

The three of them remained silent as they simply felt the wind and listened to the gentle waves hitting the shore. All of them were immediately reminded of the middle world they had lived in for a long time.

Some minutes in silence passed as they all got lost in nostalgia, even Orthar. Orthar was a very logical being, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t have emotions.

After some time, they even saw the sunset. Surely enough, this was worth the money.

"This is a sick apartment," Gravis said, ruining the mood with his choice of words.

Chapter 702 - 702 – Shopping

"Welcome to the Smart Cultivator," a clerk said with a bright smile to Gravis, Orthar, and Yersi. "What would you like to purchase?"

After looking around their new apartment, the three of them left to get their Virtualization Arrays. They were no longer pressured by the Gravitas and could finally use up all their money for their power.

It was finally time to learn more Laws!

"Yes, hello," Gravis said. "We will be shopping separately. This is our first time buying Virtualization Arrays, so could you be so nice and call one or two colleagues to take care of my friends? Thank you."

"No problem," the clerk said with a smile as two other clerks appeared. Orthar and Yersi followed the other two clerks, leaving Gravis with the original one. "What kind of Virtualization Array are you looking for?" she asked.

Gravis summoned all his elements around him, creating a powerful display of all the elements. Then, he also showed his Punishment Lightning. "As you see, I know the Mid-Tier Law of the Elements, and I already know Punishment Lightning. My next step is learning the High-Tier Law of the Elements."

The clerk nodded several times. She wasn’t really impressed by the display. After all, they served only the most powerful Cultivators. No one else would pay so much money to learn Laws.

"So, you are looking for the high-tier elements?" she asked, and Gravis nodded. "That’s not a problem. These Laws are very popular with Cultivators, and we have enough Virtualization Arrays. Do you already have a plan on how to proceed?"

Gravis scratched his chin. "I’ve never bought Virtualization Arrays before. Could you please tell me what options I have?" he asked.

"Sure," she said. "You can rent, and you can buy our Virtualization Arrays. Buying them would be a smarter option if you intend to pass them down to your family or friends after you’re done, but you need to keep in mind that you have to provide the internal Energy storage."

"I don’t think that I will buy one," Gravis said. "I have a daughter, but I’m uncertain if she has any talent in the Elemental Laws. Buying them would be too risky. I think I’m more interested in renting them."

The clerk nodded again. "Very well. Most Immortals, when they try to comprehend the High-Tier Elements, rent the Virtualization Arrays by the century. Would you be interested in that?" she asked.

"How much would one of them cost for a century?" Gravis asked.

"That would be ten million Immortal Stones," the clerk said.

Gravis immediately noticed the connection between the price and his father’s words. His father had said he would need at least 80 million Immortal Stones and at most 160 million. With eight Laws, this would come down to ten million Immortal Stones per Law at the least and 20 million at most.

Renting all of them would cost him exactly 80 million for a century. In the end, it depended on Gravis if he managed to understand each one in one or two centuries. Gravis doubted that he would need three centuries.

Gravis nodded. "Sounds reasonable," he said. "I’m interested in all of them, but obviously, I won’t rent them all at once."

"Of course," the clerk said with a smile. She had been afraid that Gravis would leave the shop in shock due to the prices, but this customer seemed to have enough money. "Which one would you like to rent first?"

"Metal, please," Gravis said. Understanding metal would give Gravis a head-start on the Material Composition Laws of the higher worlds. As long as he understood metal, understanding the High-Tier Pure Material Laws would come to him easier in the future.

"Sir, I would advise against that," the clerk said.

"Why?" Gravis asked.

"Because this is the hardest one to understand due to the metal element also crossing over into the High-Tier Material Laws. I would suggest taking that one last since it might take longer than the other ones. We don’t wish for your first experience with us to be a potentially bad one," the clerk explained.

Gravis listened to the clerk and took her opinion into account. It was her job to sell these Virtualization Arrays, and she was also an Immortal King. Therefore, dismissing her advice would be foolish. After all, it was her job to know these things and to advise customers.

"What would you suggest?" Gravis asked.

"Do you know of the Elemental Proliferation Chart?" she asked.

Gravis shook his head.

Whoosh!

In front of Gravis appeared a diagram with the nine elements. Several arrows pointed from one element to another one. It was seemingly random without any rhyme or reason.

"This is the Elemental Proliferation Chart," she said. "The arrows indicate which Law increases the knowledge and experience of a different Law. As you see, understanding earth, fire, and wood would help you in understanding metal. So, before trying metal, I would suggest comprehending these other Laws first."

Gravis knew all the initial elements, but the wood part still confused him a bit. "I get fire and earth, but why does wood help?" he asked.

"Because wood is the antithesis to metal," she said. "Metal is exclusively dead and has absolutely no property that supports life. Earth can house plants and animals, even if it itself is dead. The rapidly moving forces of fire, wind, and lightning can also support a kind of life. Yet, metal is only dead. That is why understanding wood, which is the Law closest to the Life Laws, would help in understanding metal. After all, they are opposites."

Gravis nodded. "Since I already have the Law of Punishment Lightning, I should probably start with fire, wind, and light, correct? After all, the diagram shows that lightning helps with those."

The clerk nodded. "Correct. I would suggest starting with fire. Fire and lightning help with light, which will make understanding light far easier. Everything after that should be logical," she said.

Gravis nodded. He had already created a plan according to the diagram, and, sure enough, metal would be last on the list. She obviously knew what she was talking about.

"Alright, then I would like to rent the fire one for a century," Gravis said.

The clerk nodded. "Good choice!"

Then, she summoned a contract and handed it over to Gravis. Gravis quickly checked the contract and saw that there was nothing wrong. After signing it, Gravis got his copy and gave the clerk ten million Immortal Stones. A second later, he received his Virtualization Array.

"Do you live in an apartment that supports Virtualization Arrays?" she asked.

Gravis nodded.

"Good. That’s important!" she said. "The Virtualization Array uses an internal Energy attractor that needs a large amount of Energy to perfectly function. The usual density of Energy wouldn’t work, which would force the Virtualization Array to use up its internal Energy storage, only making it last for around 15 years. The apartments with Virtualization Array support deliver this Energy."

Gravis hadn’t heard of that before, but now the price of the apartment made a lot more sense. The rent of his apartment included the Energy cost for three Virtualization Arrays running all the time.

"When supported by the Energy supply of such an apartment, the Virtualization Array will work for exactly one century. As the contract stated, you have 102 years to return the Virtualization Array, but it will only work for 100. Please keep that in mind," she said politely.

Gravis nodded. "Thank you. I will wait here for my two companions," Gravis said.

"No problem. That’s my job," she said with a polite bow. "Thank you for the purchase, and I wish you success in comprehending your Laws."

The clerk vanished, and Gravis waited at the entrance for the other two.

After some minutes, Orthar came back. "What did you buy?" Gravis asked.

"Soul Laws," he said.

"Because of your Mind Laws?" Gravis asked.

Orthar nodded.

Orthar had been ready to ascend back then already, which meant that he had also comprehended a level three Law. His level three Law had something to do with the mind. With this Law, he was able to accelerate his mind and slow down the mind of his opponent. Moreover, if the opponent was weaker, he could even control their mind somewhat.

Orthar obviously chose the Soul Laws because he thought there also had to be a similar Law for the Soul. After all, the mind and Soul were intrinsically connected.

Yersi nearly took an hour to return.

"What did you get?" Gravis asked.

"I joined the Affinity Test," she said.

"What’s that?" Gravis asked.

"Well, I’m not sure what Laws I should concentrate on," Yersi said in thought. "I managed to learn Punishment Lightning quickly, but that was only because of you. You said that it’s possible that my affinity for lightning may only go that far and that I should look for a more fitting Law."

Gravis nodded. His three kids had learned Punishment Lightning very quickly, which was obviously not because of their own efforts. This was nearly identical to Gravis when he had been handed the Law of Punishment Lightning by the lower Heaven.

Gravis didn’t expect Yersi to comprehend the Law of the Dead World. This was obviously overkill. So, this left her with a ton of level three Laws as options. Trying to create an Avatar out of a level four Law was also overkill, especially since Yersi wasn’t hellbent on cultivating. Gravis only wanted to give her a good base.

Yersi could aim for the Body Strengthening Laws, Elemental Laws, Primordial Force Laws, Life Laws, Material Laws, or any other kind of level three Law. Sadly, she wasn’t sure about her own talent regarding Laws, which was why she joined the Affinity Test.

"The Affinity Test gives me several Virtualization Arrays for different kinds of level one Laws, and I should try to understand all of them. Then, based on my own feelings and according to the time I took to understand each one, the shop will be able to evaluate my affinity towards different categories of Laws," Yersi explained.

"How much is it?" Gravis asked.

"900,000 Immortal Stones," Yersi said.

Gravis was quite surprised. "900,000? For several Arrays? I spent ten million for only one," he said.

"Level one Virtualization Arrays are far cheaper," Orthar said from the side. "The prices drop and rise by ten times from level to level."

Gravis scratched his chin. Sure enough, that would be the equivalent of nine level one Arrays. The price differences were really insane.

This meant that Yersi would probably go through something like ten different Virtualization Arrays for level one Laws. After understanding all of these Laws, the Smart Cultivator would be able to give an accurate description of Yersi’s affinity towards the different Law categories.

"Anyway," Gravis said. "I think we should start. When we all start at the same time, we will also finish at the same time. Meeting each other every century sounds like a good idea," Gravis said.

The other two agreed, and the three of them left.

It was time to comprehend Laws!

Chapter 703 - 703 – Perceived Reality

The three of them returned to their apartment and split up again. Orthar’s room was at the bottom of the ocean, while Yersi’s room was in a gigantic cave. Gravis had requested his room to be inside a stormy cloud.

Gravis entered his barren room and immediately put the Virtualization Array into the socket.

BRRRRR!

And the entire world transformed into fire.

The air was burning, the floor was burning, the sky was burning. Gravis could also see lava, but this lava didn’t have any kind of earth element inside of it. It was simply comprised of something like liquid fire.

The power of the fire was surprisingly high, and Gravis even felt his body start to burn. No middle world would have such a powerful fire occurring naturally. Gravis even had to use his Life Energy to regenerate his breaking body.

’Any wrong move and I might die in here,’ Gravis thought. ’But that’s good! I wouldn’t be able to properly feel the effect of the Inferno without this much power. Sure enough, father has been right. He said there would be ways to comprehend the elements even better than by fighting Heaven.’

’Anyway, let’s start!’ Gravis thought.

His mind seemingly transformed. While he had been living in the highest world, he had acted very politely and friendly to others, as long as they didn’t antagonize him. He had let himself go in conversation and enjoyed talking to others.

But now, Gravis had returned to his previous self in the middle world. Of course, there were still a couple of changes in comparison to back then, but on the whole, he returned to his previous curious self.

Had Gravis enjoyed living in the highest world?

A little bit. It was a nice change of pace.

Yet, when he had spent an entire century just creating weapons, he still felt like he was wasting his time, even though it was necessary. Only with enough money could he grow his own power.

Gravis sat down in the middle and closed his eyes to simply feel the Inferno raging all around him, but before he started, he would analyze what he needed and reaffirm his decision.

’My Will-Aura is as powerful as it can get,’ Gravis thought. ’Yet, I still need more defense and offense. Right now, I’m pretty sure that I can fight someone in the Early Major Circulation Realm, but that is not certain. I don’t know how powerful such Immortals get.’

’As far as I know, there are nearly no Early Minor Circulation Immortals in the world that know the Law of the Dead World, but that does not exclude the other levels in the Immortal Realm. Additionally, there is more than one level four Law. Even worse, the higher world upgrades everything, including all the Laws.’

’Nearly all previous level one Laws can become level four Laws. Of course, understanding these Laws now is more difficult than understanding level one Laws back then. If someone can understand the High-Tier Law of the Claw, for example, they would still be very dangerous. On top of that, if they use that Law as their Avatar, they would have access to the power of a level five Law,’ Gravis thought.

’I think the power of most Immortals in the later levels depends on what Avatar they had chosen previously. I’m pretty sure that their Avatars had been condensed with a level three Law, but if that level three Law can be incorporated into a level four Law, their Avatar would also transform into a level four Law.’

’I’ve already seen a case of that. The teacher of these ten kids had an Avatar comprised of the Primordial Forces. It’s probably possible to combine Space, Time, and Gravity into a level four Law. The Law of the Dead World is simply an even more powerful level four Law.’

’Because of all of that, I need more level four Laws than my opponents. Any potential opponent with the Avatar of a level four Law can unleash the power of a level five Law onto me. Then, that would be no different from fighting Heaven again. Of course, these opponents would only be comparable. Heaven knew far too many powerful Laws.’

’Right now, with my Avatar of Freedom, I would probably be able to fight Heaven, but I definitely wouldn’t win.’

Gravis looked around the room as he opened his eyes. ’That’s why I need to comprehend these elements. I will be going to a battle world, and the elements are probably not their main cultivation techniques, but they can still be used for auxiliary power. Being able to counter these auxiliary powers will make it far easier for me to protect myself.’

’Right now, my path of cultivation already looks very stable. I know the level four Laws of Major Suppression, Freedom, and Control. The Law of Danger is also a Law I need more progress in, but I already know the base. As far as I see it, there should be one more Situational Law, which is probably the Law of Safety.’

Gravis stretched his hand into a violent flame and felt his Law of Danger being triggered. He had to be very careful right now. ’Suppression and Freedom are two sides of Control. Danger and Safety can also be aspects of Control,’ Gravis thought.

’This is a similar dynamic as with the Temperature Laws, two opposites and one neutral party. Heat would represent danger to oneself, which would be very fitting for the Law of Suppression and the Law of Danger. Cold represents freedom, which would be very fitting for the Law of Freedom and the Law of Safety. Meanwhile, the Law of Control is the gradient between the two extremes. Control would represent the general Law of Temperature.’

’These Laws represent our perceived reality. We can be safe but also in danger. We can be free but also suppressed. We can be in control but also under control.’

’Yet, I can flip everything in regards to someone else. I can protect others but also endanger others. I can control them but also not control them. The only questionable part is freedom since I am unable to grant someone else freedom. They need to grasp freedom on their own. Maybe that’s one of the aspects why understanding the Law of Freedom is so difficult.’

’With all these Laws, I can control the situations and perceived reality of my opponent. Yet, these Laws use my Will-Aura as a medium. An opponent whose Will-Aura is not a danger is an opponent that is not a danger. Therefore, I don’t even need to think about these opponents.’

’The real issues are the opponents that can resist my Will-Aura. That’s when I have to resort to my other Laws to protect myself. Stopping everyone else from harnessing the power of the elements is the best defense I can create for now. I have not fought a Weapon Cultivator yet, so I don’t know their general fighting techniques. I might also need to concentrate on the High-Tier Laws for my body. After all, Composition is only one aspect of my body.’

’But first, Inferno!’ Gravis thought as he banished all other thoughts. Now, he only concentrated on the element of fire, nothing else.

And with this, another long session of comprehending the elements started. Yet, this time, Gravis wouldn’t need to run across the entire world to find the missing scraps of understanding. This time, he had the entire Law in front of him.

Gravis would not need to go to the Laws. The Laws would come to him.

This was what he had worked for. This was the power of money.

And Gravis would take full advantage of this power!

Chapter 704 - 704 – Human Form

Gravis spent the next hundred years trying to understand Inferno. As soon as he started, he noticed the difference. Inferno was fire, but it also wasn’t fire. Even more surprising was that Gravis’ understanding of mid-tier fire gave him nearly no help in understanding high-tier fire. It was like they were made of entirely different things.

From the outside, they looked nearly identical, but there were completely different Laws and concepts inside. In actuality, Gravis’ understanding of Punishment Lightning helped him more in understanding Inferno than the normal fire element, which was nearly unbelievable to him.

This was probably also one of the reasons why so few beasts had managed to comprehend the level three equivalents of their elements. The only thing helping them was their affinity, but every other Fire Law was basically useless when looking at this Law.

Sure enough, this was an entirely cut-off Law from the others. Understanding other Laws only helped a tiny bit, as long as they were not Elemental Laws of the same tier.

Because of all these reasons, Gravis tried to comprehend the Inferno Law but failed, sadly. With only the help of Punishment Lightning, understanding this Law was just far too difficult.

’Are the other upgraded versions of the Laws also so difficult to comprehend?’ Gravis thought. ’Does understanding the Composition of the body not help in understanding the higher tier Laws of Body Composition? That can’t be right. After all, the base Laws of the middle worlds are necessary to comprehend the higher tier variants. There has to be some use.’

After the century was up, the Virtualization Array stopped working, and Gravis retrieved it. After sighing in bitterness for a bit, Gravis entered the "living room" of their apartment.

Yersi and Orthar also quickly joined him, and they began to talk.

Yersi had had no issues in understanding her level one Law. After all, she had already comprehended a ton of level one Laws before that. She had even already rented the second one and had also understood that one. After that, she simply waited for everyone else.

Orthar failed in comprehending his target Law, just like Gravis.

"This is inefficient," Orthar said to the other two.

"What do you mean?" Gravis asked.

"I already have the perfect Law for my Avatar," Orthar answered. "The next better variant would be a level four Law based on this level three Law, but I’m certain that I won’t have the funds. Gravis, you will probably not work again since you have enough Immortal Stones to accomplish what you want. With that, my source of income will be severely compromised."

"Then, what’s your plan?" Gravis asked.

"I will become an Immortal first. As an Immortal, my state of mind should elevate to a new level, making it easier for me to comprehend Laws. I need to take full advantage of my limited funds by using them as efficiently as possible," Orthar said.

Gravis scratched his chin. "Makes sense," he said. "Sure, then go ahead."

"Orthar is becoming an Immortal? I have to see this!" Yersi said with an excited smile.

Orthar and Yersi were not really close. Their mindsets clashed with each other, but they tolerated each other’s existence due to Gravis. As soon as Gravis left for the higher world, Orthar and Yersi would probably never contact each other again.

Sometimes, people simply didn’t like each other. It happened.

CRRRR!

Orthar’s body started swelling and shone with a bright light.

Why did beasts want to live in Energy-rich environments?

There were two reasons for that.

The first reason was that the Energy stimulated their minds, making it easier for them to comprehend Laws. With more Energy, the Laws would appear clearer and brighter in their minds.

The second reason was that beasts also slowly absorbed Energy. Their absorption was not nearly as fast as a human’s absorption, but it was there. This would very slowly push the beasts forward in their Realm, even without food.

With the insane Energy density in this city, Orthar had long been ready to become an Immortal but decided against it. He wanted to prepare himself first.

Gravis also felt like he had already made progress to the next level. Yet, in comparison to Orthar, Gravis had only made around 5% progress. If he didn’t eat another beast or consume some Immortal Stones, he would need nearly 4,000 years to reach the Mid Minor Circulation Realm.

Orthar’s transformation took several seconds, but when he was done, he revealed his human body.

When Gravis saw Orthar, his eyes almost fell out.

Orthar had the body of a young man with white hair. Gravis would have thought that Orthar preferred black, but that wasn’t the case, apparently. Additionally, there was something very peculiar about Orthar’s appearance.

He had seven eyes arranged in a circle.

As soon as Gravis saw Orthar, the middle Heaven immediately jumped into his mind. Except for the male features on Orthar, which clearly indicated his gender, Orthar looked exactly like the middle Heaven!

Additionally, this was a beast’s human form! Every beast’s human form looked like a human. They didn’t have tails, claws, scales, or anything else that humans usually wouldn’t have.

Yet, Orthar had seven eyes.

This was definitely not normal. As far as Gravis knew, Orthar was the only beast with such a strange human form.

"Orthar?" Gravis asked.

Orthar looked at his hands with a neutral expression. Even his expressions looked very similar to the middle Heaven’s. When Gravis saw Orthar looking at his hand, he was reminded of the middle Heaven looking at the Grand Lake.

Then, Orthar looked at Gravis, and Gravis got a flashback of the first time the middle Heaven had looked at him.

It felt identical!

"Yes?" Orthar asked.

This was the first time Gravis heard Orthar’s actual voice. Beasts always talked with their minds, not with their mouths. Yet, when Orthar talked, the image of the middle Heaven was shattered.

Orthar’s voice was far deeper than the middle Heaven’s. Additionally, the emotions behind the voice felt different. The middle Heaven had sounded like someone that had seen everything and was done with life. It had been aloof like nothing in the world had anything to do with it.

Yet, Orthar’s voice sounded cold. It was like a human voice that had been created by a Formation Array.

When Gravis heard Orthar’s voice, the image of the middle Heaven had been shattered. Their appearance might be nearly identical, but their personalities were distinctly different.

"You look exactly like the middle Heaven," Gravis said.

Orthar turned away. "Logical," he said. "My beast form already appeared far too similar to Heaven, as you have told me. Therefore, my human form would probably also look similar."

Yersi looked with wonder at Orthar’s appearance while Gravis grimaced. "Is it a human form, though?" he asked. "I’ve never seen any human with seven eyes. I’m not even sure if that is possible."

Orthar wasn’t surprised by these words. "Everything has its reasons," he said. "I don’t have enough data to come to a conclusion, which makes speculation meaningless."

Gravis couldn’t fully accept these words, but Orthar continued speaking. "My plan has changed, Gravis," he said as he looked at Gravis.

"Does it have something to do with your human form?" he asked.

Orthar nodded. "The world appears different," he said. "Things that I have not noticed before are clear before my eyes now. The Laws make sense, and they are one whole."

"What do you mean, Orthar?" Gravis asked.

Orthar looked at the artificial sky of their apartment. "Things are slowly starting to make sense. I finally understand the questions I had always had previously. I am I, but I am not the only I."

"What is going on, Orthar!? What are you talking about!?" Gravis asked nervously.

Orthar turned to Gravis, and his eyes appeared different. Gravis didn’t know why, but it felt like some hidden confusion or conflict inside Orthar had disappeared. It was like he had changed completely.

"I can’t tell you, Gravis," Orthar said. "You can keep my share of the money. I don’t need it anymore."

Gravis felt a pit in his stomach. These words sounded far too ominous!

"We will see each other again, Gravis," Orthar said.

SHING!

And Orthar was gone as he teleported away.

Gravis immediately stretched his Spirit Sense, but he couldn’t find Orthar anywhere.

He had simply disappeared!

"Father!" Gravis said. "What is going on!?"

"Is it important?" his father answered.

"My closest companion just up and left! How is that not important!?" Gravis said.

"Orthar is still alive, and he is still himself. You don’t need to worry about him. This is part of the Old Bastard’s plan, and as long as you don’t die, you will inevitably see him again," the Opposer said.

"Yes, thanks, but what is going on?" Gravis asked, calmer now. The fact that his father said that nothing was wrong with Orthar calmed him down, but the fact that this had something to do with the highest Heaven made him nervous again.

"Is Orthar still your friend?" the Opposer asked.

"Of course!" Gravis answered like this was a stupid question.

"Then respect your friend’s boundaries," he said. "If he wanted to tell you, he would have told you. Do you feel comfortable with using me to spy on your friend?"

Gravis’ body trembled in frustration.

But some seconds later, he calmed down with a sigh.

"No, I don’t," Gravis said.

"Then don’t ask," the Opposer said. "As long as you still see him as your friend, trust in him. When it’s time, he will tell you himself."

Gravis really didn’t like this situation, but his father was right. If Orthar wanted to tell him, he would have told him.

Yet, Gravis still felt a feeling of loss and abandonment. A friend just leaving like that didn’t feel good.

"Orthar, what’s going on?" Gravis said silently to himself more than to Orthar.

His best friend had vanished just like that.

Chapter 705 - 705 – Asking About His Friends

Gravis and Yersi were still in shock for some hours. They had not seen this turn of events coming at all. The trio that had been together for around 200 years suddenly split up. Now, only the two of them lived together in this apartment.

Gravis was not sure how he should feel about Orthar leaving. On one hand, Orthar was his closest friend, and he had just left. This made Gravis feel a feeling of loss and abandonment.

Yet, on the other hand, Orthar found something out about his being. So, wasn’t this a good thing for him? Gravis’ father told him that Orthar was still himself and that he was safe. Wasn’t that everything that Gravis needed to know?

Was this any different from all the other times Gravis split off from his friends?

When Orthar left, Gravis started thinking about his other friends again. He thought about them occasionally, but there was nothing he could do, which was why he hadn’t asked about them.

’I think this is the perfect opportunity to ask how many of my friends are actually still alive,’ Gravis thought. ’Additionally, Aris and Cera have already spent 2,000 years in the higher worlds. They are probably still Immortals, but I hope they are well.’

"Yersi, I’m going to ask father about Aris, Cera, and some of my old friends," Gravis said.

Yersi released a sigh. Now, for the first time, she was feeling the same feeling that Gravis had felt whenever he asked his father about the wellbeing of his friends. She felt the uncertainty. What if Aris and Cera were already dead? What then?

"Do you want to come with me?" Gravis asked.

Yersi waited for some seconds.

"No, I don’t think I want to," she said. "Just tell me about it later."

Gravis could understand that decision and nodded. "Sure."

SHING!

And Gravis teleported to his father.

Gravis looked around his father’s room, but he couldn’t see the Black Magnate anywhere.

"He left," the Opposer said.

"How come?" Gravis asked.

"He can’t always remain here with me and decided that he wanted to re-experience the world. A lot of things have changed, and he wants to see if he can find other, like-minded individuals," the Opposer said.

Gravis nodded and sat down in front of his father.

Whoop!

A cup of coffee appeared in front of Gravis, who quickly accepted it. "This reminds me," he said. "You said you would talk with me about a way to grow and make my own coffee."

The Opposer also got some coffee for himself. "Yes," he said. "Usually, you would only need to rent a garden and grow your own plant. This would involve changing its Composition to perfectly suit your needs."

Gravis drank a mouthful of coffee, and the taste immediately carried him away into nostalgia. "Usually?" Gravis asked. "This probably has something to do with my unique body, right?"

The Opposer nodded. "Coffee is a plant of the earth and wood attribute. You need coffee made of the lightning element, which is impossible for you. Unraveling the makeup of a being is not difficult, but transforming it into something completely different while still retaining its being encroaches on the territories of the Law of the Living World."

"If you want to make your own coffee, you need to comprehend the Life Law first. After that, you need to fuse it with the Law of the Dead World to create the Law of the Living World," the Opposer said.

Gravis snorted. "So, in short, I need to comprehend a Law even more powerful and advanced than the Law of the Dead World just to make some coffee?" he asked.

The Opposer nodded.

"Alright, forget it then," Gravis said. "That’s a bit overkill for just some coffee."

Some silence returned.

"Father," Gravis said. "Many years have passed, and I would like to know how my friends are."

"Which ones? You have far too many beings that you call friends," the Opposer said.

This was the moment of truth, but Gravis wanted to start with the relatively distant and unimportant ones, his friends from the lower world. So much time had passed, and they probably had all changed considerably.

For his friends from the lower world, over 22,000 years had already passed. This is over twice as long as the longevity of someone in the Law Comprehension Realm.

This meant that his friends were either already in the higher world or dead.

There was no in-between.

Gravis still remembered that Lasar had already died. This left Nero, Joyce, Manuel, Old Man Lightning, Skye, and Aion.

"What about Nero?" Gravis asked.

"Who was that again?" the Opposer asked.

"The darkness Cultivator I met in the Heaven’s Trial, the one who said that darkness can also protect others," Gravis said.

The Opposer thought back and remembered the quiet kid. Even though he didn’t pay attention to Nero, the Opposer’s memory and perception were still nearly unparalleled. Because of that, he remembered the unimportant darkness disciple.

He quickly checked through space and time and watched Nero’s entire life in a single second.

"He found a home in a mixed elemental Sect. After nearly dying in a tempering experience, he decided to slowly comprehend Laws and raise his Realm. He reached the late Nascent Nourishing Realm and realized that his Will-Aura was too weak. Because of that, he abandoned cultivation and took up a position as an elder in the Sect."

"He remained in that position until his 3,000 years of longevity ran out. That was around 20,000 years ago," the Opposer said.

Gravis had already accepted that his old friends would drift apart from him, but he still felt a pit in his stomach when he heard that Nero died. Gravis didn’t grieve for the dead Nero but for the death of his old acquaintance. He grieved for the memory of Nero. They would never reconnect again.

In the end, Gravis wished that he had spent a bit more time with him. They had never really gotten to know each other.

Gravis sighed and nodded.

"What about Aion?" Gravis asked.

The Opposer looked at Gravis evenly.

"You know," Gravis said. "That one Heavenborn that helped me, the lazy one."

The Opposer inspected the timestream of the middle world again.

"He was content with having achieved the Unity Realm, something that he had never thought would be possible. In the middle world, he was no longer being hunted by everyone, and he settled down. In the end, he became a merchant, fathered a ton of children, and died a rich man."

Gravis sighed again.

Another one of his friends had died. He still remembered when he had spared Aion’s life and how his relationship with Heaven had changed.

He would never see the lazy Aion again, simply drinking a smoothy while sunbathing.

Up to now, the record of his friends was pretty devastating. Lasar, Aion, and Nero were dead.

"What about Manuel?" Gravis asked.

"I remember that kid," the Opposer said as he checked the middle world again.

Gravis waited until his father spoke again.

"He managed to reach the higher world but stopped cultivating. He found a wife and is currently living with his family. He has around 45,000 years of soft longevity left," the Opposer said.

Gravis sighed in relief. At least one of them was still alive. Additionally, Manuel had a ton of longevity left. This meant that he had probably reached the higher world after only 2,000 years or so.

"He stopped cultivating, and his Realm is no longer increasing, just like Orpheus?" Gravis asked.

The Opposer nodded.

"This means that he will probably die in less than 5,000 years in highest world time, right?" Gravis asked.

"No," the Opposer said.

"No?" Gravis asked.

"Starting at the Immortal Realm, you have soft longevity. Manuel’s Battle-Strength is powerful enough to fend off his first tribulation. He will only start having problems at the second one. The earliest possible time of death for him would be in around 9,500 years," the Opposer said.

"That’s quite impressive," Gravis said. "The tribulations are probably not trivial, right?"

The Opposer nodded. "The first tribulation is always against someone one level above yourself. Your friend won’t have an issue against such an opponent."

Gravis had to smile when he heard that. Even after so much time, Manuel was still impressive. At least he would have a long and happy life. Gravis was happy for him and wished him all the best.

"What about Old Man Lightning?" Gravis asked.

This marked the cutoff point. From here on out, Gravis would ask about the really important beings to him.

Chapter 706 - 706 – Changes

The Opposer checked the middle world again.

"Calling him Old Man Lightning is inappropriate at this point," the Opposer said.

"Why?" Gravis asked.

"The more he progressed on the path to power, the younger he felt. He left his old man appearance and mindset behind. Right now, he is acting like an excited teenager with a lot of Energy. You should refer to him by his actual name, Dorian," the Opposer said.

"Oh? So he’s still alive?" Gravis asked.

The Opposer nodded. "He’s making great progress in the Laws. He abandoned his pure path of lightning and condensed an Avatar of the Minor Law of the Elements. He is also fighting and challenging a lot of other Cultivators."

Gravis had to smile when he heard that. "That’s quite a powerful level three Law," Gravis said.

The Opposer nodded.

Gravis also knew this Law. This was the Law that allowed him to use all the elements, and it required the understanding of a ton of Laws. This was one of the major components of the Law of the Dead World. With this Law as an Avatar, Dorian could unleash nine elements, each with the power of a level three Law.

Additionally, Dorian was probably focusing on the same path as Gravis, understanding all the elemental level three Laws. Gravis found it funny that their paths were so similar.

"What about Joyce?" Gravis asked.

Yet, when he asked the question, Gravis felt unsure. He still remembered his promise to Joyce, but he wasn’t certain if she actually cared about the promise. In addition, Gravis still remembered the feelings he had for Joyce. Because of that, he still felt a longing for her.

The Opposer checked again.

"She changed," he said.

"That means she’s still alive, right?" Gravis asked.

The Opposer nodded, making Gravis release a sigh of relief.

"Her surroundings, and especially you, have changed her mindset," the Opposer explained.

"Can you elaborate?" Gravis asked.

"I’ll show you," he said.

Whooosh!

A glimmer appeared at Gravis’ side, and a woman appeared.

Gravis immediately noticed that this was only an image, but the image perfectly demonstrated Joyce, including her aura.

Joyce looked like a young woman with purple hair that nearly reached the floor, but she seemingly glared coldly at everything. Gravis also felt her Will-Aura, and he was taken aback. Her Will-Aura was really powerful!

"She is like my past self, the Black Magnate’s past self, and your past self," the Opposer said. "She has completely suppressed her emotions and violently chases power."

Gravis sighed when he heard that. "Just like I have been in the lower world," he commented.

"Yes," the Opposer said.

"Does that mean that she also has an illusion of happiness based on power?" Gravis asked.

"Correct," the Opposer said. "She believes that emotions are a weakness and that she needs to reach the highest world to become powerful. She saw how you have been in the lower world and completely emulates your mindset from back then. Therefore, she also believes that this is the only path to power."

"In her mind, you are the perfect Cultivator and the perfect man. She chases power to reunite with you, believing that this will make her feel happy," he said.

Gravis didn’t like what he heard one bit. After such a long time of nothing but cold slaughter, would she still even be able to feel anything but greed for power? Without knowing, she was chasing an empty goal, just like the Black Magnate.

Gravis knew how this would go. They would meet again, and Joyce would look at Gravis. At first, she would be surprised that she wasn’t feeling anything when she saw him. Then, she would be confronted with her goal and would need to reevaluate her life.

After that, she would realize that the Gravis she was speaking to was no longer the Gravis from back then. The person she was chasing no longer existed. It would be no different from chasing a dead person.

Gravis felt a heavy feeling of guilt. His unhealthy conduct from back then had infected Joyce, changing her path tremendously.

Sadly, there was nothing he could do.

He only hoped that she would be able to deal with the tribulation when they met again.

"What about Skye?" Gravis asked.

The Opposer also remembered that one bird and checked the timestream of Skye’s middle world.

"Oh?" the Opposer said with some interest and even surprise.

Gravis was taken aback. His father was surprised about something? That happened only very rarely!

"What is it?" Gravis asked.

"The bird is still alive," the Opposer said, banishing Gravis’ anxiety, "and she’s doing well."

"Really well," he said.

"I take it that Skye has become really powerful?" Gravis asked.

"Hm," the Opposer hummed. "Not exactly, but there is something else. In terms of Battle-Strength, she is only slightly behind Joyce, but she has something else."

"The bird managed to understand the Low-Rank Law of Freedom and Suppression," the Opposer said.

Now, Gravis was also taken aback. The Low-Rank Law of Freedom and Suppression were level two Laws. Gravis knew the level four variants of these Laws but knowing the initial Laws was already very impressive.

With these two Laws, Skye already managed to get a foot in the door of the hardest Situational Laws. This meant that she had the talent to become a Heaven’s Magnate in the future.

Sure, Joyce might be more powerful currently, but Skye had already taken two very difficult steps towards the peak of power.

After some seconds, Gravis had to laugh loudly. "Skye is so similar to me!" he shouted while laughing. "She also knows the Law of Freedom! This is really great!"

The Opposer nodded. "I would also count it as impressive."

Gravis thought back to when he had met Skye for the first time. Back then, Gravis had fought Skye to test his new powers, but they had been interrupted by the Lightning Guild and Fire Guild. After that, they had stayed together, and Skye had become Gravis’ first real friend in the lower world.

Now, Gravis no longer feared that he and Skye had drifted apart. They both chased freedom, and such like-minded spirits could always get along.

’Manuel, Dorian, Joyce, and Skye are still alive,’ Gravis thought. ’This is already better than I would have thought. There’s a high chance that I will meet them again, and I’m already looking forward to it.’

"Thank you, father," Gravis said. "How about my friends from the middle world?"

"Who was that again?" he asked.

"Azure, Styr, Ferris, and Meadow," Gravis said.

This was more recent, and Gravis had spent around a thousand years with them. Because of that, the Opposer remembered all of them.

"They are all still alive," the Opposer said. "Azure, Styr, and Ferris entered a higher world where they counted among the beasts with the most powerful Battle-Strength. Thus, there is a high likelihood for all of them to reach the highest world."

"Meadow is probably still in the middle world, right?" Gravis asked with a smile. All his friends from the middle world were still alive. That was great!

"Yes," the Opposer said. "Her choice of nearly using up her longevity is a smart one. When she reaches the age of 100,000 years, she will comprehend a level four Law, and she will probably also use that Law as an Avatar. Her Battle-Strength is the most powerful out of all your friends, by far."

Gravis nodded. Meadow was really powerful.

"Are Azure and Styr still together?" he asked.

"Yes," the Opposer answered. "They don’t interfere with the other’s tempering but protect the other from situations that would kill one of them. Their strategy for cultivation is also impressive."

"What’s Ferris doing?" Gravis asked as he leaned back with a smile.

"He is following someone around, who is very confused by this," the Opposer answered. "It’s a black snake, and Ferris just keeps following it. The snake seems really confused by this since it wants to be left alone, but it also feels like it shouldn’t abandon Ferris."

"The snake appears cold and heartless on the outside, but it actually has a warm heart deep inside. The snake is also very smart and calculating. These two things are the reason why Ferris is following the snake. Ferris knows that the snake knows better what to do and follows its suggestions," the Opposer said.

Gravis could very well imagine that scene, and it made him laugh. Ferris’ simple and trusting personality was the perfect counter for scheming but inwardly friendly beings.

"What about the Inferno Emperor?" Gravis asked.

"Do you want to fight him?" the Opposer asked.

Gravis smiled and shook his head. "To be honest, when I saw him ascend, I had made the plan to get a lot of money in the highest world to buy a portal to his world and kill him. That was the initial reason why I even considered making money."

"But I don’t think that he is important enough," Gravis said. "He might think of me as important, but I don’t think of him as important. Chasing old grudges to such a length seems like a waste of time. When I get the opportunity to kill him, I’ll take it, but I won’t chase him like this."

"Also," Gravis said, "with his mindset, he probably knows far fewer Laws than me, but his Realm is probably already far too high. His Battle-Strength might have become average, but his Realm is probably unbeatable for me."

"Quite a good evaluation, Gravis," the Opposer said. "He is violently chasing power, killing and consuming one beast after the other until he became an Immortal King. This gave him enough leeway for when you appear in his world. Right now, he is comprehending Laws."

"Immortal King, huh?" Gravis commented. "That’s really fast. Sure enough, with that much power, he would only need to sneeze at me to kill me."

Gravis put the empty cup of coffee down.

"Now, what about Aris and Cera?" Gravis asked.

"Only around 2,000 years have passed for them," the Opposer said. "They are still in the Law Comprehension Realm. Your advice of understanding as many Laws as possible has helped them. As long as they are in the Law Comprehension Realm, the true powers don’t care about them, and they are on their way to comprehending their own level three Laws."

Gravis released a huge sigh of relief. Gravis had a ton of friends, but his children were by far the most important to him. Hearing that they were doing well made Gravis feel an incredible feeling of relief.

It was like a ton of pressure had vanished from his shoulders.

"That’s good," Gravis said. "I’m so relieved. You actually can’t believe how relieved I am."

"Yes, I can," the Opposer said. "Because that’s also how I felt when you ate the middle Heaven’s Avatar."

Gravis smiled brightly. "Then, that’s also good. Thanks, father," he said.

"No problem," the Opposer answered, and for once, he was also smiling, a truly rare sight.

"Well then," Gravis said as he stood up. "Now that I have seen the progress of my friends and family, I don’t want to feel left behind! It’s time to fully concentrate on my Laws!"

"Let’s see how long you will take," the Opposer said.

Gravis smirked. "We’ll see."

And then, he was gone again.

He wanted to share the happy news with his daughter!

Chapter 707 - 707 – Brilliance

Gravis told Yersi about the well-being of Aris and Cera, and Yersi also couldn’t help releasing a sigh of relief. This was the first time they had been split up for such a long timeframe, which was why she had been rather nervous.

Gravis hadn’t been as nervous, but there was always a certain degree of uncertainty when it concerned someone very dear to him. Even if the chances of death were only 1%, one would still feel nervous about a loved one.

Yet, even if the most important people to Gravis were still alive, he wouldn’t forget the dead ones. A lot of Gravis’ friends had died over the years. Skye’s parent, Lasar, Aion, Gorn, and Nero, were good examples. Gravis would still remember them.

But now was not the time to be sentimental! After talking with Yersi for a bit, Gravis re-rented the Virtualization Array for the Law of Inferno. The clerk had already expected something like this and quickly finished the trade with Gravis.

After he received his Virtualization Array again, Gravis immediately went back to comprehending the Law of Inferno.

Fortunately, he managed to understand it this time.

It took him another 80 years for a total of 180 years, but he managed to comprehend the Law.

Gravis looked at the Inferno raging around him and activated his Will-Aura.

SSSSHHHH!

And the violent fire turned into Energy, which filled the room.

BRRRR!

But the Inferno quickly returned as the Virtualization Array created more flames. Yet, that wasn’t important anymore. Gravis retrieved the Virtualization Array and left his room.

’Sadly, without the overarching elemental Law, I can’t use the Law of Inferno yet. I can only destroy it, not summon it. This means that my offense has not increased, but my defense has increased under certain circumstances,’ Gravis thought.

’If a dangerous opponent uses this element, I should be able to weaken it to the power of a level two Law, which is something I can deal with, and if they use it as their Avatar, I can weaken it to the power of a level three Law. That would still be very dangerous, but that would also be my opponent’s most powerful weapon in that case. Like this, it would be like my opponent didn’t even have an Avatar.’

’Yet, this took me 180 years. Sadly, I have to pay the full price of the second 100 years, even if I don’t need it anymore. Originally, I had a total of around 125 million Immortal Stones, but with Orthar’s disappearance, that sum reached around 200 million. This should be enough money to comprehend all the Elemental Laws.’

Gravis looked around the "living room" of his apartment and noticed a message from Yersi. Apparently, she had managed to comprehend another Law and already went into understanding the next one. She also told Gravis that he shouldn’t wait for her.

Gravis chuckled a bit and left his own message, informing her of his own comprehension. He also told her that he would probably need more than a century again to comprehend the subsequent Law. If she wanted, they could meet up and maybe visit their family again.

Gravis went back to the Smart Cultivator and returned the Virtualization Array. The old clerk was currently not here. She was probably cultivating right now, which is why Gravis went to another one.

Fortunately, this store was very popular and had a trustworthy and reliable reputation. The new clerk was just as friendly and helpful as the last one. After meeting Gravis, the clerk quickly checked their in-store records and read about all the previous interactions with the customer. This was important to make the customer feel appreciated.

"Hello, Gravis," the clerk said politely. "You have returned early. I take it that you managed to comprehend the Law of Inferno?" he asked.

Gravis nodded. "Yes," he said as he gave the Virtualization Array back.

The clerk accepted it with a nod. "Do you want the Virtualization Array for Brilliance next?" he asked.

Brilliance was the name of the level three Law equivalent of light.

Gravis smiled and nodded. The clerk quickly retrieved the Virtualization Array and handed it over to Gravis after receiving payment.

"You will be surprised how fast this one will go," the clerk said with a smile.

"Really?" Gravis asked.

The clerk nodded again. "Understanding two related Laws is far better than only knowing one."

"Sounds good," Gravis said. "Let’s see how long this one takes."

After that, the two of them split up again. Gravis immediately went back to his apartment and put the Virtualization Array into his room.

SHING!

Gravis had to close his eyes as bright light seemingly enveloped his entire being. He tried to resist, but nothing that he did could resist it. Even putting his hand in front of his face didn’t protect him against the light. It was like the Brilliance shone through his entire body.

Gravis’ eyes quickly burned away, but Gravis decided against regrowing them for now. Gravis also felt like the light was trying to reduce parts of his body into dust, but it didn’t accomplish anything significant. Gravis only received some minor burns inside and outside. A mortal would have easily died from these wounds, but this was not something dangerous for an Immortal.

SHING!

Yet, after around a minute of burning, the properties of the Brilliance changed. The light started becoming gentler, and it felt like something was caressing his entire being. Gravis’ eyes regrew, and his burns healed quickly. As this was happening, Gravis felt absolutely wonderful. It was like he was inside a warm embrace.

SHING!

But a minute later, the burning returned again, and Gravis’ eyes were reduced to dust again.

’Great,’ Gravis thought with annoyance. ’So I have no choice but to regrow and burn my eyes. One minute of torture and one minute of bliss. Is this a fucking abusive relationship!?’

This was one of the reasons why comprehending such powerful Laws also required a powerful Realm. Sure, someone with a powerful Will-Aura in the Unity Realm could deal with the pain, but would they be able to concentrate on comprehending a Law at the same time? Just dealing with pain was different from dealing with the pain and also doing something else.

Gravis sat down and went to comprehending the Law of Brilliance, but the constant changes between bliss and pain were annoying beyond belief. Even worse was the fact that the bliss felt that much sweeter due to the contrast to the pain.

Sure enough, light was basically a colossal asshole, nice when you did what it wanted, but violent when you didn’t follow.

Fortunately, Gravis managed to understand the Law of Brilliance after only 90 years!

He didn’t even need to rent it a second time.

’Sure enough, there is a big difference between knowing one related Law and knowing two,’ Gravis thought. ’Man, I’m so glad that I don’t need to get that one a second time.’

Gravis concentrated on the Brilliance again and destroyed it.

SSSHHH!

The violent part of Brilliance vanished, leaving nothing behind. Yet, when the blissful part came, Gravis did nothing. Now, Gravis completely countered the violent parts and could enjoy the blissful parts.

But that didn’t matter. Gravis had grown annoyed by the element. The less he felt it, the better.

Because of that, Gravis retrieved the Virtualization Array and went out again.

He saw a message from Yersi, telling him that she would like to spend some time with him and their family in ten years. Gravis thought that this was a good idea.

This time, Gravis wanted to spend as much time with his family as possible before going to the higher world. He wanted to truly cement the faces, voices, and personalities of his family members into his very being. This was his home, and to truly feel like home, Gravis had to spend more time with everyone.

Gravis spent the next ten years with his mother, father, and Orpheus. He was not trying to get more powerful during that time. He was only taking a break and talking with them.

During this break, Gravis finally felt the routine feeling of being with someone else appear. Now, it was no longer something special to be among his family but something natural.

It was normal.

His family was now a complete part of his life.

When Yersi came out, Gravis quickly gave back the Virtualization Array.

Gravis appeared in front of the clerk and gave it back. "Comprehending this one was a giant cock," Gravis said.

The clerk laughed. "It sure is."

Chapter 708 - 708 – Five Down

Gravis didn’t immediately rent the next one but went with Yersi to spend more time with his family. Yersi was an integral part of his family, and he also wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. He was an Immortal, and he had far too much longevity left. Spending a couple of years with his daughter would not impact his life at all.

Because of that, Yersi and Gravis spent the next five years together. They visited their family and also went outside to gathering spots. Meeting new people also became far easier than back then.

The reason for that was the Gravitas. Many people had been customers of them at some point, and they started talking with each other. Gravis also finally met some like-minded individuals. Back then, he had only met the kids of powerful beings, not the actual inhabitants of the city. After all, the actual inhabitants only rarely left their homes or shops.

Yet, a lot of people had bought from Gravis and Yersi, and when these people saw the two of them, they joined them.

Like this, the next five years were spent in casual get-togethers. Gravis didn’t always have something to talk about, but simply meeting new people and hearing their experiences felt nice.

Of course, Gravis had also been invited into some powerful Sects several times. This had actually happened even back when they had still operated the Gravitas. A lot of peak Sects had noticed that there was an Immortal that had the Law of the Dead World and went to recruit him. Of course, Gravis declined.

Gravis would visit the higher world next. Who knew what he would want to do after tens of thousands of years? Because of that, Gravis refused everyone to keep his options open.

After the five years were up, Gravis and Yersi returned to comprehending more Laws. Yersi was about halfway through her test. After she finished the next couple of Virtualization Arrays, she would receive her analyzed affinity for Laws. She couldn’t wait!

Gravis went ahead and got the next Virtualization Array. Understanding Inferno was the second hardest part of his elemental comprehension journey here since he had only known one related Law. The only harder one would be metal. Starting from now, the next Laws had been set up so that Gravis always knew at least two related Laws, sometimes even three.

With his new understanding of Brilliance, Gravis rented the one for the element of Storm, which was the level three Law equivalent of wind. Fire and light helped in comprehending wind, while earth was the antithesis. Gravis didn’t know earth, but he knew the other two.

After putting the Virtualization Array into his room, Gravis saw his entire room transform into a violent storm. Everything was violently moving around, and even Gravis’ body was flung around like a ragdoll.

The Virtualization Array made it so that it seemed like the walls, floor, and ceiling of his room had vanished, but in reality, they were still there. Gravis knew because he became very acquainted with all of them in a single second.

Luckily, Gravis had a beast body, which had a far stronger resistance to physical attacks. Inferno and Brilliance had still been a slight issue, but this purely physical thrashing of Storm was not that bad for him. He only occasionally broke some bones, which was painful but not a big deal.

Sure, Gravis could have also kept himself still with his Spirit, but then he wouldn’t be able to feel the Storm with his being. Because of that, Gravis spent the next couple of years bouncing around in his room.

This one took him around 75 years.

SSSSSSHHH!

Gravis activated his new Law, and the force of the wind vanished. Storm turned into air as some Energy streams moved across his body. Gravis smirked when he felt the gentle movement of Energy and retrieved the Virtualization Array.

"That’s far better," he said to himself.

He left his room and saw that Yersi was still busy. So, without waiting, he went to get the next Virtualization Array.

Gravis quickly found a familiar clerk and gave him the Virtualization Array. "Honestly, I had no issues, but how are others supposed to deal with such a violent Storm?" Gravis asked.

"The Virtualization Arrays are catered to the individual, not their Realm," the clerk said with a smile. "Excuse our intrusion, but we always inspect our customers thoroughly. After all, if the Array is too powerful, our customers might die. If it’s too weak, it wouldn’t be able to show its full effect."

Gravis was a bit surprised. "So you know about my body?" he asked.

The clerk nodded. "Seeing through your body requires the power of a Mid Minor Circulation Immortal King due to your powerful Will-Aura. Researchers that went through a natural world are rare, but we have had some. We know how powerful beast bodies are and made the Virtualization Array fitting for your level and body."

"Huh," Gravis commented.

’I totally forgot that there are others like me,’ he thought, ’but it actually makes sense. After all, I could have chosen to enter a natural world back then.’

The clerk waited for some seconds and looked at a jade token. "Deep Wood is next," he said. "Do you want to rent it right now?"

Gravis nodded. Deep Wood was the level three Law equivalent of wood. This was the Law that actually had the most Laws supporting it, but the one that supported others the least. Just because one element supported another one didn’t mean that the other one supported this one.

For example, lightning created light, but light didn’t create lightning. Because of this, lightning helped with understanding light, but light didn’t help with understanding lightning.

Wood was supported by earth, water, wind, lightning and had metal as its antithesis. Five of the eight other elements helped in understanding wood. Sadly, wood only supported earth and was the antithesis to metal.

Gravis paid and went back to his room with the Virtualization Array for Deep Wood. After putting it into his room, Gravis felt like the entire world was transforming. Everything around him started to bend and blur in seemingly impossible ways.

In a matter of seconds, Gravis received a droning headache. It felt like his Spirit Space was under attack. Gravis also started to feel nauseous for the first time in millennia. He had totally forgotten how that felt.

In short, Gravis felt like shit right now.

"Oh, this is going to suck big time," he groaned.

This one was far harder to understand than Storm or Brilliance. Gravis actually had to rent it a second time since concentrating on the element was difficult in this state. This Law actually took him 170 years.

As soon as Gravis managed to comprehend the Law, he seemingly broke the blur of his surroundings. Now, everything looked normal again, except that Gravis was now able to see several white streaks flowing across the room. As soon as the streaks came close to him, they turned into Energy and vanished.

"Fuck, that one was even worse than Brilliance," Gravis grumbled to himself.

Gravis exited his room and saw a message from Yersi. She would soon be finished with her test and wanted to spend more time with Gravis. After all, she also wanted to know his opinion on her evaluation.

Gravis had a lot of time to waste, so he decided to wait.

He went back to the Smart Cultivator and gave the Virtualization Array back.

"Fuck that thing!" he said as he pointed at it with a sneer.

"I understand," the clerk said with a laugh. "I also hated that one. Deep Wood is just horrible to comprehend, but hey, soul-based attacks are rare. This one will help you a lot."

Gravis scoffed. "Yeah, sure, when I understand the overarching Law at some point. Until then, I can only look at it and protect myself from it."

"Isn’t that good enough already?" the clerk said. "Anyway, do you wish to rent the next one?"

Gravis shook his head. "Not now. My daughter will finish her affinity test soon, and I want to be there for her during that time."

The clerk quickly checked the customer registry and read up on Yersi. "The results are basically already set in stone," the clerk said. "We’ve already found a fitting group of Laws for her, but we still want to finish the test to see if she is also proficient in another group."

Gravis perked up when he heard that. "Oh? What is it?" he asked.

The clerk only smirked.

"I won’t spoil the surprise."

Chapter 709 - 709 – Evaluation

Gravis wanted to know, but he accepted that it was better if the results were shared with him when his daughter also got to hear them. Because of that, he didn’t inquire further and left the shop again.

The next couple of years, Gravis relaxed again, waiting for Yersi to finish her comprehension.

Around seven years later, Yersi came out with excitement. Finally, she would get to know which Laws she had certain affinities for.

Because of that, Gravis and Yersi immediately went back to the Smart Cultivator to get her results.

As soon as Yersi gave back her current Virtualization Array, one of the clerks pulled Gravis and Yersi over to a side room.

The clerk ordered some high-quality tea, and they all only had some small talk until the tea arrived.

The tea tasted absolutely incredible. Gravis was a fan of coffee, but he could also imagine drinking this tea from now on. Of course, this was only natural. After all, the business of Virtualization Arrays was one of the most profitable businesses in existence. Buying expensive tea didn’t hurt them at all.

The clerk left, and someone else entered the room. This was a man dressed in a very professional black suit. His demeanor basically screamed successful businessman.

"Hello, my name is Jake, and I’m responsible for evaluating the tests and advising our customers," he said as he gave Yersi his hand. Yersi was the one that ordered the test, which meant that she was the customer. Because of that, she should receive her greeting first, even if there was someone more powerful standing beside her.

"Thank you, Jake," Yersi said with a smile. "I’m Yersi, and this is my father, Gravis," she said as she gestured to Gravis.

"Hi," Gravis said nonchalantly.

Jake also gave Gravis his hand with a smile. "Don’t worry. We only have the best interest for your daughter in mind," he said.

"I know," Gravis said.

Jake gestured for them to sit again and sat opposite the two. After that, he quickly retrieved a jade token and checked over it again. After some seconds, he nodded. "We can definitely work with that," he said.

"Now," Jake said after putting the jade token away again. "Let me first introduce you to our evaluation rating. We generally rate someone’s affinity towards a specific category of Laws from one to five."

"One means you have basically no talent and that you need to work a really long time to make any progress in that category of Laws. There is even a high chance that you will make no progress."

"Two means you are not suitable for this category, but you can still achieve something by working harder than others."

"Three means average."

"Four means you are talented in this Law and that you will be able to comprehend these Laws very quickly. Tempering might even not be necessary to understand the harder Laws of this category. Therefore, we generally aim to recommend to you categories with an affinity score of four."

"Five is rare, but it happens occasionally. Five basically means you were born for this Law. These Laws come very naturally to you, and you feel an intrinsic connection with them. It’s less understanding Laws and more the Laws telling their secrets to you," Jake said.

Gravis and Yersi nodded. Everything seemed straightforward. The fact that Jake also said that he could work with this data meant that Yersi had at least one category of Laws with a high aptitude.

Jake waited for questions, but none came.

"Alright then," he said. "Now, let me just address the elephant in the room."

After that, he turned to Yersi. "You obviously have an affinity rating of five for lightning-related Laws, and I’m certain that you know that. So, why would you want to find a different category?"

Yersi had comprehended Punishment Lightning in less than a century in the middle world. This was insanely fast, and it was evident that her biggest affinity lay in that group of Laws.

Yersi looked at Gravis, but Gravis kept silent. This was her conversation.

Yersi sighed. "My father is the being with the greatest affinity towards lightning that has ever existed. Some of his traits have carried over to me and my siblings, which also gave us a great affinity towards lightning."

The clerk looked at Gravis with shock but also with a bit of skepticism. This was quite a bold claim.

"My father agrees," Gravis said as he flashed his Obsidian Ring.

Jake took a deep breath of shock. It was one thing to claim that, but it was something entirely different when it was the Opposer that claimed that. After some seconds, Jake looked back at Yersi. "Okay, but that didn’t answer my question," he said.

"Well, the reason why I want to look at other Laws is Law Comprehension practice," Yersi said. "Father thinks that comprehending these lightning Laws so quickly doesn’t give me enough experience."

Jake glanced over to Gravis and then back at Yersi. "That makes sense," he said. "Being reliant on a single group of Laws might allow you to become an Immortal King and maybe even an Immortal Emperor, but everything after that becomes difficult. So that’s a good decision."

Gravis trusted the words of Jake since Jake felt even more powerful than all the clerks he had seen in the shop. This meant that Jake was probably an Immortal Emperor, which meant that he knew what he was talking about as long as he talked about things related to beings below the Star God Realm.

"Good," Jake said when he noticed that the two of them didn’t have any questions. "Then, let me give you your test results. Let’s start with the bad."

"The element of earth is a one. Sorry for that. I would suggest dropping any comprehension attempts for the Laws of Earth until you are an Immortal Emperor with a lot of time and money," he said.

Yersi released a bitter sigh. She had already expected something like this, but it still felt terrible hearing about something that she had no talent in. She had been born with an insane affinity towards lightning, which meant that she didn’t have a great affinity towards earth. Earth and lightning did not like each other one bit.

"At least that is your only category with a score of one. Everything else is a two, at least. That’s already above average," Jake said.

Yersi nodded.

"You have two categories with an affinity score of two. These are the Soul Laws and gravity. That you have a low affinity towards the Laws of Soul is only natural since you do not have a Spirit. This automatically makes it harder for you to comprehend Soul Laws. Around 50% of beasts have a one in that category," Jake said.

Yersi was not thrilled by this evaluation, but it made sense. It kind of sucked to hear that she didn’t have something that nearly everyone around her had, but she had to live with it. "What about gravity?" she asked.

Jake looked at Gravis.

"Earth is strongly related to gravity," Gravis said. "Because of that, your affinity towards gravity suffers."

Jake nodded with a smile.

"Correct," he said.

Yersi nodded again. "Please continue," she said.

"Now we come to the biggest part," Jake said. "The threes are always the most numerous by far since most beings are average in them. Hold your horses because there are eleven of them. Let me just rapid-fire them."

"Darkness, light, fire, metal, wood, wind, the elements in general, time, plants, life in general, and matter," Jake said.

Yersi took all of that in. These were a lot of Laws that she had an average aptitude in. So that was something, at least.

Gravis checked all the categories he had heard about and realized that there were some still missing. This meant that Yersi had several aptitudes with a four, at least. That sounded rather good.

"Now, don’t get overexcited," Jake said with a smile. "The rest are fours. Sadly, your only five is lightning. Want to hear the rest of them?"

Yersi nodded.

"You have three categories with an aptitude of four. That’s far above average. These three are water, the body, and temperature," he said.

Yersi was taken aback. The body part made sense since she was a beast. Beasts didn’t have Spirits, but they had powerful bodies. Yet, where did that water and temperature aptitude come from?

"What about emotional and situational Laws?" Gravis asked. He was a bit surprised that they were missing entirely.

"We can’t evaluate emotional Laws since we can’t completely inspect your entire Spirit or soul. We can only make some guesses about your personality, but nothing concrete. Situational Laws are, as the name implies, situational. There are no affinities for them. It’s all experience," Jake said.

"I see that you have questions, but let me explain first," Jake said with a smile as he saw the confused Yersi. "This should answer most of your questions."

"Your body affinity comes from you being a beast. So having a high affinity with the body is natural. The aptitude for water comes from three different sources. First of all, you have a powerful lightning affinity, and lightning loves water. This is one source."

"The second reason is the fact, and don’t take this the wrong way, that you are a woman. We’ve long thrown away these concepts of Ying and Yang, but there is still a bit of truth to them. Water is gentle but can become turbulent. This could be associated with a peace-loving mindset that is willing to be brutal when necessary. Women are more likely to fit into that mindset than men."

"The third reason is your personality. Judging by what you have told us about yourself, you can become content with what you have instead of always chasing higher peaks. The fact that you want to stop cultivating in the future already shows this mindset, and because of these three reasons, you are very talented with water."

Yersi thought about it and realized that a lot of what Jake said made sense. Her demeanor truly resembled a calm lake.

"Now," Jake said. "Can you find the reason for your great affinity towards the Temperature Laws? You should be able to find the reason."

Yersi thought about this.

Chapter 710 - 710 – Yersi's Future

After thinking for a bit, Yersi found her answer. "I think my affinity towards temperatures comes from my affinity towards water and lightning," she said.

Jake smiled. "Right," he said. "The cold temperatures have a close connection to water while the hot temperatures have a close connection to fire. Of course, there also are secondary connections. For example, the secondary connections to hot temperatures are lightning and light, while the secondary connections to cold temperatures are metal and wind."

"You are very talented in water, which is the primary connection of cold temperatures. Lightning might only be a secondary connection to hot temperatures, but your ridiculous talent for lightning equalizes this, making you very proficient in these two Laws. The General Law of Temperatures is simply a connection of hot and cold, which means that its affinity shares the affinities of the other two," Jake explained.

Gravis had to agree with the evaluation. However, Gravis would be lying if he said that he had known all of this. Gravis was not a professional evaluator of these kinds of things, which made him miss several connections, but that was why these professionals existed in the first place.

Yersi thought about what she should do now but looked at Jake again. "Where should I start?" she asked.

"As part of your evaluation test, you have already comprehended the Composition Laws of Fire and Water. This means you have two options now. You could either comprehend the other Laws related to temperature, which would be light, wind, and earth, or you could directly go for the Temperature Laws."

"I would suggest a mix. Concentrate on light and wind first. Earth would be a waste of time due to your aptitude. After you know these Laws, go for the Law of Heat first before looking at the Law of Cold. After that, I would suggest going for the general Law of Temperatures."

"Let me advise you on one last thing," Jake said. "According to my predictions, you should be able to grasp the Law of Heat without having to temper yourself since you are very talented in that aspect and know all related Laws. Yet, there is a 50/50 chance that you might need to temper yourself for the Law of Cold."

"For the general Law of Temperatures, you definitely need tempering. This is a level three Law, and since you don’t share the Energy and Spirit Fusion that humans have, you will find it impossible to comprehend a level three Law without any tempering at your current Realm. Of course, I’m excluding lightning from this statement."

Yersi didn’t like that she had to temper herself again. Yet, it wasn’t like she was some greenhouse flower. She had been tempering herself for centuries. Returning to it wouldn’t be a problem. Sadly, the fact that she was content with her life right now made her apprehensive of tempering.

When someone had nothing to lose, they were far more willing to jump into danger. Yersi had a lot to lose right now.

"Okay," Yersi said. "What Avatar should I choose?" she asked.

"That depends on your goal," Jake said. "You told us that you want to stop cultivating but want to have a good base if you change your mind in the future. In that case, I would suggest going for the General Law of Temperatures."

"If your goal were power, I would suggest becoming an Immortal and learning many, many more Laws. The best course of action would be to use a High-Tier Law for your Avatar. Of course, that would come with a time investment of probably over 10,000 years with many fights and an even greater money investment. High-Tier Laws are expensive."

High-Tier Laws was the term for level four Laws in the highest world. The reason for that was that beings generally only came into contact with these Laws when they were in a higher world.

Yersi thought about this and immediately decided against this course of action. Just the money part was already insane. She would probably have to spend over a billion Immortal Stones, which was an insane amount. She didn’t have the ability to print money like Gravis.

Yersi sighed after she made her decision. "I’ll go with the first one," she said.

Jake nodded. "Any more questions?" he asked.

Yersi and Gravis remained silent.

"Do you want to know your affinity?" Jake asked Gravis.

Gravis chuckled a bit. "No, thank you," he said. "I know exactly where I lack."

"Oh?" Jake said. "You don’t need to answer if you don’t want to, but could you tell me which area that is?"

"Emotional Laws," Gravis said.

That was true.

Gravis had comprehended the Law of the Dead World, which showed that his talent was more than sufficient in that area. Gravis also knew several Laws about the Soul and many Laws about Life. The Situational Laws were also relatively securely in his hands.

Yet, Gravis had not managed to comprehend even a single Emotional Law. Gravis was pretty sure that this was due to his unique mindset. Gravis had the unique ability to quickly switch his thinking and change himself. Sadly, this often also switched his evaluation of his emotions and his emotions themselves. Because of that, he had no particular affinity for any kind of emotion.

The Law of Apathy could be counted as kind of an Emotional Law, but it was not part of the Laws necessary to create the Law of Emotions. To create a true world, one didn’t need to know absolutely every Law. Weapon Laws, body strengthening Laws, or Aspect Laws of the Elements were not necessary, for example. Everything was about Composition.

Apathy was a state of mind created by a mixture of several emotions. One could say it was impure. Because of that, it didn’t represent a base component of the Law of Emotions.

Jake nodded. "The Emotional Laws are difficult," he said. "I’m still struggling with a lot of them, but that’s also not my priority right now. I still need to finish the Life Laws."

The three of them chatted for a bit longer, and Yersi also inquired about a job. She still had a ton of money left, but she would sooner or later become homeless if she didn’t start earning her own money soon.

Sadly, Jake told her that they only directly hired very powerful Immortal Kings and only considered very talented Immortal Kings for training with future employment. Her talent was sufficient, but her Realm wasn’t.

Yet, the pay was absolutely insane. Every clerk received one million Immortal Stones per century, which wasn’t that much, but that also wasn’t the insane part. The insane part was that they got access to any Virtualization Array free of charge. Two centuries of work for one century of any Virtualization Array, regardless of the level.

That was also the reason why nearly all employees of the Smart Cultivator were not actually people that stopped cultivating. They simply used this shop to comprehend more Laws until they returned to the outside world again.

After talking for some more minutes, Gravis and Yersi stood up to leave. Jake also stood up.

"Alright, now that official business is over," Jake said. "Let me go grab something for you, Yersi."

Yersi was a bit confused by this. What else was there?

Jake went through several bags of his, which all were empty because everyone stored their stuff in their Spirit Space anyway. As Yersi saw that, she became even more confused. What was Jake doing?

Gravis also looked at Jake, but his eyes widened when he realized something. After that, he wasn’t sure how he should feel.

"Sorry," Jake said with a bit of frustration. "I wanted to give you my address, but it seems like I’ve lost it."

"So," he said with a smirk. "Can I borrow yours for a second?"

Then Jake winked.

"I have to go," Gravis said as he immediately teleported out, confusing Yersi even more. This was part of Yersi’s life, and it was entirely up to her what she would do now. Gravis wanted freedom, and he also gave his daughter the same freedom.

Why did her father leave like this!?

What was going on!?

Yersi only looked with confusion at Jake. "What? Borrow my address? How would that even work? Does that mean that you want to live with me?" she asked.

"Oh wow, that developed way faster than I have expected," Jake said with surprise. "I know that I just asked you out on a date, but that you already want to live with me is rather straightforward of you. I’m not sure if I can handle that, to be honest."

Yersi’s mind tried to comprehend the situation, but after some seconds, it finally clicked. "Date? You want to go on a date with me?" she asked in shock.

No human had ever asked her out on a date. She suspected that the main reason was her aggressive appearance.

Jake chuckled a bit. "I’m just joking, but yes, I want to go on a date with you."

"So, yes or no?" he asked.

Yersi couldn’t react.