Ch. 761..770

Chapter 761 - 761 – Preparation For Battle

Gravis left the Unrestrained Sect until he was outside Liran’s Spirit Sense range. Gravis didn’t want Liran to find out how he would become a Late Minor Circulation Immortal or the fact that he actually already was one.

Gravis still remembered that this world was different from a beast world. When humans saw someone very outstanding, they believed that they were a genius. Yet, if that person did something that seemed physically impossible, they might decide to kill that person to find out their secrets.

Gravis’ unreal Battle-Strength was definitely suspicious, but it could still be explained with all the different Laws he knew. However, if they knew that Gravis could control and absorb lightning, everything would collapse. Controlling someone else’s element was impossible and broke the very rules of reality.

His beast body was also something that he had to keep a secret. Liran knew about Gravis’ body, but he was probably one of the very few Cultivators that didn’t ask further due to his drive for freedom. Someone with a different mindset might decide that Gravis was an enemy simply due to his body.

As soon as Gravis arrived at his destination, he started forging his new weapons. Sadly, there wasn’t nearly enough ore to create a full set of armor, and that was something that Gravis had to get used to. This world was filled with resources, just like a natural world, but in comparison to a natural world, every single human cared about resources. This meant that getting resources was very difficult.

Gravis readied two sabers and two spears. With the remaining ore, Gravis upgraded his World Weapon. He hadn’t used it yet, and he probably still didn’t need it, but it was worth it for the future. As soon as he built his first Focus, he would probably start training with his World Weapon. Right now, without a Focus, Gravis’ World Weapon wouldn’t be any more useful than a normal one.

Gravis quickly finished his preparations and decided to wait for a day. Trying to comprehend something new in just a single day was a waste of time. So, Gravis simply waited for a day to make it more believable that he somehow reached his new Realm in a different way.

’Soon, I will have my first real tempering experience after thousands of years,’ Gravis thought. ’The last time I had a proper fight was against Heaven. The fight against that one captain can’t be counted as tempering. Except for receiving that one attack, I have been in full control of the fight.’

’However,’ Gravis thought as he narrowed his eyes. ’I need to be careful about the attacks of my opponent. The last one already nearly killed me, and he didn’t even have any kind of powerful Law. He simply used a level two Law and some level one Laws to unleash his attack.’

’These Cultivators are definitely above average and can fight across levels. This means that they have fitting level three Laws as their Avatars, allowing them to unleash an attack with the power of a level four Law. If I get hit by something like that, I will die.’

’Fortunately, as long as they use elements, I can weaken them by one level. This means that their elements can only unleash the power of a level three Law. This might allow me to survive smaller attacks, but the stronger ones will still kill me in one single strike.’

’Additionally, my Will-Aura is no longer at the top of my Realm. Currently, my Will-Aura is only at the level of an Early Minor Circulation Immortal King, but it could theoretically reach the level of a Late Minor Circulation one.’

’My opponents probably have Will-Auras more powerful than their Realm. I suspect that they have the Will-Auras of a Peak Immortal, which is just one level below mine. Luckily, that level is one that is between major Realms, giving me a nice advantage.’

’However, the level suppression is still a huge issue. With my Will-Aura alone, I would probably be suppressed by around 80%. With my Law of Major Suppression, it should drop to 20%. My Law of Apathy should equalize it.’

’Of course, that’s how it would be if they also don’t know any kind of Law that increases the power of their Will-Aura,’ Gravis thought.

’All in all, this fight will require nearly all of my power.’

Gravis planned his fight for several more hours, just going through all possible eventualities. The fact that he couldn’t create a useful armor or shield hampered his combat ability more than he liked. However, he knew that he had to get used to that. This world had nearly no more free resources.

If Gravis wanted enough ore to create a full set of equipment, he would need to go to some sort of city or something and trade for it. Sure, he would get enough, but at some point, all his money would be used up. With his current wealth, Gravis could become a Mid Minor Circulation Immortal King. However, then he would be broke. If he bought a full set of equipment at every level, he would barely have enough to become an Early Minor Circulation Immortal King.

’I still have a lot of materials, but I need to sell them first. Additionally, even if I sell all of them, I still would only be able to become a Mid Minor Circulation Immortal King but with equipment. Difficult, difficult...’

’However, it’s actually unreal how expensive Virtualization Arrays are. I can become a Mid Minor Circulation Immortal King with all of my accumulated wealth, but I can’t even rent a level four Virtualization Array for a hundred years. The entire wealth needed to become a Late Minor Circulation Immortal King from the Early Minor Circulation Immortal Realm can only allow one to rent a level four Virtualization Array for a hundred years.’

’Jake is probably bursting with money,’ Gravis thought with a chuckle.

The next day went over far slower than Gravis would have wanted.

Was he afraid?

A little.

Was he excited?

A lot.

Gravis had a lot to lose, but that was exactly what tempering was all about. The thrill of being close to losing everything was something that excited him. Many people would think of him as insane, but this insane mindset was the best mindset for Cultivation.

Only when someone got some pleasure out of nearly dying would they be willing to really temper themselves, no matter how much they owned.

Gravis’ peaceful mindset of the highest world vanished as he felt like he became young again. He remembered how he had felt when he had just entered the middle world. Back then, he had also been excited about the future.

Gravis smirked as he looked to the west. ’It’s about time,’ he thought. ’My first proper fight after thousands of years, and it will be more than a single one. I will first fight one of the average Major Circulation defenders. They are already far above average since only the most powerful ones defend resource points. Then, along with the increase of my Will-Aura, I will fight the more powerful ones.’

Gravis stood up.

Whoop!

Gravis’ more powerful body replaced his old one. The weaker body of Gravis was absorbed into the more powerful one since there was no reason to keep the weaker body.

’Let’s go!’ he thought.

SHING!

And Gravis teleported to the west.

Chapter 762 - 762 – Opponents Meet

"Are you going to attack?" a red-haired girl asked the red-haired guy beside her.

They both wore red armor, which increased their defense by quite a bit. The girl wore a saber while the guy wore a long, single-edged sword. The guy’s sword didn’t have the typical thick back to give the sword more weight. The sword was made for finesse rather than power.

"Maybe, but I’m not sure," the guy said. "The Unrestrained Sect is still very powerful, even if several Sects are attacking them. My Battle-Strength is not as powerful as yours, sis."

"Hmph, pussy," the girl said with a sneer. "Your fear is precisely the reason why you’re still weaker than me, even though you’re older than me."

"I’m only a single year older than you, sis," the guy said with an awkward smile. "That barely counts at our age. Also, you only need to defend against the weaker disciples while I have to attack the stronger ones. How about I defend the resource point, and you go attack one?"

"Pfft," the girl spat. "Now you’re searching for an external reason to rationalize your cowardice. You know exactly that it’s impossible to switch spots like this."

"I’m only using a hypotheti-"

The guy stopped speaking as both of them turned their heads to the east.

"Who’s that?" the guy asked.

"No idea, but he’s too weak," the girl answered. "He is only a Late Minor Circulation Immortal. Maybe he is searching for a resource point to attack?"

Some seconds of silence passed.

Then, both of them broke into laughter.

"Could you imagine that?" the guy said between laughs. "The guy doesn’t even have a weapon on him, which means that he isn’t a Weapon Cultivator. Could you imagine some Elemental Cultivator attacking a resource point? Weapon Cultivators would lose all face if he somehow manages to achieve that."

However, the girl stopped laughing as she remembered something. After that, her brows furrowed as she watched the approaching Cultivator.

The guy looked at his sister with confusion. Normally, she enjoyed laughing at overconfident, arrogant people. "What’s up?" he asked.

"Do you remember that new Ascender of the Unrestrained Sect?" she asked.

The guy nodded. "Yeah. You think that’s him?" he asked.

The girl narrowed her eyes. "Maybe," she said. "I don’t know why, but he somehow feels a bit dangerous to me. Try to ignore your preconceived notion and carefully feel his power."

The guy was a bit confused but did as his sister told him.

Lightning, suppression, danger, control.

That was what he felt when he analyzed the Cultivator.

The guy took a deep breath. "That’s definitely him," he said. "Somehow, I feel like a fight between him and I would go 50/50."

BANG!

The girl punched the guy’s shoulder quite hard. "Do you even hear yourself?" she asked with a sneer. "It’s alright to acknowledge your opponent’s power, but don’t undervalue yourself."

The guy rubbed his shoulder with an awkward smile. "Okay, maybe I went a bit far there," he confessed but then looked at the Cultivator again. "Anyway, this guy is a danger. Based on what I’ve heard and what I felt just now, he will probably claim twelve resource points without any issue. Whoever gets attacked will die unless they refuse to fight and concede right away."

The girl nodded. "I really don’t want to acknowledge it, but he is probably the most powerful Early Circulation Immortal in our Sects’ premises. In the Early Circulation Realm, he can do whatever he wants."

"What’s he doing?" the guy asked. "He has been wildly teleporting around. It’s like he’s searching for something."

"I don’t know," the girl said. "There shouldn’t be a fitting resource point for him here. This one’s the only one."

Suddenly, the guy’s eyes widened. "Hey, sis. Do you think he’s searching for this one?" he asked.

The girl looked at her brother with a skeptical expression.

The guy looked at his sister with a worried expression.

"Hahahaha!" both of them broke into laughter. "Could you imagine the guts you would need to have?" the girl asked. "Imagine jumping an entire Circulation and fight against the most powerful Cultivators at that level."

The Cultivator suddenly stopped as he arrived relatively close to the two of them. Then, his gaze changed, and he directly looked at them.

SHING!

And he teleported directly in front of them.

The map that Liran had given Gravis encompassed a huge area. He had been searching around this area for several minutes, just trying to find the resource point. His Spirit Sense had a radius of 200,000 kilometers, but that was barely anything in this world. Just by teleporting crazily one time after the other to arrive at this location had taken Gravis nearly two hours.

Gravis had probably traveled billions of kilometers.

This was the first time he realized how humongous this world actually was. Billions of kilometers and Gravis hadn’t even left the vicinity of the Sects. It was actually insane.

"Need directions?" the girl asked with a smirk.

One had to remember that the girl and the guy were Late Major Circulation Immortals. Their Spirit Senses were far bigger than Gravis’, which was why they had been able to watch him teleport around.

Gravis looked at both of them with narrowed eyes. "There’s supposed to be only one person here," Gravis said.

"I’m the defender of this resource point," the girl said. "This is my brother. He’s only here to visit."

Gravis glanced at the guy and then looked back at the girl. "As long as he doesn’t interfere in our fight."

The two of them opened their eyes widely in shock.

"Are you serious?" the guy asked. "You do realize that this is a Major Circulation resource point?"

Gravis nodded. "That’s exactly what I’ve been searching for."

The two of them remained silent for a bit.

"You see this?" the girl said to her brother. "Have more trust in your power, but don’t overestimate yourself. I want you to have more guts, but if you have too many guts, your guts will squash your brain."

Then, the girl narrowed her eyes at Gravis.

WHOOOOM!

She activated her Will-Aura and suppressed Gravis.

"Leave before you make a horrible mistake," she said with power. "I could have accepted your challenge right now, but I don’t want someone as powerful as you to die due to idiocy."

Gravis looked coldly into the eyes of the girl.

WHOOOOM!

Gravis activated his Will-Aura, and the girl felt a strong force attacking her Will-Aura. Yet, she was still far more powerful.

"Your Will-Aura is powerful, but that’s not enough," she said.

WHOOOOOM!

Gravis added the Law of Major Suppression, and the girl felt her Will-Aura receiving a powerful punch. Luckily, her Will-Aura was still slightly more powerful than Gravis’.

"Truly powerful," she said with respect and narrowed eyes. "You are truly unequaled in the Minor Circulation Realm, but don’t be foolish. You can’t fight me."

Gravis looked deeply into her eyes. He actually felt some goodwill towards her. She believed herself to be far more powerful than Gravis, but instead of killing him, she decided to warn him several times.

Their Sects had animosity with each other. That was also why Gravis was here. This Sect had been one of the significant aggressors. However, even though their Sects were not on good terms right now, she didn’t immediately kill Gravis.

But that bit of goodwill wouldn’t stop Gravis.

WHOOOOOM!

Gravis activated his Law of Apathy, and the girl felt a powerful hit to her Will-Aura. For a second, she felt like she couldn’t move, but that quickly passed when she concentrated on her Will-Aura.

Right now, their Will-Auras were equal.

The girl narrowed her eyes further.

WHOOOOOM!

Suddenly, her Will-Aura pushed Gravis’ Will-Aura back. Now, Gravis was suppressed by around 20%.

Gravis’ eyes shone.

’I have never felt this Law before!’ Gravis thought with surprise. Gravis had comprehended and seen so many Laws. What were the chances of finding a Law that he had never felt before?

’This feeling,’ Gravis thought. ’It somehow feels accepting, and it perfectly nullifies my Law of Apathy. It feels like the opposite of Apathy.’

’So, this is the Law of Empathy, huh?’ Gravis thought. ’Quite a surprise. No wonder she didn’t immediately kill me, even though she believes herself to be far more powerful than me. Her mindset is suited for the Law of Empathy.’

"Leave," she said with power.

Gravis looked at her with narrowed eyes.

’Seems like I won’t be at an advantage in the Will-Aura department.’

WHOOOOOM!

Gravis activated his Law of Minor Death, and the girl felt her Will-Aura being eaten. It was like it was slowly dying. The need to constantly resupply her Will-Aura made its strength weaker.

Right now, they were about equal in the Will-Aura department. The fact that the girl was an entire Circulation above Gravis made her Law of Empathy far more powerful than Gravis’ Law of Apathy. This meant that Gravis needed the Law of Minor Death and the Law of Apathy to counter her Law of Empathy.

’I still have the Law of Major Control, but I’m not using it to empower my Will-Aura. A soft usage of it will yield much greater results,’ Gravis thought.

The guy looked at the two of them with shock. This guy was actually this powerful?

Was he an actual danger to his sister?

"I am Gravis from the Unrestrained Sect, and I am officially challenging this resource point," Gravis said.

The girl narrowed her eyes and sighed.

"As you wish."

CLINK!

A Formation Array was activated that covered the entire area. The guy was immediately pushed out by the Formation Array, leaving only Gravis and his sister inside it.

This Formation Array recorded the fight and transmitted it to the two fighting Sects and the central Sect Alliance. They also had to see what was happening so that no one would play any dirty tricks.

"I am Stella of the Seething Inferno Sect!" she shouted.

’Stella?’ Gravis thought with surprise.

’What a coincidence.’

Chapter 763 - 763 – Opponents Shocked

’Stella, huh?’ Gravis thought. ’I haven’t heard that name in a long time.’

Gravis fell into a reverie for a second but quickly recovered.

’There are so many humans. Of course there will be duplicate names. Just because she has the same name doesn’t mean that she has anything to do with my dead childhood friend. It doesn’t matter.’

The Formation Array around them sprung to life as everything around them was isolated. Only Immortal Kings had the power to break the Formation Array. Others could only watch the fight.

These measures were essential to keep the fights fair. If any other member from one of the Sects stayed close to the fighting area, they might become involved or distract the fighters, making the fight unfair.

This Formation Array would only vanish when either one of them was dead or if they both agreed to stop fighting. As long as one person still wanted to fight, the Formation Array wouldn’t vanish.

SHING!

Stella took out her saber and swung it once, creating a burning wind that destroyed the ground below her.

"Come!" she shouted with power.

Their Will-Auras clashed against each other, warping the surroundings and shaking the earth. The higher world was far more stable than the middle world, but the resistance of the surrounding materials could only be pushed so high. As soon as Immortals fought, the area would become decimated.

Gravis took out his own saber.

He didn’t show any display of power and only looked at Stella.

CRRRRR!

The inside of the Formation Array started to freeze. The ground, rivers, and the air started to turn blue as a layer of frost encased them.

Stella narrowed her eyes further. "The Law of Cold with the Law of Temperatures," she said. "Sure enough, in the fight among the Sects, you have not shown your total power."

Stella also felt the cold attack her, but her fire element kept the cold at bay. However, there was a difference between Gravis’ and her situation. Gravis didn’t need to use any Energy to keep the Law of Cold active due to his Law of Temperatures, but Stella needed to use her Energy to keep her fire active.

BRRRRR!

That was until she activated the Law of Heat herself.

Cold and heat hit each other, creating a powerful storm that raged through the Formation Array.

Gravis also narrowed his eyes further as he realized that this strategy of his was countered too. He not only felt the Law of Heat radiating off of Stella, but he also felt the Law of Temperatures.

Stella could also keep the Law of Heat going indefinitely. On top of that, since she was an entire Circulation above Gravis, her Law of Heat was more powerful than Gravis’ Law of Cold.

Gravis felt the heat hit his body, but he managed to resist. His Law of Cold still managed to weaken the heat, and with his Fire Laws, Heat Law, and his hidden scales, Gravis managed to resist the heat without receiving any injury. If he were missing any of these Laws, he would slowly melt, weakening him as more time passed.

’She’s powerful,’ Gravis thought. ’Law of Empathy, Law of Temperatures, Law of Heat, and she probably also has the Law of Inferno as her Avatar. Sure enough, this is far more powerful than that one captain I killed.’

Gravis’ Will-Aura was countered by the Law of Empathy. Gravis’ Law of Cold was countered by the Law of Heat. Two of his most powerful weapons had been nullified.

BANG!

Gravis’ lightning exploded as he shot forward. He couldn’t pressure Stella enough to attack, which meant that he had to attack first to gain the initiative.

Stella had already shown two level three Laws that weren’t the Law of Space. She definitely was not an average Late Major Circulation Immortal.

Stella also shot at Gravis with surprisingly fast speed. Her speed was definitely superior to what a fire Cultivator should have.

They both swung their sabers to test the other’s power.

BOOOOM!

Both sabers hit each other, creating a powerful explosion. None of the weapons were infused with the elements, but the shockwave still created a crater on the ground below them.

Gravis felt his entire body shake as he was thrown into the distance. His saber vibrated, and he felt that the saber couldn’t resist many such clashes. His opponent had a saber of equal quality, but her Weapon Laws pushed the saber’s power to new heights.

Gravis stopped himself in the air a hundred kilometers away from Stella, his saber still ringing with a high-pitched tone.

Both Gravis and Stella looked at each other with shock.

’My body should be about as powerful as hers, but her body is actually more powerful,’ Gravis thought. ’I thought humans all had weak bodies, but she obviously doesn’t have a weak body. Her body is actually rather powerful. It isn’t nearly as powerful as a beast’s body, but it definitely is far more powerful than a human’s body.’

Gravis was shocked, but Stella was far more shocked. ’What’s going on?’ she thought. ’How can his body be so powerful? My body has already nearly reached the limit of what a human can accomplish, but his body’s quality is still far superior. His body is more powerful than any body I have ever seen or heard of.’

’She’s definitely not simple,’ Gravis thought. ’I can’t directly confront her in close combat. She has a more powerful body, and I will lose every time I clash with her. This will be more akin to a fight against a beast than a fight against a human.’

’Then, let’s change our tactic!’

BANG!

Gravis shot forward again.

He lifted his saber and attacked Stella again. Stella blocked the slash again with her own saber.

BRRRR!

A white fire suddenly appeared on Gravis’ saber before their weapons clashed.

Stella’s eyes widened as she realized what this was. ’The wood element!’

Their sabers clashed again, but this time, it was different. Gravis wasn’t thrown back as he violently fought against the knockback to keep close to her. He had to remain in contact to let his wood element attack.

The wood element quickly took over Stella’s saber and entered her arms. Then, it shot directly at her mind.

If Gravis couldn’t win a physical clash, he would let their souls and Will-Auras clash!

BRRRRR!

Suddenly, the white fire of Gravis’ wood element was pushed back into his saber as white fire also broke out of Stella’s body.

Gravis’ mind was going wild. ’She can also use the wood element? But she already demonstrated her fire element! This can only mean that she knows the Low-Rank Law of the Elements!’

’I received incorrect information!’ Gravis thought. ’I wanted to attack an average resource point first, but this definitely isn’t an average resource point! She has a very powerful body, and she knows at least four level three Laws. She is definitely not average, even from a defender’s standpoint!’

Gravis tried to retreat, but Stella pushed forward. Due to her Realm advantage, her wood element easily consumed Gravis’ wood element and pushed into him. Gravis’ Spirit was under attack!

Gravis gritted his teeth.

SSSSHHHHH!

The white fire seemingly hit a barrier, and as soon as it touched that barrier, it started turning into Energy. The aggressive properties were nullified as pure Energy flowed into Gravis.

Gravis had used the level two Law of Soul Dispersal. The wood element was a soul-based attack, which meant that Gravis could destroy it with the Law of Soul Dispersal.

Stella’s eyes widened in shock again. ’He knows the Law of Soul Dispersal? How can someone from this outer region know so many Laws!?’ she thought.

Stella also gritted her teeth.

BRRRRR!

Suddenly, Gravis’ Law of Soul Dispersal stopped working as it was.... dispersed.

’She also knows the Law of Soul Dispersal!?’ Gravis thought in shock.

However, Gravis couldn’t think more as he had to quickly react to the dangerous situation.

Suddenly, the white fire got pushed back as it violently entered Gravis’ saber instead of his body.

Gravis had infused his saber with a Soul thanks to his Law of Soul Infusion. The wood element was similar to lightning since it directly attacked and entered the first living thing it touched. With Gravis’ saber now having a Soul, the wood element attacked the saber instead of Gravis.

Stella watched in shock as more and more of her attack got absorbed by Gravis’ saber. ’He even knows Soul Infusion? Wait, his Soul Dispersal is more powerful than normal, and his Soul Infusion is also able to resist far more than normal. Does he know the Law of the Soul? Not even I know that one!’

Gravis kept his saber alive with the Law of Soul Regeneration. With all three Laws of the Soul combined, Gravis was able to resist Stella’s attack. If he had simply decided to flee, Stella would have gotten the advantage. He had to, at least, achieve a draw in this clash.

The sabers rubbed against each other for ten more seconds.

Both of them were madly using up their Energy.

BANG!

Then, both of them shot back to gain distance from the other.

Both of them were in severe shock about the power of their opponent.

’She knows a ton of Laws from the elemental category. She also knows the Law of Temperatures. She even has an Emotional Law and a Soul Law. Lastly, her body is more powerful than any human body I have ever faced.’

’Average resource point? Even if you beat me to death, Liran, I won’t believe such bullshit!’

Chapter 764 - 764 – Burning Sky Slash

For a moment, both of them only looked at the other in shock and respect. Both of them couldn’t believe that the other one knew so many Laws.

Yet, the most shocked person was Stella’s brother. ’He’s able to keep up with sis!’ he thought with shock. ’Sis has already used so many Laws, but he manages to counter them every time. This guy is a freak!’

’This is definitely not normal! I need to be ready for any surprise. Sorry, sis, but even if you hate me, I won’t let you die!’

CRK!

Stella’s brother silently broke an emblem in his Spirit Space.

None of the two had noticed this action as they fully concentrated on their opponent.

’Do I need to use my Weapon Laws?’ Stella asked herself. ’He counters every kind of conventional attack. I believed that I would be able to win without using my Weapon Laws, but he is able to resist all attacks. I can’t attack his Spirit, and I’m sure that he keeps some secret weapon hidden away. He knows that he will lose in a direct confrontation, which means that he is probably planning to take me out in a single strike.’

’If I’m not careful, I will die before I can even unleash my full power,’ she thought with a sigh. ’To hell with self-respect. I’d rather be careful than endanger my life because of my own pride.’

BRRRRR!

Stella’s saber started to burn intensely with the inferno element. She couldn’t risk dying to some sort of surprise attack.

Gravis gritted his teeth. ’I wanted to kill her with two Lightning Crescents at our next clash, but she has already unleashed her Weapon Laws. This fight will become ugly now.’

"You are truly powerful, Gravis," Stella said. "I’ll give you one more chance. I’m willing to stop the fight since I don’t want such a talented youngster like you to die."

"Youngster?" Gravis asked with a sneer. "I’m already 4,000 years old. I’m not a youngster."

"Yes, you are," Stella said.

Gravis was a bit surprised since everyone he had met before had told him that he was far too old for a Minor Circulation Immortal.

"Do you think 4,000 years is anything in the vast world? In this area, maybe, but outside of this area, the Cultivators are not as impatient as the ones here. I’m already 95,000 years old and already went through my first tribulation. In comparison to me, you are only a child."

’95,000 years!?’ Gravis thought in shock. ’No wonder she knows so many Laws. However, why is she here then? Her second tribulation is coming soon, but she doesn’t appear worried at all. The second tribulation should pit her against an opponent two levels above her. Does that mean that she can jump two levels?’

’I’ve seen her power, and she can definitely jump one level, but two levels? I’m not sure if she can manage that unless...’

’She hasn’t shown her entire strength yet,’ Gravis thought.

SHING! SHING! SHING!

Stella slashed into the air several times, leaving behind streaks of fire that stayed in the air. "Let’s see if you can resist the Seething Inferno Sect’s main technique!"

"This is called the Burning Sky Slash," she said. "Show me that you are even more powerful! I hope you haven’t already shown everything you have!"

A complex pattern of fire streaks appeared in the sky as Gravis simply watched.

’This technique is powerful,’ he thought. ’Even while creating the technique, I can’t get close to her. I feel like she can weave and manipulate this technique however she wants. If I attack now, she can unleash this attack from close range, incinerating me in an instant.’

’Interesting. So, there is a way to create and use a technique with a long wind-up that stops the enemy from interrupting you. Weapon Cultivation sure is different.’

’However, I can also feel that it’s difficult to control that technique. If she tries to move closer, the technique will break apart. This means that she has to stay in this spot. This gives me some time to evade.’

"Don’t die!" Stella shouted as she released one last slash.

BRRRRRRR!

The pattern of fire lines shot at Gravis.

Space around Gravis cracked, making it impossible for him to teleport.

The fire lines shot at Gravis with incredible speed.

BANG!

Gravis exploded to the left with his Lightning Acceleration.

SSSSHHH!

Yet, everything broke apart as Gravis felt his Punishment Lightning being destroyed.

’She knows the Composition Law of Punishment Lightning!’ Gravis thought in shock.

WHOOOOOOOM!

Gravis’ charge had been halted, and on top of that, gravity suddenly started to intensify.

’She even knows the Law of Gravity!’ he thought before he used his own Law of Gravity to counter her Law of Gravity.

’Sure enough, he knows even more Laws,’ Stella thought with a bright light in her eyes.

Immortals were able to make decisions and think in an incredibly brief period of time. The attack was shooting at Gravis with insane speed, but Gravis’ mind had already come up with several plans that had all been countered.

’Evasion is impossible!’ Gravis thought with terror. ’My momentum has been halted, and I have no other choice but to receive the attack. Fuck!’

’I have two ways to block this attack, but both of them would require me to show things that will motivate others to kill me. One of them is transforming into lightning to move between the open spots of the lines of fire. Several Immortal Kings are watching, and if they see this, they will come after me.’

’The other is to summon a ton of my remaining Initial Early Circulation Immortal Rank Materials to block the attack. This would weaken the attack enough to allow me to block it, but that’s millions of Immortal Stones of materials. This is nearly enough to create an Initial Minor Circulation Immortal King. This will throw up a lot of questions.’

’Am I willing to risk it? What should I do? Take a safe solution with potential future danger or confront the danger right now?’ Gravis thought in panic. His mind was moving with incredible speed as time seemingly stopped for him.

’Fuck it! If I can’t even resist a Major Circulation Immortal, how am I going to resist Immortal Kings? I need to confront this attack right now!’ Gravis thought.

Then, Gravis shot at the pattern of fire lines.

Stella looked with shining eyes at Gravis. ’Show me what you got!’ she thought.

Gravis closed in on the attack as his mind was going wild.

First, he unleashed his Composition Law of Inferno to weaken the attack.

Then, he unleashed his Law of Major Control to shake the attack and make it harder for it to stay in one piece. This made the fire lines warp slightly.

’The attack is still too powerful. If I block it, I will die!’ Gravis thought. ’However, the fire lines are morphing faster than lightning and without a pattern. I can’t move through them without relying on my luck.’

’I have to try it!’ Gravis thought as he came up with a new plan.

Gravis’ feelings were assaulted with a mixture of danger and safety. His new Law of Safety and his Law of Danger worked in tandem to find the safest path.

Basically everyone at this level knew the Law of Danger, which meant that it was impossible to rely on the Law of Danger. Additionally, since Stella was an entire Circulation above Gravis, it meant that Gravis’ Law of Danger was useless.

That was why he also activated the antithesis to the Law of Danger, the Law of Safety. By feeling the absence of safety, Gravis was able to elevate the usage of his Law of Danger.

BOOOOOM!

At this moment, Gravis’ Law of Danger broke through and became a level three Law. However, the only thing this accomplished was to highlight the danger more clearly. Sadly, it wasn’t of much use in this situation.

WHOOOM!

Gravis unleashed the Law of Time and infused it with a ton of Energy. The attack’s time was slowed to half its speed, while Gravis’ time was accelerated to double its speed.

Stella’s eyes widened in shock. ’The Law of Time!’

With time under his control, Gravis was able to find a safe spot. He only had to move through it, and he could evade the attack.

WHOOOOOOM!

Suddenly, time returned to normal, and Gravis’ eyes widened in terror.

’She even knows the Law of Time!?’

Gravis barely finished that thought before the attack closed in on him.

There was nowhere he could evade to anymore.

All the safe spots were gone.

Chapter 765 - 765 – Perceived Reality Vs. Physical Reality

Blood and body pieces flew through the air as the fire lines passed Gravis’ location. Gravis seemingly vanished as his body was blown across the Formation Array. The fire lines passed Gravis’ spot and hit the Formation Array, exploding violently.

Stella’s brother released a sigh of relief. His sister had won! For a second there, he had worried that Gravis was even more powerful than he had believed. Gravis had been a freak. That was undeniable.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Suddenly, an explosion of lightning and fire appeared that consumed nearly the entire area of the Formation Array, shocking Stella’s brother out of his relief.

What happened!?

BANG!

Suddenly, two bodies shot out of the storm of destruction, one fleeing and one chasing.

Nearly half of Stella’s face was burned, and she was missing an entire arm. However, instead of nervousness or fear, her face only showed cold determination and severity.

A half-dead Gravis chased after her with a lightning-filled saber. He had to win now! Stella was too powerful, and he had just barely managed to claim the initiative. If he failed now, he might not get a second chance!

What had happened?

When Stella completely countered Gravis’ defense against her attack, Gravis had to unleash his Avatar. Gravis had to be careful what he wanted to show of his power since he was now among humans. Seeing such an Avatar might invite unwanted attention.

However, Gravis would have died if he hadn’t used his Avatar.

His Avatar of Freedom allowed him to ignore any kind of suppression, which meant that Gravis could accelerate his personal time. Sadly, the Avatar of Freedom only worked for him and not for external things. This meant that Stella’s attack couldn’t be slowed.

Due to that, Gravis could only survive by sacrificing nearly his entire body. If he had been able to also slow the attack from Stella, he would have dodged the attack unscathed, but like this, he had only been able to save his head. He had to regrow his entire body in the blink of an eye by spending a ton of Energy to convert it to Life Energy with his Law of Energy Healing. However, even then, he was still injured.

Then, Gravis had charged at Stella and unleashed a Lightning Crescent.

However, Stella had never dropped her guard. As soon as she felt a feeling of danger approaching, she readied her saber again and performed several profound movements. This was definitely another kind of Weapon Technique.

Instead of creating one overpowered attack with a long wind-up, she created an instantaneous attack with a lot of power. It was like she had unleashed a single slash of fire that split space apart. Of course, none of the two were powerful enough to actually split space apart. However, this attack made it appear so.

Their attacks had clashed, creating a powerful storm of destruction. Gravis had been the one in the initiative, which meant that he had received lighter injuries than Stella. His half-dead appearance was mainly the damage that Stella’s earlier attack had caused him.

Gravis chased Stella, but he felt her Spirit becoming active.

SHING!

Gravis immediately swapped out his saber with another one. Stella had just tried to destroy the Punishment Lightning on Gravis’ saber with the Composition Law of Punishment Lightning. If she accidentally hit Gravis’ body and realized that Gravis was also made out of Punishment Lightning, Gravis would most likely die. Gravis had to attack in such a way that she wouldn’t use the Law of Punishment Lightning.

’What is this Avatar?’ Stella thought as her mind was going wild. ’I have never seen anything like it!’

Gravis closed in on Stella. He had to stay as close to her as possible so that she couldn’t recover her balance and positioning. Right now, she was under severe stress and was forced to defend herself from a suboptimal position, making her attacks and blocks very rough and hasty.

In this situation, Gravis’ weaker body could triumph.

SHING!

A searing fire slash barely missed Gravis’ body, leaving behind intense sounds of fire. Gravis immediately slashed at Stella before her slash had even ended.

Clank.

A second saber appeared in Stella’s free hand, blocking Gravis’ slash.

As soon as Gravis noticed the new saber, he weakened his attack until it only lightly tapped Stella’s saber. If he had unleashed his full power, Stella would have been pushed into the distance, allowing her to regain her balance and positioning.

Stella changed her plans and tried to kick Gravis.

PACK!

A third arm came out of Gravis, which quickly caught the foot. Some bones in Gravis’ arm broke when he received the impact, but he quickly healed it.

PACK! PACK!

Two other arms came out of Gravis, which quickly grabbed Stella’s arms. One of his feet sprouted sharp and aggressive claws, and Gravis kicked Stella’s remaining leg, hooking his leg to hers.

Gravis’ beast body was finally showing its advantages.

Back when Gravis had been a Nascent Nourishing Cultivator, he had realized that the combat-oriented body he had created wasn’t useful in the least in the middle world since it was filled with beasts. It would only show its true power against humans.

Now, Gravis was fighting a human, and his body was finally unveiling its incredible power. All of Stella’s limbs were locked down, leaving her completely open.

For the first time, Stella felt fear. This was bad! Why had she wanted to test Gravis!? If she had directly followed up her attack with another one, this would have never happened! This was not her style normally! How could she commit such a rookie mistake!?

This was true. Stella had unleashed a single powerful attack without any follow-up attacks. This was definitely not her style since Stella was incredibly careful and never underestimated her opponent. She would have readied subsequent attacks against even weaker opponents than Gravis.

So, why hadn’t she?

The Major Law of Control!

Gravis hadn’t unleashed his Major Law of Control directly with his Will-Aura but had kept it hidden. With this Law, Gravis had elevated Stella’s feeling of control to a higher level than it should be. Stella’s mind realized that Gravis was dangerous, but her feelings told her that she was the one in control.

To her, it felt like she couldn’t possibly die today. She consciously took note of Gravis’ power and realized that he was a danger, but today just felt like nothing could go wrong. She felt good! She felt like Gravis had no chance against her.

The Major Law of Control was by far the biggest weapon Gravis had against Stella. Without this Law, she would have readied several other attacks. As long as Stella remained careful, Gravis would, quite frankly, have no chance against her. Stella outmatched him in every department.

Stella was definitely more powerful than Gravis right now, thanks to her Realm advantage. If they were at the same level, this wouldn’t even be a fight, but Stella’s Battle-Strength was so powerful that Gravis would have no chance against her normally.

The physical reality was that Stella was more powerful than Gravis.

However, perceived reality can influence physical reality.

After all, had the middle Heaven not also been far more powerful than Gravis?

’I’m going to die?’ Stella thought in shock.

She tried to free herself, but Gravis had her firmly in his grasp.

Then, he brandished his saber.

And struck.

SHING!

Chapter 766 - 766 – Mutually Assured Destruction

Suddenly, something inside Stella’s mind broke. Boundless comprehension filled her mind as she realized something.

’Teacher?’ she thought in shock as her life was about to end.

’I would have died?’

Gravis’ saber was still swinging at her head.

BRRRRRRRRRR!

Suddenly, an apocalyptic storm of fire exploded out of Stella’s body. Gravis’ entire body started burning violently as he felt like he was touching the sun itself.

The knockback from the firestorm was so powerful that Gravis couldn’t move his saber forward anymore. His entire body was violently pushed back with an unreal amount of heat as he barely clung to Stella’s body. If this heat had been in the form of an attack, Gravis would have long been incinerated. The only reason why Gravis was still alive was that Stella had to release this fire as an aura.

Gravis barely held on, but he felt his body starting to burn into nothingness.

’Level five Law!?’ Gravis thought in shock. ’This is the Law of Inferno, but it can unleash the power of a level five Law!?’

’Does this mean that she knows the Major Law of the Elements and has it as her Avatar? Why? Why hasn’t she unleashed this Law beforehand!?’ Gravis thought in terror.

The only way to increase the power of the Law of Inferno to the power of a level five Law was with the Major Law of the Elements and having it as an Avatar. This was the same power that Heaven had shown.

Gravis felt himself being burned to a crisp.

’It’s now or never!’ Gravis thought.

PSH! PSH! PSH!

Gravis’ three arms that grabbed Stella transformed into beast arms, and his claws dug into Stella’s skin. If he couldn’t kill her with his saber, he had to kill her another way!

An entire second passed as Gravis’ body was starting to vanish slowly. His Law of Energy Healing was regenerating with as much power as it could muster, violently burning Gravis’ Energy storage.

’Why do you keep holding on!?’ Stella thought in frustration.

A second passed with Gravis starting to burn violently until...

Stella’s arms started to become black.

Stella felt like she was losing her Life Energy, and she quickly realized what was happening.

’The Law of Darkness Poisoning!?’ she thought in shock.

Yes, the seemingly useless Law that Gravis had learned back in the Ultimate’s Meet, the Law of Darkness Poisoning. Gravis was using his darkness element and the Law of Darkness Poisoning to destroy Stella’s Life Energy!

As long as the darkness element managed to enter the bloodstream of a being, it killed every last bit of Life Energy it could find.

Gravis was being burned to a crisp as Stella’s body started dying, starting with her four limbs.

’Are you insane!?’ Stella thought in shock and terror. ’Do you want both of us to die!?’

Meanwhile, Gravis’ eyes shone with an insane light as his mind moved as fast as never before.

’I need to comprehend the Major Law of the Elements, now!’ he thought. ’If I can’t comprehend it, both of us will die! Only when I comprehend this level four Law will I be able to survive!’

The Formation Array started to warp as it had to contain Stella’s violently powerful fire. Gravis was only feeling a small part of Stella’s force since she unleashed it across her entire surroundings, but the Formation Array had to withstand the full brunt.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

A violent explosion of fire came from the outside as Stella’s brother attacked the Formation Array in panic.

"Don’t die!" he shouted as he unleashed all his power on the Formation Array. He couldn’t let his sister die! She was the last family he had left!

"Teacher, where are you!?" he shouted. "Teacher, save sis!"

Gravis was barely clinging onto life as he micro-managed his Law of Energy Healing to an insane degree. He had to keep his limbs and head in one piece! If Stella managed to break away from him, he wouldn’t get such a chance again!

Stella had shown that she knew the Major Law of the Elements! Gravis would be absolutely helpless against her if she managed to retreat to a safe distance!

This was a level four Law!

How many Immortals knew level four Laws!?

’If she escapes, I die! It’s now or never!’ Gravis thought as his face contorted into a violent grimace of concentration and rage.

’I can’t die! I need more power!’ Gravis thought violently, his thoughts barely making any sense.

Seconds passed.

Stella’s limbs were fully black now as the black color already started consuming her torso. Stella felt weaker and weaker like she was about to lose consciousness and die.

Meanwhile, Only the bare minimum of muscles and bones were left of Gravis to keep Stella hooked down. His face had long since transformed into a burned skull as only the bare minimum of organic matter remained to protect his mind from the fire.

Stella looked into the skull right in front of her, which terrified her very soul. ’Is this still a human!?’ she thought.

’I don’t want to die!’ she thought as her emotions went wild.

The illusion of control had long since been broken and had been transformed into the opposite by Gravis. Now, Gravis used his Law of Control to make her feel like she had no control at all, making it harder for her to unleash her power.

Stella’s brother had spent all his Energy as he broke down at the wall of the Formation Array. His head was lowered. "Don’t die, please," he whimpered. "Sis, please don’t die. I don’t want to lose you too."

In a world of cultivation and power, Cultivators died, and their families suffered. This was an unchangeable truth of the world. Gravis was not about to lay down his life because Stella had a loved one.

How many beings had Gravis killed?

How many of these beings had loved ones that grieved over their death?

What made this one different from all the others?

If Stella escaped now, Gravis would definitely die. He couldn’t allow that! She must die, now!

’I need the Major Law of the Elements!’ Gravis thought violently.

Gravis was running out of Energy as his Law of Energy Healing started to become slower and slower.

Stella was running out of Life Energy as nearly her entire body transformed into a black husk.

One last second passed.

Gravis was out of Energy, and his boney limbs burned away.

Stella barely clung to life as her mind started vanishing.

Gravis’ husk stood in the fire as his bones started vanishing too. He had no Energy left, and he couldn’t retreat from the fire anymore.

Stella’s fire violently shook as it started to vanish and weakly reappear. She was out of Life Energy, and her Spirit was vanishing, slowly killing her consciousness.

Meanwhile, Gravis felt calm.

’I didn’t achieve it,’ he thought calmly.

’I couldn’t comprehend the Major Law of the Elements.’

’I’m sorry, Arc. It seems like our fight won’t happen.’

Gravis’ emotions were calm as he knew that he was going to die. He couldn’t even transform his body into Divine Lightning since he simply had no lightning or Energy left.

’Aris, Cera, Yersi, I hope you all live a happy life.’

And then, the Formation Array broke as someone appeared between the two of them.

Chapter 767 - 767 – Tribulation

BANG!

The Formation Array broke like it hadn’t even existed. The new person that had just appeared between Stella and Gravis was so powerful that nothing was seemingly able to stop her.

SSHHH!

The fire vanished, and white light fell on both Gravis and Stella. In nearly an instant, their bodies recovered.

The black color vanished from Stella’s body as Gravis felt his entire body regrow with incredible speed. In less than a second, both of them were healthy again.

Gravis looked at the new arrival with furrowed brows.

It was a middle-aged woman with red hair, just like Stella and her brother. On her back, she carried a red and black bow that radiated an unreal amount of power.

However, her clothes were very simple. She only wore white pants and a white blouse.

"Teacher!" Stella’s brother shouted with exhilaration and happiness. Finally, his teacher had arrived!

Gravis looked at the new arrival and noticed that he couldn’t feel her power. This meant that she was, at least, a very powerful Immortal King, maybe even an Immortal Emperor.

Stella could hardly believe that she was still alive. Then, she noticed her teacher.

For a moment, she felt relieved and happy, but then, frustration took over.

’I would have died.’

’I would have died!’ she thought with frustration and tragedy. ’Am I truly not destined to become powerful?’

The woman looked at Stella with a peaceful smile and pulled Stella into a warm embrace. "I’m sorry," she said.

"What?" Stella asked in shock. "Why are you sorry? I should be the sorry one! I was too weak!"

Her emotions were riled up by everything that had happened. Being close to death was something different from knowing that one would die. Stella had not been able to rely on her own power to survive. Someone else had to get involved in order to save her.

What about her pure path to power?

Someone else had gotten involved in her tempering. How could she reach supreme power now? She wanted to see the next world above everything else, but if she couldn’t even defend herself in this world, how would she ever be able to reach the next one?

Stella’s brother looked at Stella with heartache. By calling their teacher, he had put Stella’s path to power into jeopardy. However, if he hadn’t called their teacher, Stella would be dead right now.

Nevertheless, Stella’s path to power had been damaged by this interference. It was the weaker of the two evils, but it was still something horrible. Why had all of this happened? Why was his sister destined to have her path broken?

Then, he looked at Gravis, and his rage exploded.

It was him!

He was the reason!

If he hadn’t arrived, everything would still be fine!

Gravis felt the violent emotions of Stella’s brother and looked at him with narrowed eyes. Gravis would not lay down his life just like that.

"Liam, calm down," his teacher said.

Liam gritted his teeth. "Why should I!?" he shouted at his teacher as he turned to her. Then, he pointed at Gravis. "He destroyed sis’ path!"

Gravis was still careful of Liam, but he wasn’t really worried. Stella’s teacher had also healed Gravis, which meant that she didn’t see him as an enemy, for whatever reason. Gravis actually couldn’t find any reason why this teacher of Stella would heal Gravis. By all intents and purposes, their teacher should hate Gravis.

Stella’s teacher sighed. "Because it’s not his fault."

Gravis’ face morphed into a skeptical grimace while Liam looked with shock at his teacher. "Not his fault?" he asked. "It was his decision to come here! How can it not be his fault!?"

Stella only remained silent as she tried to come to terms with her current situation.

Their teacher slowly shook her head. "Because this was Stella’s tribulation," she said.

Everyone immediately became shocked. Her tribulation?

"What?" Liam asked.

Stella looked at her teacher. "That’s impossible," she said. "I am not 100 millennia old yet."

Their teacher sighed again. "I’m afraid you are," she said.

"How?" Stella asked in shock.

Their teacher stroked Stella’s hair with love and smiled at her. "Do you remember when you and your brother went into seclusion to comprehend the Major Law of the Elements? Back then, I made time move faster for you. You thought that you have only spent 25,000 years in there, but you actually spent 30,000 years in seclusion."

Stella and Liam couldn’t process what they were hearing. They had so many questions, but above all else, one question stood at the forefront.

"Why?" Stella asked.

"Because I didn’t want you to sacrifice 50,000 years of your cultivation," she said

This confused Stella and Liam even more.

"You comprehended the Laws separately, but I only manipulated your time. Your brother comprehended the Laws 5,000 years faster than you."

"I comprehended the Major Law of the Elements faster than sis?" Liam asked in shock. "But sis is more powerful than me!"

Their teacher smiled at Liam. "Her Battle-Strength is higher than yours, but you have more talent in comprehending Laws."

Stella and Liam looked at each other, not knowing what they should feel right now.

"Everything revolved around your and your brother’s tribulation," she said. "I had to separate the both of you in age. I know that you never talked about it, but I know how you feel, Stella."

"I know that you are afraid that Liam won’t be able to beat his tribulation, which is why you already decided to become an Immortal King together with Liam in the next five thousand years," their teacher said.

Stella gritted her teeth.

Liam looked at his sister with confusion and a bit of hurt. "Is that true, sis?" he asked. "Do you honestly believe that I wouldn’t be able to beat my second tribulation?"

Stella wanted to deny everything, but she decided that she had to be honest today. "I just don’t want to lose you," she said quietly.

Liam felt his heart shake, and his emotions were riled up. Did his sister truly believe that he was so weak?

"She is right, Liam," their teacher said. "Your paths are different. Liam, I fear that you will not be able to survive your incoming tribulation in 5,000 years. You have seen that even your sister has failed. Don’t throw your life away."

Their teacher turned back to Stella. "However, you had a 50/50 chance of succeeding in my mind, Stella," she said. "That was why I didn’t tell you. I can’t see you throwing away 50,000 years of cultivation just because you don’t want to make your brother feel bad. I couldn’t watch and decided to intervene. That’s why I’m sorry, Stella."

PACK!

Stella shoved her teacher away from her in anger. "You betrayed me!" she shouted. "This was my decision!"

Their teacher sighed in hurt. "I know, and I don’t expect you to forgive me. I only did what I thought was best for you and your brother."

"Sorry to interrupt," Gravis said evenly from the side with crossed arms. "But how is this a tribulation? Isn’t she supposed to fight someone two levels above her?"

Liam was still angry at Gravis, and when he heard Gravis’ words, his insides churned again. Meanwhile, Stella felt a mix of anger, frustration, and helplessness.

Their teacher looked at Gravis. "Stella was supposed to fight a Peak Immortal that can jump a level, but that would have nearly certainly resulted in her death. Longevity doesn’t take power jumps between levels into account. This meant that her opponent would have been three levels more powerful than her, which would have killed her."

"Instead, I decided to lock her power and weaken her Battle-Strength under the guise of outside tempering. With this, she wouldn’t have needed to battle someone that powerful. The Heavens are fair, and they will adjust the opponent to the Cultivator’s power. With her powers locked, she will fight someone weaker."

"Fighting someone one level more powerful while weakened is easier than fighting someone three levels more powerful while on full strength. This gave her a higher chance of survival."

Gravis quickly did some calculations in his head. Gravis could kill someone at the Late Major Circulation Immortal Realm even if they could jump an entire level, maybe even two. This actually conformed to the tribulation scale.

Gravis narrowed his eyes. ’Was this your doing, Arc?’ he asked himself as he glared at the sky.

’I’ll talk later to him,’ Gravis thought as he looked back at the teacher. ’There’s something else that interests me more right now.’

"We would have both died in the fight, but you involved yourself," Gravis said. "If this is a tribulation, your interference would count as interfering with Heaven’s business. So, my question is, what happens now?"

Liam and Stella both opened their eyes widely in shock.

Then, they looked at their teacher with horror.

Their teacher smiled bitterly. "You are an unpleasant person," she said to Gravis.

Gravis didn’t react.

The teacher sighed again. "But you are right," she admitted. "I have interfered in Stella’s tribulation. This means that I have accepted the burden of her tribulation."

"My tribulation would arrive shortly, but..." she said as she trailed off.

Then, she took her right hand out of her sleeve.

The atmosphere froze.

Her hand was starting to turn into dust.

"This would be the third tribulation for me, and as a Late Major Circulation Immortal Emperor, there are no fitting opponents left."

"Therefore, I will turn to dust before the sun has set," she said as she peacefully looked at the evening sun.

Chapter 768 - 768 – Request

Liam and Stella looked at their teacher’s disintegrating hand with shock and horror.

All rage vanished from Stella’s mind as she shot to her teacher. "I’m sorry!" she shouted emotionally as she held her teacher. "I didn’t mean it! I was angry!"

Stella’s teacher smiled at Stella and stroked her hair. "I know," she said. "It’s alright."

"Why!?" Stella shouted. "Why did you sacrifice your life for mine!?"

"Because you are more important to me than this old life of mine," she said. "My tribulation would have come in a couple thousand years anyway, and I wouldn’t have been able to comprehend a level six Law until then. My life was already over. So, instead of living these last few years without reason, I decided to sacrifice this last bit of life to extend yours."

Liam only looked with shock at his teacher. His teacher would die? She had been like a mother to them!

After a while, Liam also shot to his teacher with tears in his eyes, embracing her tightly. He didn’t want to lose her!

Gravis sighed as he saw the three of them embrace. Suddenly, he missed his family too. He had only been here for a couple of days, but he already started to miss his three kids and his parents.

’Sadly, my journey in the higher world has only begun,’ Gravis thought.

However, Gravis also looked at Stella. For some reason, he was actually happy that Stella didn’t die.

He admired Stella. She knew a ton of Laws, and she even knew the Law of Empathy. Additionally, she had warned Gravis several times instead of simply accepting the challenge and scoring an easy kill.

In her mind, Gravis had been no danger at all to her. She had no reason to warn him several times to not throw his life away. This meant that she honestly didn’t want to kill him.

On top of that, she hadn’t unleashed her most powerful attacks immediately. Instead, she only demonstrated her powers slowly in front of him, hoping that Gravis would accept that she was more powerful and concede. Gravis was sure that Stella would have accepted Gravis’ submission and wouldn’t have killed him.

From the very beginning, she didn’t want to kill Gravis.

Did Gravis want to kill Stella?

He was fine with killing her for his own power, but he wasn’t a big fan of it. She had proven that she was actually a nice person.

Sadly, being a nice person wasn’t enough for Gravis. She had been a powerful opponent, and he wanted to temper himself. He had killed so many nice people before, so what would make this one different?

However, Gravis actually preferred this outcome over her death. Gravis had received his tempering. He had upgraded his Law of Danger and managed to learn a ton about the Major Law of the Elements. His Will-Aura had also already increased by a level.

Gravis got what he came here for, and Stella didn’t die.

’No reason to remain here,’ Gravis thought. ’We met, we fought, and now our paths will split again.’

Gravis turned around and checked the map in his head for the next resource point. This first fight had been a doozy, but he doubted that something like this would happen again.

"Please, wait," Stella’s teacher said to Gravis.

Gravis turned to them again. "Yes?" he asked.

"Do you not feel it?" she asked Gravis.

"I don’t know what you’re referring to," he said.

Stella’s teacher smiled as she gently pushed Stella and Liam away.

"I lived for a very long time, and I have seen countless people," she said.

"And I am certain that there is a connection between you and Stella," she said.

Gravis furrowed his brows while Stella looked at her teacher in confusion. Then, she also furrowed her brows at Gravis.

"Him?" Liam nearly spat. He was still angry that Gravis had nearly killed his sister.

"I see something in you," the woman said to Gravis. "You have something that Stella needs."

Gravis blinked in a bored manner. "Do you want to extort me now?" he asked.

The teacher laughed a bit. "No," she said. "I’m not referring to something material."

"I’m talking about your mindset," she said.

"I still don’t get it," Gravis said.

"You don’t?" she asked with a smile. "I have seen who you are when you’ve fought, and I think I understand you pretty well. You have something that Stella needs more than anything right now."

Gravis still couldn’t follow.

"What are you talking about, teacher?" Stella asked. "What could I possibly need from him?"

"Silly girl," she said as she stroked Stella’s hair again. "Let me show you," she said as she turned to Gravis again.

"My interference and my subsequent saving of Stella’s life has made it more difficult for her to temper herself in the future. The interference of others is always damaging to one’s cultivation."

"Yet, let me ask you," she said. "I have also saved your life with my interference. Has this damaged your cultivation?"

"No," Gravis said immediately.

Liam and Stella looked at Gravis with surprise. No? But his Will-Aura was so powerful! Someone with such a powerful Will-Aura must have battled all their opponents directly and without interference. The more powerful someone’s Will-Aura, the more devastating the interference of someone else would be.

How could something like this not impact Gravis’ cultivation?

"This is what I meant," Stella’s teacher said. "Stella is at a crossroads for her future cultivation now. If she makes a wrong decision, her life will end, or she will never be able to temper herself again. However, this humongous issue that plagues Stella’s mind is nothing to you."

"You might be able to lead her out of this tribulation," she said.

Gravis glanced at Stella for a second.

Why wasn’t this interference an issue?

Back then, when Commander Rime had interfered in Gravis’ tempering, Gravis had decided to kill Commander Rime to keep his pure path to power. He had been the victim of the same circumstance back then. Someone had interfered, and Gravis’ path to power had been compromised.

However, all of this changed with two realizations.

The first realization had been when the middle Heaven showed Gravis that a pure path to power was an illusion. It was all only in the mind of the Cultivator. As long as someone didn’t think pureness to be important, interference wouldn’t be able to damage them.

This could be likened to losing one’s lifelong partner. If the partner of this person died, they would be damaged beyond repair.

Why?

Because of their love.

So, what if the feeling of love could be eradicated? Would the loss of one’s partner still matter? Would it hurt them?

No.

An example like this felt cold and sterile, but it demonstrated the effect of distance. If one didn’t assign their power and tempering to some pureness, one wouldn’t be damaged by interference.

Another thing was the Law of Freedom.

The interference of someone else theoretically counted as someone else pushing their will and decision on top of the Cultivator. Freedom was not part of physical reality but perceived reality.

In very simple terms, if someone believed themselves to be free and didn’t care about someone else’s interference, their interference wouldn’t matter.

Sadly, all of this was easy to explain but nearly impossible to actualize.

Stella was powerful, but she didn’t go through the intense suppression and pain that Gravis had been subjected to. Only when one’s path was completely destroyed would one be able to realize that the path had been unimportant in the first place.

"So, you wish for me to help Stella escape from her predicament?" Gravis asked.

Stella’s teacher nodded.

Liam didn’t like this one bit, and Stella had mixed feelings about this. Her emotions were still riled up by the image of the burning skull right in front of her, making her feel very apprehensive and a bit fearful of Gravis.

"Honestly," Gravis said, "I would, but I can’t. You have seen my Avatar, and with your experienced eyes, you might even know the Law. So, let me ask you, why is it that so few people know this Law?"

Stella and Liam remembered Gravis’ Avatar, but they had no idea what Law it had been.

"I think I know," the teacher said. "I have never seen this Law with my own eyes, but I’ve heard descriptions."

Liam’s and Stella’s eyes widened in shock. A Law that their all-powerful teacher had never seen?

"The reason why so few beings know of this Law is that it can’t be taught," Gravis said. "You have to find it out yourself."

However, instead of feeling dejected, the teacher only smirked a little bit. "Yes, but it’s a Situational Law, is it not?" She asked.

Gravis nodded.

"So, even though you can’t teach it to others, you can create situations that allow someone to comprehend the Law for themselves."

Gravis’ brows furrowed.

"I mean, kind of, but it isn’t that easy," he said.

"Can’t you try at least?" the teacher asked.

Gravis hesitated a bit as he looked at Liam and Stella.

Liam was obviously very against this decision. If Gravis had to show them this Law, he had to travel with them. Traveling with someone that hated him so much? That would be like serving his head on a platter.

After some seconds, Gravis looked at the teacher again with a raised brow.

She had noticed how Liam had reacted, and she sighed. No matter what she said, Liam wouldn’t just bury his hatred for Gravis, and no Cultivator would invite someone like that to travel together with them.

"Please," Stella said, eliciting glances from Gravis and Liam.

"I trust my teacher. If she thinks that you can help me, then please..." she said.

Liam and Gravis looked with shock at Stella.

This didn’t conform to the image they had of Stella in their minds!

Chapter 769 - 769 – Stella's Reason

"You can’t possibly mean this!" Liam shouted at Stella.

Gravis also looked at Stella with surprise. In his mind, Stella was a proud but kind Cultivator. She was definitely confident in her power, and the fact that this interference had damaged her path showed how much she valued her own power.

So, where did this sudden acceptance of asking for help come from?

"Liam," Stella said with a sigh. "My path has been damaged. This is an undeniable truth. What do you think would allow me to get out of this situation?"

Liam was still riled up, but he found an answer he didn’t like. "You would have to enter the Valley of Silent Death," he said.

"What’s that?" Gravis asked.

Liam gritted his teeth and didn’t look at Gravis.

Instead, it was Stella that turned to Gravis. "The Valley of Silent Death is a kind of prison from our Sect," she explained. "In there, death is at every corner, and no one is allowed to enter or look at it, not even the upper echelon."

"The valley is filled with hidden dangers. You will find nearly no opponents there but many traps and beasts that strike from the shadows. Elements, natural disasters, Cultivation Diseases, and several other things run rampant in there."

"Only disciples that have broken primary rules and disciples that need to fix their Will-Auras will enter. The only way to fix my current situation is to be subjected to an extended period of constant danger," she said.

"The death rate is 98%."

"Battle-Strength seemingly doesn’t make a difference."

Gravis nodded. This made sense.

The issue with interference was that the Cultivator’s feeling of danger would lessen since there had been a precedence case of someone saving their life. This would unconsciously make it harder to feel death, decreasing the growth of the Will-Aura massively. If the Will-Aura can’t grow anymore, any attempt to increase one’s power would only be a dream.

However, there was also another method.

"You didn’t speak of the second method," Gravis said.

Stella gritted her teeth, frustration and anger ravaging her insides. She didn’t even want to think of this method! She already felt ashamed that she even thought of it!

Liam was confused when he saw his sister’s reaction. What method?

Only when someone wanted to become more powerful with all their will would they even be able to think of something like this.

Eradicate the cause of the interference.

Their teacher already knew of this. Even if she didn’t die today, she would probably still kill herself to secure her disciple’s path.

However, she was only part of the interference.

The other part was Liam.

Killing Liam and her teacher would help a lot in fixing Stella’s path.

Gravis knew this very well since he went through the same thing in the past.

"I won’t even consider that!" Stella said through clenched teeth.

"Understandable," Gravis said with a nod. "So, you are actually willing to ask for assistance?"

Stella nodded with a determined expression.

"He nearly killed you!" Liam shouted at Stella. "He’s the reason why you are in this situation in the first place!"

"So?" Stella asked bluntly as she looked at her brother. "This was a fight we both agreed to. Yes, he challenged me, but I could have also just left. This resource point means nothing to us. The Seething Inferno Sect is only a temporary training ground for us."

"We both agreed," Stella said. "Do you think he doesn’t have any loved ones? Do you think his loved ones wouldn’t grieve for him and hate me if our situations were reversed?"

"Liam, we are not living in some village!" Stella said with frustration. "There is no good or evil! We are all just people that have the same dream! You should know that! You’re an Immortal, for Heaven’s sake!"

Liam clenched his fists in rage. "So what?" he asked aggressively, gesturing widely. "He nearly killed you, and that’s a fact! Just because he had a good reason doesn’t change the fact that you nearly died! Am I just supposed to swallow this rage!?"

"Yes, you are," Stella said, "because this has nothing to do with you."

Liam’s anger nearly exploded when he heard that.

"He nearly killed me, not you, Liam," Stella said with narrowed eyes. "Do you believe I am so weak that I can’t make my own decisions? I forgive teacher for intervening, but that doesn’t mean that I will allow just anyone to overrule my decision and intervene in my personal freedom!"

Their teacher watched with pain. She didn’t enjoy that the two loving siblings fought with each other, but she also knew that it was necessary. If Liam wanted to help his sister, he had to keep himself out of this.

In Liam’s mind, he was helping his sister. However, ironically, helping his sister required not helping her.

"Fine!" Liam shouted as he stepped back. "You want to chase your own death? Fine!"

Then, Liam returned to his teacher’s side as he looked away from his sister.

Obviously, he was mad that his sister decided to go through with such a stupid decision.

Stella took a deep breath. "Thanks, Liam," she said.

Liam’s heart shook, but he didn’t let it show.

Then, Stella turned to Gravis again. "As for your question, yes, I am willing to ask for help," she said. "Your ability to ignore something as significant as this is a power I don’t have."

Stella took a deep breath and looked to the side.

"Honestly, I don’t want to follow you," she said, "and if it were only this one time, I would rather enter the Valley of Silent Death."

Then, she turned to Gravis again. "However, I can’t guarantee that something like this doesn’t happen again. As long as I have family and friends, one of them will sooner or later interfere to save me. When that happens, even the Valley of Silent Death wouldn’t be able to save me anymore."

Stella took a deep breath and sighed. "That would only leave the second option."

Then, she looked at Gravis again with determined eyes, "but that is something that I will never do!"

"Therefore, I need this ability of yours. If I have to swallow my pride right now to gain it, then so be it!" Stella shouted.

Liam’s expression changed to a pained one. His anger had already mostly vanished as he listened to his sister.

Yes, what of the future?

Would something like this never happen again?

"You can ask for anything in return," Stella said. "I’m not someone that will accept a favor without repayment."

Gravis remained silent for a couple of seconds as he listened to her words.

Then, he sighed.

’Damn,’ he thought. ’She’s making it real hard to dislike her.’

Gravis also looked at their teacher, who only smiled at Gravis encouragingly.

’Well, she did save my life, and I have received some good tempering. Additionally, this is her dying wish,’ Gravis thought as he glanced at Stella. ’Also, her personality is to my liking. Lastly, in some couple of years, I will probably feel lonely again since I don’t have a deep connection with Liran or Surem.’

’Might as well make some friends.’

"Fine," Gravis said.

Chapter 770 - 770 – Power Difference

Stella sighed in relief.

Liam wasn’t sure what he should think about this. On one hand, he really hated Gravis, but on the other hand, this was what his sister wanted, and Gravis might really be able to help her out of this predicament.

Their teacher, who had remained silent for a while now, only smiled in relief. Like this, Stella actually had a chance to survive and grow more powerful. This had been the last thing that had been on the teacher’s mind.

Could she now die without regrets?

No.

Cultivators always had regrets, but this solution made it easier at least.

"However," Gravis said, eliciting looks from everyone. "I am not traveling with someone that wants my head," he said as he gazed at Liam.

Liam became angry again, but his teacher answered first.

"This will not be a problem," she said, making Liam look at her with furrowed brows.

"Liam has a different path from Stella," she said. "Liam needs to prepare himself for becoming an Immortal King. For that, he needs to return to my Sect."

Liam looked with shock at his teacher. "Are you saying that I’m supposed to leave sis alone with him!?" he shouted as he pointed at Gravis.

"Liam!" Stella shouted. "Don’t forget who you are talking about! I’m more powerful than you, and if I couldn’t defend myself, you wouldn’t be able to help either. If you want to become useful, become more powerful than me first."

Liam clenched his fists in frustration. He knew that he was weaker than Stella, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t want to help her! He wanted to help her!

However, reality could be cruel. Stella was right. If something was able to kill her, Liam wouldn’t be any help.

He hated this!

He hated feeling useless!

"Fine!" he shouted with a glare. "Then I will become an Immortal King and search for you. When that happens, you can’t say that I’m useless anymore!"

Stella smiled and nodded. "Thanks."

Gravis watched this and took note of their gestures and positioning. Obviously, the two of them didn’t want to leave their teacher when she was about to die. Theoretically, Gravis could wait for them, but he was concerned about something else.

"What of the Formation Array and the Immortal Kings that watched the fight?" Gravis asked the teacher.

She smiled at Gravis. "You don’t need to worry about that. The Formation Array only transmits pictures, making it impossible for the watchers to feel the fight. The subtle Laws like the Laws of Gravity, Suppression, Time, Apathy, Empathy, and so on have not been witnessed by them."

"Additionally, as soon as Stella unleashed the Burning Sky Slash, I isolated this area. Ever since then, I have built a forcefield of my own, isolating this place. Nobody knows what has happened in here after that. They only know that someone more powerful than them has gotten involved."

"Nobody knows your or Stella’s power," she said.

Gravis nodded. "That’s good," he said. "I feared that this fight might dissuade others from accepting my challenge. I still need one more good enemy to temper myself against to push my Will-Aura to the peak again. After that, I will quickly grab the remaining resource points for the Unrestrained Sect."

Stella looked at Gravis with a bit of wonder and respect. "You are willing to immediately jump into another fight after the one we just had?" she asked.

Gravis turned to her with an even look. "What’s the difference between going now or later? I will fight again anyway, so the only difference between now and later would be a wastage of time."

Stella grimaced a bit. Gravis’ logic was sound, but it felt a bit sterile and inhuman.

When it came to tempering, Gravis was in full focus. He wouldn’t be distracted by anything during this time since just a single mistake could spell his doom. Fun and games could return after this was done.

"While you’re here," Gravis said as he looked at their teacher. "Could you point me to the most powerful Late Major Circulation Immortal in this area? My Will-Aura has been strengthened, and I comprehended an additional Law in this fight. I think such a fight would be a good challenge."

Liam looked at Gravis with narrowed eyes while Stella grimaced. Gravis was talking to their teacher like she was just some random person. Didn’t he realize that their teacher was one of the most powerful beings in this world?

Gravis wasn’t really impolite. He simply spoke to her like he would speak to anybody else. She was not above him but also not beneath him. Stella and Liam found this to be a bit disrespectful, but Gravis, and even the teacher, saw no issues.

"Sure," she said with a smile. "In the entirety of the over 100 Sects in this area, there are two that know a level four Law. Would that be fine with you?"

’Level four Law, huh?’ Gravis thought. ’The most powerful geniuses from these Sects already know level four Laws. This reminds me of something else.’

"That reminds me," Gravis said. "I have a different question."

"Ask away," she said.

"You are obviously the Sect Leader or Ancestor of a very powerful Sect," Gravis said. "I haven’t been to these core regions yet, so I don’t know the average power, but I’ve heard that the average Cultivator outside is more powerful than in this area."

"So, my question is, how would these two Cultivators fare in the core regions of the world compared to others?" Gravis asked.

The teacher wanted to scratch her chin, but she stopped herself. She didn’t want her two disciples to see her disintegrating hands.

"They are a bit above average," she said.

Gravis’ eyes narrowed. ’A bit above average, huh? Comprehending a level four Law while not even being a Peak Immortal is only a bit above average. So, the true geniuses would be...’ Gravis thought as he looked at Stella.

Stella hadn’t been able to unleash her full power until Gravis had already put her into checkmate, basically. She knew a ton of level three Laws from different categories and even knew the Major Law of the Elements, one of the most powerful level four Laws in existence.

To be quite frank, if Stella had been able to unleash this Law from the very beginning, Gravis would have had no chance. She countered basically everything he had and could unleash an incredible offense.

On top of that, Gravis noticed another thing. Stella had unleashed the Burning Sky Slash. However, this attack was the technique of the Seething Inferno Sect. Stella and her brother were obviously part of another Sect, which was far more powerful. This meant that she probably also knew techniques from that Sect.

Stella hadn’t fought with her full power from the very start.

’Quite interesting,’ Gravis thought with a smirk as he rubbed his chin. ’The criteria for breakthroughs in this world are stringent since this world creates some of the most powerful Ascenders that exist. Needing a level four Law to become an Immortal King is a rule that probably not every higher world has.’

’Yet, even with this stringent requirement, there are a lot of Cultivators that meet it before even attempting to become Immortal Kings.’

"I’m fine with someone that knows level four Laws, but I don’t want to fight someone with the earth element or someone that knows the Hard Pure Material Law," Gravis said.

Liam snorted. "What? Because they counter you?" he asked.

Gravis smirked. "Actually, quite the contrary," he said. "They are too weak since I know an attack that decimates Cultivators that focus on defense."

Liam just looked to the side.

"That leaves one person since the other one knows the Hard Pure Law," the teacher said.

Gravis nodded. "Which Sect?" he asked.

"Crackling Frost Sect," the teacher said.

"Oh?" Gravis uttered with a raised brow. "Someone with the water element?"

She nodded.

Gravis checked the map to see what relationship the Unrestrained Sect had with this Sect.

Neutral.

Not enemies, not allies.

Gravis scratched the side of his head. ’Should I or should I not?’ he asked himself.

Gravis looked in the direction of the Unrestrained Sect with furrowed brows.

’Killing the greatest genius of a neutral Sect will create severe animosity,’ he thought. ’However, it also serves as deterrence.’

’Though, more importantly,’ Gravis thought with a smirk. ’I want to fight them. The Unrestrained Sect wants freedom, and everyone can do what they desire.’

’Let’s put that mentality to the test. If Liran spoke the truth, nobody would have a problem with that.’

’The question is, how will the Sect react when someone that isn’t the Sect Leader acts according to their desires?’

Gravis looked at the teacher.

"Alright, thanks. Where do I need to go?"