Ch. 841..850
Chapter 841 - 841 – Battle Laws Done
The disciple was shocked when the infamous ogre talked to him directly, but he quickly complied and called his Sect Master.
The Sect Master arrived after just a couple of minutes. "Hello, Gravis. You wanted to talk to me?" she said. She was a white-haired woman who obviously had an affinity towards the Brilliance Element.
"Yes, I called you to inform you that I’m done with my Laws," he said.
The woman’s eyes widened in surprise. "You’re done?" she asked.
Gravis nodded. "Yes, I have comprehended all the Laws which require me to enter Law Comprehension Areas. I can comprehend the remaining Laws that I need on my own. I will still be somewhere in your territory for the next ten thousand years or so, but you won’t see me. I will be somewhere deep in seclusion, where no disciple passes."
"After that, I will leave for the Core Regions. After today, your Sect Alliance and I will no longer come into contact," Gravis said.
The Sect Master became happy when she heard that. This meant that they no longer needed to keep watch over the infamous ogre. Everything would return to normal again. However, she still had a question.
"Why don’t you join one of our Sects?" she asked.
"Why would I?" Gravis answered directly. "This Sect Alliance is a dead end."
The Sect Master furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?"
Gravis looked at her evenly. "There is a limited amount of tempering here for everyone. Additionally, all the fights are only one versus one battles. You might become amazing in one versus one battles, but as soon as you fight multiple opponents, you will be out of your comfort zone."
"Additionally, the disciples mostly have the initiative in choosing their opponents, and they won’t fight against someone that has a very high chance of killing them. Even more, a lot of the fights don’t result in death. After all, killing another Sect’s disciples, even if it is according to the rules, is frowned upon. You are all one Sect Alliance, right? No one would want to see the Sect Alliance’s strength weaken due to a death."
"So, in short, even though you have a ton of Law Comprehension Areas, your tempering opportunities are horrible.," Gravis said.
The woman didn’t like what she was hearing, but she also acknowledged that Gravis had a point.
The Sect Master sighed. "What are we supposed to do?" she asked. "The Cultivators in the Core Regions know so many Laws. If we don’t also know so many Laws, we don’t have a chance against them."
Gravis looked back at her. "That’s true and all, but what about your Will-Aura? How powerful is the Will-Aura of someone that leaves from this territory after they became a Late Minor Circulation Immortal King? The same level? One level below their Cultivation Realm?"
"Will-Aura first, Laws second. Go fight some beasts. Go leave the Sect Alliance’s Territory and fight some wild bandits or something. Only when your Will-Aura is powerful enough can you concentrate on Laws," Gravis said.
The Sect Master still looked with skepticism at Gravis. All of this sounded nice and all but tempering one’s Will-Aura was always incredibly dangerous. It was far more efficient to temper oneself against opponents that were just powerful enough. Leaving this territory for outside tempering would result in unnecessary death.
Gravis noticed the expression of the Sect Master and shook his head. ’There’s truly no helping them.’
"Anyway, I’m leaving now. Bye," Gravis said as he teleported away.
The Sect Master looked in the direction Gravis left towards for a while with furrowed brows. However, after some seconds, she simply shrugged. Gravis hadn’t nearly lived as long as her, which meant that he didn’t have as much experience as her. She was older, and she had led her Sect for over 80,000 years. Such a young Cultivator had no idea what he was talking about.
The Sect Master informed the Sect Alliance, and everyone felt relieved. Finally, the ogre was gone! Now, they no longer needed to pay attention to him!
The Sect Masters held a little party for this occasion. This was worthy of a celebration! Everything would return to normal!
Nothing had changed about the Sect Alliance.
Nothing will change.
However, this was of no concern to Gravis. It was their decision to listen to him or not. He had only spoken these words out of kindness anyway since he had taken advantage of them for such a long time.
This was the last time the Sect Alliance and Gravis would come into contact.
As soon as Gravis was alone, he broke Arc’s emblem and teleported away.
Gravis would take one last break before he went on to comprehend his Primary Laws.
"Finally done, huh?" Arc said with a smile while he drew lines in the dirt.
"Yep, finally done!" Gravis said with a smirk.
"So, what’s your next goal?" Arc asked.
Gravis sat down on another tree stump and sighed. "More Laws, obviously," Gravis said. "There are still so incredibly many Laws left. I obviously can’t understand all of them in just 12,000 years, but I’ll see how far I will get."
"I need to comprehend the Medium Pure, Soft Pure, Plant Growth, Major Body Growth, Major Body Composition, Major Heat, Major Cold, and all the different Major Mixed Element Laws. There are so incredibly many left that 12,000 years won’t be enough. Just the Mixed Element Laws are like ten or so, depending on if there are more than before due to the higher tier," Gravis said with a sigh.
"Ah, youth," Arc said with a chuckle. "So many new things to see."
"So, what’s your plan after that?" Arc asked.
"Tempering," Gravis said. "As you know, I will take over Siral’s tribulation. However, this will draw over someone very powerful from the Core Regions. This means that I have to be fully ready for such a battle. The opponent will be someone in the Mid Major Circulation Immortal King Realm, and my current Will-Aura is barely a bit stronger than that."
"This means that I need to increase my Will-Aura before that. I’ll probably go to the beasts’ territory for that. Fighting a beast five levels above myself is basically impossible due to their insanely powerful defense and speed. I wouldn’t even be able to hit or scratch them."
"Fighting five levels above myself against humans is possible, but not against beasts. I will probably fight some beasts four levels above myself to increase the power of my Will-Aura. After that, I will fight my eventual opponent. This will be the first time I fight someone five levels above myself."
Arc nodded. "That’s a good plan. However, you need to remember that Immortal Kings on that level also know many level four Laws. There are even several that know level five Laws."
Gravis sighed. "Level five Laws, huh? I presume those would even be their Avatars, right?"
Arc nodded.
"That would be the power of a level six Law, something I can’t defend myself against," Gravis said.
Gravis became nervous, but he calmed himself with a sigh. "It’s truly difficult. It feels similar to the time I fought against the middle Heaven. This is basically a power I can’t compete against."
Gravis’ eyes narrowed. "However, I must try. No matter what I do, my first fight against someone five levels above me will always be a fight with a 90% chance of death! If I don’t do this now, how will I ever win against you?" Gravis said as he turned to Arc.
Arc nodded with a smile. "That’s the correct mindset," he said. "I’ll be honest. The chances of your death are overwhelming, but it’s not impossible. The power difference isn’t as great as between the middle Heaven and you back then. You can still put up a fight, but it will be one of the most dangerous fights you have ever fought."
Gravis nodded. "I know," he said. "It’s almost insane of me to attempt something like that, but I need to do something insane. After all, fighting you in the future is far more insane than that."
"Thanks," Arc said with a grin. "So, you ready for your new class?"
Gravis laughed a bit. "I’ve always been read-"
"Hi!"
Gravis had just blinked, and during that moment, he had been teleported to his class. A green monkey had just raised its hand to greet Gravis.
"Hi!" Gravis answered with a wave of his hand.
’Must you always do this to me?’
Chapter 842 - 842 – Plant Growth
As always, Gravis spent the next century in peace. By now, he had gotten very used to talking with others again. A lot of time had passed thanks to the Elements of Core and Graphite, but that didn’t make a difference.
Gravis was sure that he could now spend over 20,000 years in Law Comprehension without any adverse changes to his personality. His resistance towards these changes had grown a lot.
The following century passed just as all the previous ones.
However, after Gravis’ break was over, he didn’t immediately leave. No, this time, he had some Laws to comprehend here!
Gravis informed the others in the clearing that they shouldn’t disturb him and went over to that one fern that continued growing all the time.
Gravis decided to first check out the Minor Laws of Plant Growth since they would take the least time. These were level one and level two Laws, and their complexity couldn’t be compared to all these level four Laws Gravis had already comprehended.
Gravis had already comprehended the Laws of Body Growth, the Laws of Body Composition, and the Laws of Plant Composition. The Laws of Plant Growth were absent.
The five individual Laws of Body Composition had been combined into the level two Law of Body Composition.
The five individual Laws of Plant Composition had been combined into the level two Law of Plant Composition.
Then, the two Laws of Body Composition and Plant Composition had been combined into the level three Law Life Composition.
However, the Life Laws were not the same as the Law of the Dead World. There was more to life than just simple composition. This meant that there had to be several more categories of Laws that made up the Law of Life.
Another reason why Gravis was sure that this wasn’t enough was the fact that the Law of Life Composition was only a level three Law while the Law of the Dead World had been a level four Law. Additionally, all these powerful alchemists in Gravis’ homeworld knew a Law called the Law of Life, which was considered to be even harder to comprehend than the Law of the Dead World.
This meant that there were probably two other categories of life that would create a level three Law each, and Gravis was certain that one of them was the Law of Growth.
The five individual Laws of Body Growth had been combined into the level two Law of Body Growth.
So, wasn’t it logical that there would also be five level one Laws for the Law of Plant Growth?
Lastly, according to logic, the level two Law of Body Growth and the level two Law of Plant Growth would combine to become the level three Law of Growth.
With that, Gravis would have two of the three required Laws for the Law of Life.
There had to be a third category that Gravis didn’t know about, and he guessed that it had probably something to do with death or degeneration. Plants and animals died so that new plants and animals could be created. It probably had something to do with some kind of cycle or something, and it would probably also be split into the categories of the body and of the plant.
However, Gravis wouldn’t be able to finish this Law in this higher world.
Why?
Because Gravis couldn’t find any fitting Law Comprehension Areas for the Low-Tier Body Laws. Finding plants was easy, but finding a ton of weaker beasts would take a long time. Additionally, Gravis didn’t really want to catch so many and play psychotic scientist with them. He didn’t like doing that.
As soon as he returned to the highest world, he would have plenty of opportunities to comprehend these Laws. There was no way that such an opportunity-driven and old society wouldn’t have found a way to make money off of that.
However, Gravis could comprehend the Laws of Plant Growth right now. Why not? They were only a couple of level one Laws anyway. Additionally, if Gravis had the ability to grow plants, he might be able to make a ton of money.
How did beasts cultivate?
They ate other beasts. That was it.
How did humans cultivate?
They absorbed Immortal Stones or ate pills.
How were pills created?
An alchemist would take rare and valuable plants and concentrate their beneficial effect.
So, by extension, it meant that there had to be rare and valuable plants out there that boosted one’s Cultivation. Not only that, but Gravis had also seen that Samantha and Stella had far more Energy than normal. There were surely also plants that boosted the maximum Energy capacity of Cultivators.
Additionally, Stella’s body was very powerful for a human. This meant that there was even a likelihood of finding plants that increased one’s physical power.
Sadly, both of these things wouldn’t help Gravis directly. Gravis didn’t exactly have an Energy capacity, and his body was already as powerful as it got. Maybe not even the plants that increased one’s Cultivation would help him. The medicinal power of these plants would probably enter Gravis’ Spirit and get annihilated by all the lightning in there.
However, this meant that Gravis could sell all the powerful plants.
Yet, how long did it take for these plants to be born and to mature?
Probably a long time.
This was one of the reasons why Gravis wanted to comprehend the Laws of Plant Growth. With this Law, Gravis might be able to accelerate the growth of the plants. Additionally, with his Life Ring, he could carry them with him. Lastly, Gravis could also use his Law of Time on top of that.
The human territories were bereft of anything valuable. All the ores had owners, and every wild plant that was worth a damn would have long since been picked.
This meant that the beast territories were the only territories with natural and unowned treasures that remained.
Gravis was already planning to temper himself in these territories for a while, and knowing the Laws of Plant Growth will help him that much more.
Gravis needed more resources!
However, for now, Gravis had to comprehend the Laws of Plant Growth first.
So, time passed by again until...
BOOOOM!
BOOOOM!
BOOOOM!
BOOOOM!
BOOOOM!
’And there they are,’ Gravis thought with a smirk. ’All five different level one Laws of Plant Growth have been comprehended. Understanding them doesn’t even count as a joke in front of all these element-related Battle Laws.’
’How long did it take me?’
Gravis checked his timer, and when he saw how much time had passed, he laughed loudly.
’Seven months!’ he thought with a smirk. ’Seven months for five Laws. That’s nothing!’
’Anyway,’ Gravis thought as he closed his eyes. ’Time for the level two Law of Plant Growth. Let’s see...’
Gravis closed his eyes and thought about all the knowledge he had learned over the last seven months.
’Oh, that’s easy!’
BOOOOM!
And Gravis comprehended the level two Law of Plant Growth!
It barely took him a couple hours.
’Next one, the level three Law of Growth,’ Gravis thought.
Then, he concentrated again.
Time passed.
BOOOOM!
’And done!’ Gravis thought. ’How long? Ten years, huh?’
’Level three Laws sure are harder than level two Laws. However, ten years is nothing in comparison to five hundred years or so.’
’And with that, my small appetizer is over,’ Gravis thought. ’Everything from now on will be level four Laws.’
Gravis stood up and stretched. After that, he went to Arc and said his goodbyes. They probably wouldn’t see each other again until Gravis had fought his eventual, deadly enemy.
Gravis broke Arc’s emblem and was teleported back into the Sect Alliance’s territory.
After Gravis arrived, he quickly flew away from the Sect Alliance’s territory until he was in a corner of the map that Liran had given him. No Law Comprehension Areas or Sects were close to this spot. Additionally, this area bordered on even weaker lands. The Core Regions were on the other side of the Sect Alliance’s territory.
The only beings Gravis would find here would be Law Comprehension Realm Cultivators and Nascent Nourishing Realm Cultivators.
The Sect Alliance didn’t care about these territories at all since there were far too few Law Comprehension Areas, and the ones that actually were there were too low-quality.
There were some scattered, valuable resource nodes, but the Sect Alliance simply had some Immortals stand watch over them.
There was nothing else of interest.
Gravis entered a random spot in the ground with his Law of Graphite’s Manipulation. He passed through the earth like it was water, and Gravis stopped about 20,000 Kilometers deep in the ground.
The heat and gravity were pretty powerful here. Back when he comprehended the Law of Gravity, Gravis was at a similar depth. This had been just powerful enough to resist the gravity and heat but not die.
However, back then, Gravis had been a level five King. Right now, Gravis was a Peak Immortal. There were two entire Realms between them.
Because of that, this little bit of heat and gravity didn’t even bother Gravis a little bit. It wouldn’t be any different than being in a warm room.
No Spirit Sense would be able to see him here due to the resistance of earth and metal in their way.
No one knew that Gravis was here.
No one would be able to find him here.
This was the perfect spot to seclude himself.
’Well, that’s it. Now, there’s nothing but Laws left.’
’However, what should be my first Law?’
Chapter 843 - 843 – Too MuChapter Time
’Let’s see. I need the Medium Pure Law, the Soft Pure Law, all the Mixed Elements, the Body Growth Laws, the Body Composition Laws, and the element-neutral Major Laws of Heat and Cold,’ Gravis thought.
’The Mixed Elements should be my lowest priority. All these Battle Laws for my Elements only work with the pure forms of the Elements. If I want to boost my Mixed Elements as well, I would need to comprehend the Mixed Elemental Battle Laws. However, Mixed Elements are already pretty rare. There are barely any Law Comprehension Areas for these Battle Laws.’
’Sure, understanding the Composition Laws of the Mixed Elements is not hard, and I can do that myself, but extrapolating all these Battle Laws would take forever.’
’Of course, if I could understand all the Mixed Elements and then understand the Mixed Elemental Law, my Battle-Strength would become insane. The Mixed Elemental Law is a level five Law that would passively boost the power of all my Elements to the power of a level five Law. That’s insane.’
’However, that’s exactly the problem. It’s a level five Law. I haven’t comprehended one of those, and I’m absolutely certain that I need some severe tempering to comprehend it. Comprehending the Major Law of the Elements has already taken me three tempering experiences. This one will probably take just as long.’
’Lastly, I would need to focus all my remaining time on these Mixed Elements. This means that I wouldn’t be able to boost my Battle-Strength even more in the next 12,000 years or so.’
Gravis narrowed his eyes. ’Siral’s eventual opponent is far too powerful. I absolutely need to increase my strength as much as possible until then.’
’So, Mixed Elements are a no-go,’ Gravis thought.
’The Soft Pure and Medium Pure Laws would increase my Battle-Strength a little bit since I would be able to create even better armor. Against my eventual opponent, I need to go all out, which means that I will also create shields and armor, even though it’s far too expensive. These Laws would help me in that, but I’m uncertain if that’s the best way to proceed.’
’The Major Laws of Heat and Cold are pretty powerful, but the Laws of Inferno’s Heat and Frost’s Cold are just as powerful and cost the same amount of Energy normally. The only advantage that the element-neutral Laws of Heat and Cold have is that they don’t need any specific Element to work.’
’Sadly, this advantage is useless to me since I can use all the Elements anyway.’
’So, the Major Laws of Cold and Heat won’t increase my Battle-Strength at all.’
’That leaves the Body Laws,’ Gravis thought as he scratched his chin. ’If I heal myself with Brilliance, I am using up my Energy. I convert my Energy into Life Energy, which then regrows my body.’
’However, healing myself with the Laws of Body Growth would use up my inherent Life Energy. This means that the healing capabilities of Brilliance and the Laws of Body Growth are not mutually exclusive. I can use both of them for a more efficient way of healing myself.’
Gravis nodded. ’Alright, Body Growth Laws it is!’
Gravis didn’t have any significant insights into the Major Laws of Body Growth. Immortal bodies were very different from mortal bodies. It was like their entire Composition was different, which was actually the case since there were higher grade Body Composition Laws.
When someone became an Immortal, their entire body would be reborn. The outside of the body appeared the same as before, but the inside was vastly different. The Laws and Energy moved around in very different ways. The only way to describe the change would be to call it purer.
The weaker Life Laws still worked somewhat on these Immortal bodies, but not nearly as well as in the past. When someone used these lower grade Laws to heal themselves when they were already in the Immortal Realm, it would be like repairing a powerful weapon with mortal tools and methods. Sure, the broken parts could be mended, but it obviously wasn’t as effective as it should be.
Gravis took out his saber and began to cut away. Watching a body regenerate and grow was the best way to comprehend the Laws of Body Growth.
Gravis had long since stopped seeing his body as a true part of himself. That notion had died when Gravis had left his old body behind to inhabit a beast body.
When Gravis referred to himself, he was referring to his personality, Spirit, and mind. His body was only a vehicle, tool, and weapon for his mind and Spirit.
The addition of the Lightning Fork also didn’t help with that. Gravis could transform into lightning and recreate his body. Wasn’t this like creating an entirely new body? After all, Gravis broke down his body into the most essential components and simply made a new one.
On top of that, Gravis theoretically had an infinite number of bodies. He could create new bodies for himself with the Lightning Fork all he wanted, as long as he had enough Energy.
Because of all these reasons, cutting away at his own body wasn’t different from dismantling a weapon. So what if it got injured? He could just repair it or make a new one.
Gravis slowly separated different parts of his body depending on what Law he was currently looking at. After that, he let it regrow on its own as he simply watched and analyzed.
Of course, Gravis’ Spirit was powerful, and he could keep track of many things at once, which was why he continued creating injuries. Gravis’ Spirit was powerful enough to keep watch over all the different injuries on his body.
This continued on in a perpetual cycle since Gravis’ Spirit was powerful enough to keep track of so many different things that he didn’t need to interrupt the process. Gravis could keep track of all the injuries he could produce in the timeframe between the first injury’s creation and regeneration.
Like this, many years passed.
Comprehending these five Laws of Body Growth took far longer than one would anticipate.
Why was that?
Because Gravis didn’t know the Major Laws of Body Composition.
Understanding the Composition Laws meant that someone knew the basics of how something worked. If one didn’t know the Composition Laws, one could only look at the process without knowing what exactly was happening on a fundamental level.
So, why hadn’t Gravis just decided to comprehend the Major Body Composition Laws?
People who had paid attention in the past would know the reason.
The Composition of Gravis’ body was very different from the Composition of normal bodies. Normal bodies were made out of Energy, while Gravis’ body was made out of lightning.
This meant that destroying and regrowing his own body would only help partially in understanding the Composition Laws. If Gravis wanted to understand the Major Laws of Body Composition without wasting a ridiculous amount of time, he would need to look at someone else’s body all the time.
Getting someone else to do that voluntarily was difficult. Additionally, it would throw up a lot of questions about why Gravis couldn’t just look at his own body.
Sure, Gravis could use Siral, but the Body Composition Laws were still not his main focus right now. They wouldn’t increase his Battle Strength at all. Any dangerous opponent would have a Will-Aura so far above the power of Gravis’ Will-Aura due to the level suppression that the Body Composition Laws would become useless to Gravis.
Comprehending the Body Composition Laws with Siral’s assistance would help with comprehending the Body Growth Laws but understanding all ten of them would still take longer than just comprehending the Body Growth Laws without the support of the Body Composition Laws.
Gravis’ goal was to increase his Battle-Strength as much as possible before his eventual battle. The Body Composition Laws didn’t help, which made comprehending them irrelevant for now.
How long did it take Gravis to comprehend all five Major Laws of Body Growth?
Well...
BOOOOM!
’And that’s the last one,’ Gravis thought with a sigh. ’Finally done!’
’So, how long did it take?’ Gravis thought as he checked the timer.
Then, he took a deep breath.
’7,940 years!?’ Gravis thought with shock. ’Comprehending these five Laws took nearly as long as comprehending the Battle Laws of Graphite? Man, not knowing the Composition Laws is really putting a damper on things. With the Composition Laws, I would have probably only taken around 4,000 years or so. However, the Composition Laws would have probably also taken around 6,000 years or so.’
’And like that, around 70% of my time has already vanished. It’s ridiculous how fast time is passing by now.’
Gravis looked at a random tree with a complex expression.
’This means I’m over 40,000 years old by now.’
’I nearly reached my longevity limit.’
Chapter 844 - 844 – Time's Up
’I have less than 3,000 years left until Siral goes through his tribulation,’ Gravis thought. ’I should be something like 43,350 years old right now, give or take a couple of years. I stopped keeping track of the small years long ago.’
’It’s actually unreal. I entered this world when I was just 4,000 years old, but I’m now over ten times as old. It really feels like someone just cut out like 35,000 years of my life or something like that. One second I was young, and the next, I’m super old. I’m even closing in on Meadow’s age when I first met her.’
’Additionally, the time dilation between worlds isn’t as insane anymore. Over 4,000 years have already passed in the highest world, which means that I have been gone from Yersi’s life longer than she has known me.’
’Aris and Cera should already be Immortal Kings. I don’t think that they will wait until their tribulation happens to comprehend more Laws. They have always been rather impatient.’
’Actually, there’s a very high chance that every single person I know has already become an Immortal King by now, except Yersi due to the time dilation.’
Gravis chuckled a bit. ’However, it’s actually a bit funny. All these geniuses from all these stories and legends shoot through their Cultivation like meteors. They become supremely powerful in much less time than anyone else. Meanwhile, in comparison, I take longer than basically everyone else.’
Gravis smirked. ’But it’s worth it! I’m not even sure if there’s an Immortal King in this world that knows as many Laws as I do. Sure, they might know their level five Laws, but level four Laws? No chance!’
Gravis counted all the level four Laws he knew. ’I know 56 level four Laws! That’s insane!’ Gravis thought with surprise. ’I entered this world with only five of them! I knew the Hard Pure Law, the Major Law of Suppression, the Major Law of Freedom, the Major Law of Control, and the Law of the Dead World.’
’Ever since then, I comprehended 45 level four Battle Laws, the Major Law of the Elements, and the five Laws of Body Growth.’
’I comprehended 51 level four Laws ever since I arrived here.’
Suddenly, Gravis frowned.
’Is that too much? I mean, one can’t have too many Laws, right?’
Gravis scratched the back of his head with a complex expression. ’I mean, it feels a bit like overkill, but how else am I supposed to fight someone five levels above myself? It’s only logical.’
’My lightning, Will-Aura, and body already allow me to fight anyone two levels above myself. For three levels, I need some techniques and extra Laws. For four levels, I need to know far more level four Laws than my opponent. Back when I fought Samantha, she had known one, while I had known five. Additionally, I also know a terrifying amount of level three Laws.’
’So, to fight someone five levels above myself, I need to know several level five Laws. I don’t know a single one, but I know so many level four Laws that I have nine different elements with the power of level five Laws. I basically already have reached the Law levels of an Immortal Emperor in that sense.’
’Quantity is also a form of quality, right?’ Gravis thought as he stopped rubbing the back of his head.
Then, Gravis shrugged. ’Well, it doesn’t really matter right now. I should get on to comprehending my next Laws. Let’s see. I don’t have much time left, which means I can’t comprehend so many more Laws. I should learn something small that quickly increases my Battle-Strength.’
’The decision is obvious,’ Gravis thought. ’I need the Medium Pure and Soft Pure Laws for some armor. Thanks to the Laws of Graphite’s Creation, Manipulation, and Efficiency, I can create a ton of materials for experimentation. This should take care of nearly all the necessary materials for the Medium Pure Law. I might need to experiment with the Plant Growth Laws and the Body Growth Laws to create the remainder, but that’s also doable.’
’Lastly, I only need different gasses created from different Elements interacting with each other for the Soft Pure Law. The Medium Pure Law won’t take much time, but the Soft Pure Law won’t be as easy since there are simply too many combinations.’
’Well, no time to waste! Let’s begin!’
CRRRRRRRR!
Gravis used his Spirit to create a gigantic opening in the ground. After all, one shouldn’t forget that Gravis was 20,000 kilometers deep in the ground right now. Everything was just filled with magma and stone.
After a bit of time, Gravis had created a humongous cave, which suited his purposes just fine.
A grey ball appeared on Gravis’ palm, and he hit the ground below him with it.
CRRRRRRR!
The Graphite interacted with its surroundings and started creating a confusing mass of different materials.
Sadly, a ton of them were for the Hard Pure Law.
However, Gravis had to take a deep breath. He was absolutely exhausted. ’Even with the Laws of Graphite’s Manipulation and Efficiency, it still takes that much Energy? I barely filled 0.1% of the cave!’
Gravis looked around, and it looked like some pebbles had appeared on the ground in his cave.
It was barely anything!
’No wonder everyone only uses natural ore veins. If I were to do this for a thousand years, I would probably barely earn 200,000 Immortal Stones, and that’s with all my supporting Laws! That would be a thousand years of tough work!’
Gravis looked around and directly pocketed the Hard Pure Materials, leaving behind about 20% of the materials.
These were materials for the Medium Pure Law.
And thus, began Gravis’ long journey of creating stone and looking at stone.
Every hour, Gravis used more of his Energy to create more materials, but it was barely enough to keep up with his progress.
Even worse, about 300 years later, Gravis already knew so many materials that he had to actively wait for his Energy to recharge.
After around 500 years, Gravis basically saw no other new materials, and he frowned.
’I’m pretty sure that I need to change location,’ Gravis thought. ’My Graphite interacts with the surroundings, and I probably already know 99% of all the materials I can gather here. This obviously isn’t enough to comprehend the Medium Pure Law. I should go somewhere else.’
So, for the first time in forever, Gravis left this place and returned to the surface.
While on the surface, Gravis repeated his procedure and noted that a lot of new elements had appeared.
’Sure enough, the surroundings were at fault. I should travel around some more,’ Gravis thought.
For the next millennium, Gravis stayed in one spot after the other. He searched for different environments with different weather, climate, and materials.
Fortunately, it wasn’t boring. Gravis saw a lot of new things and also saw many people. However, he used his Law of Shadow’s Subtlety to remain hidden since he didn’t want to be disturbed.
Gravis even saw some minor Sects warring with each other, but that had nothing to do with him.
All of this continued until finally, one day...
BOOOOM!
’Holy shit! This took forever,’ Gravis thought. ’According to my perception, this Law took the most time out of any other Law I have ever comprehended. However, I kept checking the time, and it actually didn’t take that long. Barely 2,300 years passed. Sure, that’s still a lot of time, but it feels longer than the last 30,000 years combined, which is weird.’
’I think it’s because I looked at so much stuff,’ Gravis thought as he scratched his chin.
’This Law actually isn’t so hard to comprehend. It took that long because I just randomly created materials all over the place without knowing where to go next. If I had a Virtualization Array, this would have barely taken me 400 years or so.’
’Sadly, there are no fitting Law Comprehension Areas for the Medium Pure Law in the Sect Alliance’s territory. The materials needed are just too diverse to occur naturally in one place. This was basically the only way I could have comprehended the Law in this world.’
Then, Gravis wildly shook his head. ’Don’t get distracted now! Siral already contacted you a couple centuries ago. I barely have 350 years left before his tribulation! I don’t have time for any other Laws, and I also don’t know how long it will take to find a suitable opponent.’
Gravis took a deep breath and looked at his surroundings.
’It’s over, huh?’ Gravis thought. ’My long Law Comprehension Session is over. I’ve comprehended all the Laws I could in this time, and now there’s nothing left but tempering. My Will-Aura is currently on the level of a Late Major Circulation Immortal King’s, barely a level higher than the Cultivation Realm of my future opponent.’
’I need to increase it so that my Laws of Perceived Reality have an increased effect on my enemy.’
Then, Gravis turned towards the north with a glow in his eyes. ’I need to go to the Core Regions and directly head to the gigantic forest. After that, I need to dig deep into the ground and enter the forest from there.’
’I should also get a map somewhere. I’ll just look for one when I arrive in the Core Regions.’
’Right now, it’s go time!’
Gravis retrieved his Life Ring.
"Siral, it’s time! Come to my location," Gravis ordered.
"Yes, Master!"
Gravis looked one last time at his surroundings.
"Goodbye, Sect Alliance," Gravis said to himself.
Chapter 845 - 845 – Immortal King
Not much time passed before Siral appeared in front of Gravis.
"Master," Siral said deferentially with a bow.
Siral’s bow reminded Gravis of when he had still been addressed as prince by everyone in Opposer City. They had also all bowed to him like this. However, that was long ago.
"What did you learn in the past 30,000 years?" Gravis asked.
"Master, I comprehended some level three Laws, and several level four Laws are close to being complete. However, I require tempering for the level four Laws. I didn’t dare to temper myself without your consent, Master," Siral said.
Gravis nodded. "Understandable," he commented. "From now on, we will travel together for a while. You will have to do some errands for me due to several reasons I don’t want to explain right now."
"Your wish is my command, Master," Siral said.
Gravis nodded again. "Have you gathered enough Energy for your breakthrough in the last 30,000 years?" Gravis asked.
"Yes, Master. Immortal Kings require around 40,000 years to passively gather enough Energy from the environment to reach the next level. I have been on my current level for more than 40,000 years," Siral explained.
Passively gather Energy to breakthrough?
That was possible?
Of course it was!
Why else would humans want to also live in Energy-rich environments? There was Energy in the atmosphere, and the body and Spirit slowly absorbed the Energy in the air.
One could theoretically become supremely powerful without even consuming a single plant or another living being. However, the time it took was insane.
Immortals required around 20,000 years to gather enough Energy to reach the next level. Of course, this was according to the Energy density of the Sect Alliance’s territory. The Core Regions would have more Energy, which would allow them to reach the next level faster, but not by overly much, maybe 10,000 years faster.
20,000 years for a passive breakthrough was a lot of time. One had to remember that there was a total of seven levels in the Immortal Realm. This meant that an Immortal would need to live for 140,000 years to become an Immortal King if they didn’t consume anything else. This meant that they would nearly reach their third tribulation!
The second tribulation already summoned an opponent two levels above oneself, which was insurmountable for nearly everyone. The best-case scenario would be to reach the early Major Circulation Realm after 60,000 years and wait for the second tribulation.
The second tribulation would summon a Late Major Circulation Immortal, someone two levels above them. After winning, one had to breakthrough immediately to the Mid Major Circulation Immortal Realm. One would still need to achieve three breakthroughs from that point onward, but with enough saved up Energy, one might just be able to reach the last breakthrough before the third tribulation.
In Gravis’ case, it didn’t matter. Gravis could easily complete his third tribulation with his current power and current Realm. This gave him a grand total of 200,000 years of Immortal time. After a total of 200,000 years, the fourth tribulation would come, and that would summon someone in the Early Major Circulation Immortal King Realm, someone six battle levels above Gravis.
However, all of this was just theory. No one actually cultivated like that, and it didn’t matter to Gravis. Gravis was already running low on effective Laws to comprehend, and he hadn’t even had his first tribulation.
"Breakthrough," Gravis ordered.
"Yes, Master," Siral said with a bow.
There was no reason for Siral to wait. Reaching the next level now or in about 300 years didn’t make much of a difference.
It took about an hour for Siral to reach the next level, but that was it. One only had to gather the stored-up Energy inside themselves and fuse it with their Spirit.
After Siral was done, he bowed before Gravis again, awaiting further orders.
Siral was now an Early Major Circulation Immortal King, someone that could destroy the entire Sect Alliance single-handedly.
In actuality, Siral’s power was now six levels above Gravis. If Siral weren’t under the effect of Gravis’ Life Ring, he could destroy Gravis in just a couple of seconds.
Was this a risk? Was it dangerous to allow his servant to become so powerful?
No.
These high-quality items came from the highest world. The Life Ring hadn’t been so expensive for Gravis, but its price was unaffordable for 90% of all Immortals in the highest world.
This was the truly good stuff. If it were so easy to break free from the Life Ring’s Formation Arrays, it wouldn’t be sold for such an exorbitant price, and even if it were sold at that price, no one would buy it.
Gravis nodded. "Alright. Keep watch over the surroundings while I become an Immortal King," Gravis said.
"Yes, Master," Siral said deferentially.
If Siral had had enough time to gather enough Energy for a breakthrough, Gravis obviously also had enough time. Gravis required about five times as much Energy for a breakthrough than the average Cultivator, but he also absorbed more. If the Energy density was enough for a Late Minor Circulation Immortal King, it would be enough for Gravis.
Additionally, Gravis’ breakthroughs didn’t work like normal breakthroughs. By absorbing lightning, Gravis was often not at the beginning of a new level but somewhere in the middle. After all, he nearly always absorbed far more than he needed for a breakthrough.
With all of this considered, 30,000 years was more than enough for Gravis to gather enough Energy.
Gravis sat down in the sky and closed his eyes as he absorbed the Energy in the surroundings. Gravis didn’t gather Energy like a normal Cultivator since his cultivation worked so differently. Instead, Gravis had simply stopped at around 99.999% of the requirement.
It didn’t sound like much, but it would still take Gravis a couple of months to absorb the remaining Energy for his breakthrough.
However, about half an hour later, Gravis stopped. ’This is taking too long,’ he thought.
Then, he simply grabbed a couple of Immortal Stones and ate them.
All the lightning gathered inside him, and Gravis charged towards the next level.
The entire process took about two minutes.
Two minutes didn’t sound like much, but it might as well be an eternity during a fight. This was one of the reasons why breaking through into the next level during a fight was basically impossible. One needed some time of peace and calm.
Fortunately, Gravis was not in a fight right now.
BOOOOOOOOM!
Gravis opened his eyes after he felt his Spirit reach the next level. He looked at the surroundings but frowned.
’The surroundings don’t really seem any different,’ Gravis thought. ’There was a major transformation when I reached the Law Comprehension Realm and the Immortal Realm. However, now I only feel that my Spirit Sense has become many times larger.’
Gravis also thought about some Laws. ’Some of the connections appear a bit more obvious, but not by much. It just feels like I’m more focused.’
Gravis sighed. ’A bit underwhelming, to be honest, but that was to be expected. The Immortal King Realm is not a gigantic milestone or anything. It simply increases my power.’
However, Gravis still smiled. ’But it still feels kind of different. When I came to this world, I stood in awe in front of these Immortal Kings. As a Late Major Circulation Immortal, I have already managed to kill the weakest ones of them, and now, I’m an Immortal King myself.’
’My Battle Power is within the Major Circulation Immortal Realm, and that’s nothing to sneer at.’
Gravis stood up and stretched. After that, he called Siral again.
"Master," Siral said as he appeared out of seemingly nowhere.
"It’s time," Gravis said.
"We go to the Core Regions!"
Chapter 846 - 846 – Hidden Danger
Gravis and Siral flew towards the north and passed through the entire Sect Alliance’s territory. They saw a couple of Cultivators here and there, but they didn’t interact. Gravis and Siral were using their Laws of Shadow’s Subtlety to keep themselves hidden. There was no reason to draw any attention.
After that, they began their journey to the Core Regions.
After about an hour, they had left behind the entire Sect Alliance’s territory. However, there was no change in scenery or border or anything like that. Nothing really changed.
Siral informed Gravis that a lot of similar territories were in this part of the world. There were many Sect Alliances, Sect territories, Clan territories, and so on.
In the grand scheme of things, the Sect Alliance’s territory wasn’t really in the outer parts of the world. After all, only Immortals and higher lived in these territories. There were six Cultivation Realms below the Immortal Realm, and they also had their territories.
One could say that the Sect Alliance’s territory was in the outer Core Region of the world. It was not completely inside the Core Region, but it also wasn’t that far away from it.
Gravis asked Siral how big the Sect Alliance’s territory was, and Siral said that it was minuscule. On a map of the world, it would barely count as a tiny dot.
Gravis had been prepared for the fact that this higher world would be far bigger than the middle world, but it still shocked him. The Sect Alliance’s territory was probably already as big as Gravis’ previous middle world, but it only counted as a small dot here?
The difference in size was insane.
Siral also said that there were so many similar territories that they couldn’t be counted. There were probably hundreds of thousands of these gigantic territories, and they didn’t even count as part of the Core Regions.
Gravis did some math in his head and came to a shocking conclusion.
Just these fringe territories already had so many powerful Sects, and all of them had at least several Immortal Kings.
This meant that these fringe territories already had millions of Immortal Kings!
They didn’t even count as part of the Core Region!
’Could there be a billion Immortal Kings in this world? That’s insane!’ Gravis thought. ’There had only been like ten million Kings in my previous middle world! Doesn’t this mean that the average power of this world is at least a hundred times stronger than the average power of my previous middle world in relation?’
’Additionally, all of this doesn’t even take the beast territories into account! This is only half of the world!’
This truly was the most powerful higher world. There were just so many powerful beings!
Gravis asked if Siral had a good world map, but sadly, Siral didn’t have one. He only had a vague sense of where they were in the world. Siral transmitted a picture to Gravis to show what he knew.
Gravis looked at the picture and furrowed his brows.
They were barely inside the Nine Elements Sect’s territory. In the picture, the Sect Alliance’s territory was a tiny dot at the northwest corner of the map, while the Nine Elements Sect was in the center. However, Gravis didn’t see any of the other Peak Sects.
Gravis asked Siral if he knew where the other Peak Sects were, but surprisingly, Siral didn’t even know what Peak Sects were. He only knew that the Nine Elements Sect was impossibly powerful. This was the most powerful power he knew.
Apparently, Siral had also never been in the Core Regions. He had only learned some things from other people.
However, one thing didn’t make sense. Siral said that he only knew one powerful Sect, but Gravis was absolutely certain that he knew another one.
The Life Sect.
Liran had been able to summon the people of the Life Sect to save his son. This meant that the Sect Alliance, at least, had to know that the Life Sect existed. So, Gravis asked Siral about that. After all, Siral had also been a Sect Master for a long time.
Siral seemed surprised when Gravis compared these healers to the Nine Elements Sect. In his mind, the two of them couldn’t be compared. Siral had believed that these healers that offered their services were some branch from a higher-ranked Sect. However, they couldn’t possibly be as powerful as the Nine Elements Sect, right?
Gravis asked more about the Life Sect, and Siral told him that they had their headquarters in the center of the Sect Alliance’s territory. However, he also said that it was an unspoken rule to never be disrespectful to these healers. These healers had been in their territory for eons, and by now, nobody knew where they had come from. It was like they had always been there.
Additionally, there were rumors and legends about these healers. Apparently, there had once been a Sect Master that didn’t pay the healers.
According to legend, their Sect had stopped existing shortly after.
These healers had always been mysterious to Siral. Nobody thought of them in their day-to-day activities. This group of healers simply existed in the Sect Alliance’s territory and never vied for any resources. They were just there and offered their services.
While talking to Siral about the Life Sect, Gravis got an idea.
The two of them lacked a map of the world, and they were trying to procure one.
Shouldn’t the Life Sect have one?
Having a map was important. They knew that they were inside the Nine Elements Sect’s territories, but they didn’t exactly know where the Nine Elements Sect was located. Gravis only knew that they came from the north and that the north led to the outside of the world. This meant that the Nine Elements Sect had to be somewhere in the north of the world.
However, Gravis didn’t know if they were exactly to the north in the Core Regions or if they were in the northeast or northwest.
Additionally, Gravis wanted to know where the All-Matter Sect was. After all, Gravis still needed to realize his grand plan.
Gravis and Siral hadn’t talked for long, and they hadn’t left the Sect Alliance’s territory for long. It was still worth it to return to the Sect Alliance’s territory to procure a map.
Wait, but couldn’t they just go to the Nine Elements Sect?
Difficult!
Usually, with Gravis’ power and prestige, going to the Nine Elements Sect wouldn’t be an issue. They would probably accept him with open arms as long as he proved his power.
However, there was a hidden but unimaginably threatening danger.
What had the Sect Masters done when Liran revealed Gravis’ secret?
They had summoned a kind of stone that immediately reacted to Gravis’ body. After that, everyone realized that Gravis had the body of a beast.
These Sect Masters probably had several of these stones and always carried them around with them.
So, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the Peak Sects had a ton of them, especially since they were close to the actual core of the world, which was the beasts’ territory.
There was a very real possibility that some pillars on the entrances to every city or Sect had these stones just sitting there. As soon as Gravis came close to one of these cities or Sects, these stones might react.
After that, it didn’t matter what Gravis said.
To them, Gravis was a beast, and he would immediately be hunted down.
Sure, they wouldn’t send any powerful people directly, and Gravis could kill them.
However, killing them meant that a Peak Sect would be hunting him.
Even if he didn’t kill them, he would probably continually have to escape from more and more Immortal Kings.
This was also the reason why Gravis told Siral earlier that he had to do some errands for Gravis. After all, Siral was a human, and he could simply act as Gravis’ proxy in cities.
However, getting a map was not simple, and Siral’s power might not be enough to sway any powerful person. Gravis wanted to avoid unnecessary assassinations from Siral since that would only invite more trouble.
Yes, Gravis wanted tempering, but offending some super-powerful power was more akin to suicide than tempering.
So, Gravis hoped that the branch of the Life Sect had a map. Additionally, this branch was so far away from the beasts’ territories that they probably didn’t even consider the possibility that a beast could come here.
Lastly, Gravis currently had a Will-Aura on the level of a Late Major Circulation Immortal King. This meant that any Peak Immortal King would be able to see Gravis’ actual body.
So, any city with a Peak Immortal King or an Immortal Emperor would be absolute-death territory for Gravis.
The branch of the Life Sect in the Sect Alliance’s territory probably had a hidden Major Circulation Immortal King, but Gravis doubted that they had a Peak Immortal King. That would be overkill.
This was simply a much better course of action.
In the end, Gravis decided to turn around and go back to the Sect Alliance’s territory for the map.
Gravis already had had dealings with the Nine Elements Sect. He had met their previous Ancestor and two Core Disciples.
Gravis would have many dealings with the All-Matter Sect later when he realized his plan.
And now, Gravis would also come into contact with the Life Sect.
Additionally, Gravis had also talked to someone from the Purist Sect in Arc’s clearing. However, this could barely be counted as having contact.
Gravis had not even truly entered the Core Region, but it seemed like he already had several connections to these Peak Sects.
’Well, it’s time to actually come into contact with my second Peak Sect.’
’I wonder what the general personality, philosophy, and ideology of the Life Sect are?’
Chapter 847 - 847 – Life Sect BranChapter
Gravis and Siral went back to the Sect Alliance’s territory but kept their Laws of Shadow’s Subtlety up and running. There was no reason to come into contact with the Sect Alliance again. They were only here for the branch of the Life Sect.
After around an hour, Gravis and Siral arrived near the location of the Life Sect’s branch.
Gravis looked at the branch of the Life Sect in front of him and lifted an eyebrow.
"This really isn’t as impressive as I had thought," Gravis said.
"Master, this is their residence," Siral answered deferentially.
How did the residency look?
Well, it was basically a village.
There were a ton of mortals roaming around, and it didn’t seem any different from any other village. The actual house of the Life Sect’s branch was just a two-story house made out of stone.
The only special thing about this house was the crest that was placed above its entrance. It was a picture of a greenish-white flame-raindrop thing. It looked a bit like green fire, but its edges were very rounded like teardrops. Gravis guessed that this crest probably symbolized water and soul. Quite a good symbol for a Sect that was all about life.
Gravis and Siral came out of hiding and landed in the village. However, no mortal seemed to react to them.
Of course, that was due to Siral’s and Gravis’ Spirits. If they didn’t want to be seen by mortals, they wouldn’t be seen. Just their desire to not be noticed swayed the weak Spirits of the mortals, forcing them to overlook their existence.
After landing in the village, Gravis and Siral walked over to the Life Sect’s branch.
When they arrived in front of its entrance, nothing happened. No one came out to welcome them or shoo them away.
"We can enter," Siral said. Gravis had told him to not call him Master in front of others. If it came out that Gravis had a Life Ring, he wouldn’t even know how he died.
Gravis nodded and opened the door.
However, this door was the first thing that was different from mortal standards. The building appeared just like any mortal building, but the door was actually rather heavy.
Of course, it was only heavy for mortal standards.
Mortals would never be able to even budge this door, but someone in the Unity Realm would be able to open it if they tried really hard. Someone in the Nascent Nourishing Realm could just open it normally.
When the door opened, the mortals looked over but then ignored it again. They were used to this door opening on its own from time to time. It did that sometimes. It was weird, but nothing had ever come of it.
Gravis and Siral entered, and they saw a wooden entrance hall. It wasn’t really anything special, and there were no peculiar items being displayed. All in all, it simply looked like a small mansion for mortals.
Clank!
Another door opened as someone walked out. It was a young man with green hair. He had obviously come here to receive Gravis and Siral. However, he truly didn’t act like a receptionist.
The man frowned as he walked over to a small table on the side in annoyance. Then, he beckoned Gravis and Siral over without looking at them.
Gravis shrugged and walked over.
"What do you want?" the guy asked with an annoyed tone.
Gravis lifted an eyebrow but decided not to comment. "I’m here to purchase a map of the world."
The man furrowed his brows in confusion. "I think you got the wrong door," the guy said with annoyance. "Get your map from the Sect Alliance. We’re healing people, not selling maps."
"I think you don’t understand," Gravis said. "I want a map of the world, not of the Nine Elements Sect’s territory."
"Okay," the guy said. "But that didn’t answer my question."
"You didn’t ask a question," Gravis said back.
The guy groaned in exasperation. "Yes, I didn’t ask one, but it’s obvious what I mean. I’m asking why you’re coming to us, a healing shop, when you’re looking for a map," the guy commented with an annoyed tone.
Gravis smirked. "Why should I get a map from some fringe territory in the Core Regions when a branch of a Peak Sect is right here?" Gravis asked.
This got the man’s attention as his annoyed expression vanished, leaving an interested one behind. He raised one of his eyebrows. "Hoh? Says who?" he asked.
"Says me," Gravis said. Then, Gravis narrowed his eyes. "I’m here to buy a map. You guys are a business, right? So, why not make some extra money by selling me one?"
The guy blinked twice calmly. "What are you searching for?" he asked.
"I want a map that shows the locations of the Nine Elements Sect, the Primordial Force Sect, the All-Matter Sect, the Purist Sect, the Life Sect, and the beast territories," Gravis said.
After Gravis was finished talking, the man’s expression changed to genuine surprise. Then, he fell into thought as he looked at the ground.
After some seconds, he looked back at Gravis. "Wait here," he said.
"Sure," Gravis answered.
After that, someone else entered through the same door the other guy had come through. It was an old man, and Gravis actually recognized him.
This was the same person that had saved Surem back then.
Now that Gravis was powerful enough, he could also feel the old man’s level. This was a Mid Minor Circulation Immortal King, someone on the same level as a Sect Master.
This was already ridiculous for a "small healing shop", but Gravis was certain that there was someone else in here. There was probably someone else inside a room hidden by Formation Arrays that kept this branch safe. Otherwise, if the Sect Alliance got some ideas, this branch would be annihilated.
The young man bowed to the older man and left through the same door. Then, the older man came over to the table and looked at Siral. He didn’t show it on his face, but he was probably quite surprised that a Major Circulation Immortal King came to this branch. This was unusual.
The young man had only been a Peak Immortal, and he hadn’t been able to feel Siral’s power. All the Sect Masters in this area felt like mountains in front of him. So, he had simply assumed that Siral was just another Sect Master.
The old man noticed that Gravis stood in the front while Siral stood in the back. The old man turned to Gravis, and his brows furrowed. After that, he started to slowly stroke his long, white beard in thought.
"You seem familiar," he said.
Gravis smiled. "Yes, we met around 40,000 years ago," Gravis said. "You even invited me to join the Life Sect."
The old man stopped stroking his beard as he remembered. "Oh, I remember now," he said. "You are that one Ascender, right? Have you reconsidered joining our Sect?" he asked with a smile.
"I don’t want to join any Sect for now," Gravis said. "I want to see what every Peak Sect has to offer first before I make my decision."
The old man sighed but nodded. "Haste makes waste, young friend," he said. "It’s a good thing to consider one’s options. So, I have heard that you want to procure a map?"
Gravis nodded. "Yes. I want to temper myself in the beast territories before I consider joining any Sect," Gravis explained. "My Will-Aura is too weak right now, and as soon as I join a Sect, I will probably spend a considerable amount of time in there, earning money, comprehending Laws, and so on."
The old man laughed loudly. "Your Will-Aura is too weak?" he asked with mirth. "Are you trying to put this old man to shame? Your Will-Aura is several levels more powerful than mine, and you say that it’s too weak?"
Gravis smiled back and chuckled. He liked the disposition of this old man. The previous guy had been rude, but this old man was easy to get along with. "Well, my goals are not normal," Gravis said.
"Oh?" the old man said with interest as he leaned forward. "What are these abnormal goals?" he asked.
Gravis only smiled. "I can tell you, but I also want a map," Gravis said.
The old man leaned back again and went back to stroking his long beard.
Then, he smiled widely.
At that moment, Gravis received an image in his Spirit.
It was a map!
’Well, that was easy.’
Chapter 848 - 848 – Map
Gravis looked at the map, and as soon as he did, he was glad that he came back for it. If he had continued south, he wouldn’t have reached the beasts’ territory.
The map was very crude and not detailed at all, but it showed the positions of all the Peak Sects and the beasts’ territory. However, that was it. There were no villages, cities, areas of interest or anything like that. It only showed these six things.
The five Peak Sects were placed all around the world, about the same distance between each one of them, except for one.
In the middle of the world was a gigantic forest, which was basically entirely blanked out. It took up around 20% of the map.
This was the beasts’ territory.
The entire core of the map was nothing but beast territory. However, only 20% of the world belonged to the beast. Gravis had known that the humans probably had more territory than the beasts, but not by so much. There were probably many times more humans than beasts in this world.
The world was split into five regions. As previously stated, the core of the world was one region, and it belonged to the beasts. The other four regions were north, east, south, and west of the beasts’ territories.
How were these areas split?
By gigantic rivers!
20% of the world belonged to the beast, but 10% of the world was also filled with water. There were four rivers coming out of the beasts’ territory, which stretched across the entire map. These four rivers took up 10% of the entire map.
From the position of the beasts’ territory, the rivers were at the northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast.
However, the rivers didn’t perfectly leave at one corner and exit the map on a corner.
In actuality, the rivers were curved.
For example, the northwestern river came out of the northwestern corner of the beasts’ territory, but as soon as it left the beasts’ territory, it made a curve towards the west. It basically went from northwest to north-north-west and then to just directly west.
The northeastern river did the same thing, but it went more towards the east instead.
The same thing was mirrored with the southern rivers. They also stretched more towards the east and the west, respectively.
This meant that the five territories of the world didn’t have the same size. Due to the rivers’ curvature, the northern and southern territories were far bigger than the eastern and western territories. In fact, the northern territory was about 2.5 times the size of the western territory, for example.
The eastern and western territories had about the same size, same with the northern and southern territories.
So, to put the distribution of size into numbers.
20% of the world belonged to the beasts in the middle.
10% of the world belonged to the water in the four rivers.
25% of the world belonged to the northern territory.
25% of the world belonged to the southern territory.
10% of the world belonged to the eastern territory.
10% of the world belonged to the western territory.
Now, the question was, how does one distribute five Peak Sects across four territories?
Sadly, distributing the territory evenly was impossible. Because of that, two Sects shared the northern territory, while every other region had one Peak Sect.
The western half of the northern territory belonged to the Nine Elements Sect, and Gravis was currently even further to the northwest of this territory.
The eastern half of the northern territory belonged to the All-Matter Sect. These two Sects shared the northern territory since it was so big.
However, even though they shared one territory, their territory was still larger than the territories of the Peak Sects that owned the eastern and western territories. After all, half of 25% is 12.5%, and 12.5% is more than 10%.
The western territory belonged to the Primordial Force Sect. If Gravis had continued to travel south, he would have arrived at the gigantic river. After that, he would have entered the territory of the Primordial Force Sect. Additionally, Gravis had been heading towards the core of the Primordial Force Sect. At that point, his beast body would have been discovered.
Because of that, Gravis was glad that he had returned to get a map.
The eastern territory belonged to the Purist Sect.
As Gravis watched the map, he somehow felt that the Primordial Force Sect and Purist Sect were cut off from others. It was like they were on their own islands.
However, they were not as cut off as the Life Sect.
The Life Sect was in the southern territory, alone!
The entire 25% of the southern world belonged entirely to the Life Sect, which was crazy!
Yet, Gravis was sure that it wasn’t that simple. There was probably more to it.
There also had to be sea beasts in this world, which meant that the gigantic rivers were also a massive danger for humans. Calling them rivers made them seem small, but one had to remember that these rivers were absolutely gigantic. One river was already many times wider than Gravis’ previous middle world.
Because of that, Gravis was sure that the rivers had to be added to the Sects’ territories.
The Purist and Primordial Force Sect probably helped with the northern rivers, but the Nine Elements Sect and the All-Matter Sect probably did the majority of the work there.
However, the Life Sect was obviously overwhelmed with their massive area. Taking care of the southern rivers would put a strain on their resources even more.
Because of that, Gravis was certain that the Primordial Force Sect and the Purist Sect probably completely dominated one of these southern rivers. The Life Sect already needed to fully withstand the beasts’ assault on a major territory on their own. They couldn’t also deal with a ton of sea beasts on two different rivers.
As far as Gravis saw, the Life Sect was probably the most endangered Peak Sect. The northern territories had two Sects that probably worked closely together. The Laws of the Elements and the Laws of Matter were intrinsically connected. Understanding one of them helped with understanding the other. Additionally, both categories represented dead stuff that one could see and feel.
Because of that, the northern territory was probably the safest territory for humans.
The western and eastern territories were not as big, and one Peak Sect should be enough for each. Gravis had already heard about the ideology of the Purist Sect, which made him guess that the Purist Sect was probably fighting a lonely battle.
The Purist Sect was probably not very interested in helping the other Peak Sects and simply dealt with their portion of assaults, which was the eastern front of the land beasts, southern front of sea beasts, and northern front of sea beats. Gravis even guessed that the Purist Sect probably claimed the entire southeastern river as their territory, allowing nearly no outsider to enter.
Meanwhile, the Primordial Force Sect probably had close connections with the Nine Elements Sect to their north and the Life Sect to their south. However, this was a completely blind guess based on the map. Gravis had never come into contact with anyone from the Primordial Force Sect.
However, the eastern and western territories were probably also rather secure. Maybe not as much as the northern territory, but still quite secure.
Now, the southern territory looked troublesome.
A Sect of Cultivators focused on Life and healing owned and defended an entire 25% of the world?
That was a lot of work!
’Well, the Life Laws also include the Laws of the body,’ Gravis thought. ’I shouldn’t immediately assign the status of healer to everyone from the Life Sect. They probably also have a ton of fearsome close-combat warriors with powerful bodies. Maybe their bodies could even rival some beasts? It’s a possibility. In that case, these Cultivators would become beast killers, basically.’
Gravis had learned a lot about the world from simply a single picture. Additionally, he now knew where he had to go.
Gravis had to go to the southeast.
He would need to pass the Nine Elements Sect and continue towards the southeast to arrive at the beasts’ territory.
Gravis nodded as he made his plan and looked back at the old man.
"Why did you directly give me this map?" Gravis asked, suspicious. "You didn’t even ask for anything in return. Why?"
The old man only smiled in a gentle demeanor.
"So that you know where you can find the Life Sect," the old man said.
Gravis furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?" Gravis asked. There had to be more to this.
"Well," the old man said with a smile. "You should know where you can find your future home."
"I said that I am still considering which Sect I want to join," Gravis said evenly.
"You can consider, but it won’t change the result," the old man said as he stroked his beard.
Gravis raised an eyebrow. "You’re saying that I will join the Life Sect regardless?" Gravis asked.
The old man nodded.
"What makes you think that? Don’t get me wrong. I’m thankful for your cooperation, and I’ve only had positive dealings with the Life Sect up to now, but that isn’t enough to base such a major decision on," Gravis said.
"You’re right. It isn’t," the old man said with a smile. "However, you have no other choice in that regard. You either join the Life Sect, or you join no Peak Sect."
Gravis narrowed his eyes. "Is that a threat?" Gravis asked coldly.
The old man laughed. "No, it isn’t," he said. "It really isn’t."
"Then what do you mean with that I have no choice?" Gravis asked.
"How about I show you by helping you some more?" the old man said with a smile, which slowly transformed into a smirk.
Another picture arrived in Gravis’ mind. It was the same map, but this time, there was a curvy, red arrow leading to the beasts’ territory. It made a considerable curve around the Nine Elements Sect.
"And what’s that supposed to mean?" Gravis asked. He no longer felt that this old man was a kind grandpa but a wily old fox. It was like the entire situation was somehow under the old man’s control.
"That’s a path that avoids every major city and Sect," the old man said. "After all..."
"You don’t want the Beast Crystals to react to your body, right?"
Chapter 849 - 849 – Mixed Children
Gravis’ mind stopped as he heard the old man’s words.
How did he know!?
A ton of questions appeared in Gravis’ mind, and he became nervous. This was not something simple! One of the Peak Sects knew that he had a beast body. If they decided to send a Peak Immortal King, everything would be over.
Yet, the question was, why didn’t they? If they had known that he was a beast, why hadn’t they arrived to kill him yet?
Gravis was sure that his secret couldn’t have been found out just now. After all, there was no way that a Peak Immortal King was in such an unimportant and remote location.
This could only mean that the old man had noticed it back then. Additionally, the old man could have unveiled Gravis’ status right then and there. At that time, Gravis would have been helpless against any Immortal King, and there had been a lot of them.
On top of that, a whole 40,000 years had passed since then. There had been more than enough time to transmit the news to the Life Sect and request for a quick extermination.
What was going on?
There were only two explanations Gravis could come up with, and he would find the answer to which one was correct with a question.
"And what’s that supposed to mean?" Gravis asked evenly.
The old man only smiled kindly as he stroked his beard. "It means that you have a beast body," he said.
"And how would you know that?" Gravis asked coldly.
The old man laughed as he found the question quite amusing. "How do I know that?" he asked with a laugh. "I saw it with my own eyes back then. When I saw you using your Soul Laws to keep that boy alive, I was quite surprised by your Laws. So, I took a closer look, and who would have thought, you have the body of a Black Demon."
This answer was everything that Gravis needed to determine why nothing had happened to him yet.
With Gravis’ two questions, he had tried to check if the old man was bluffing. It was possible that he was only taking a guess, and if Gravis directly asked how he knew, Gravis might have unveiled his own secret.
This had been one possibility. If the Life Sect didn’t know that he had a beast body, they couldn’t have sent anyone to kill him. As far as Gravis knew, it could be a common tactic in this world to simply act like they knew that random people had beast bodies just to catch the honest and direct beasts by surprise.
Gravis wouldn’t want to fall into such a trap.
This left one possibility remaining of why the Life Sect had not exterminated him yet.
They didn’t want to.
The question was, why?
Gravis was pretty certain that they didn’t want to kill him not only because of the fact that he was still alive but also because of how the old man had phrased his words.
"You said I have a beast body," Gravis said evenly. "However, you didn’t say that I was a beast. How come?"
This basically already counted as a confession but playing dumb wouldn’t work right now. It might even make the conversation more aggressive between them.
The old man’s eyes shone slightly. "So, you’ve noticed, huh?" he asked with a smirk. "Yes, I believe that you are not a beast but a human inside a beast’s body."
The old man was right on the money, but Gravis wouldn’t assume that the old man knew about Research Assistants and so on. "Could you elaborate on what you mean exactly?" Gravis asked.
"Isn’t it obvious?" the old man said with confidence.
"You’re the offspring of a beast and a human," he said.
Gravis’ eyes shone slightly. The old man had been spot on previously, but now, he had gone in a wrong direction.
"If that were so, then why are you so sure that I’m a human and not a beast? After all, I have a beast body, right?" Gravis asked.
"Because of your Spirit and Will-Aura," the old man said with a smile as he stroked his beard. "You have been born with a beast body, but with a Spirit and Will-Aura. We humans are humans because of our Spirit, not because of our body."
"Is that all?" Gravis asked evenly.
"There’s also the form of your body," the old man said with a smirk. "Your form is humanoid, and you have several arms with hands. Additionally, you had appeared quite familiar with your saber. This means that your human form might have been new since you had just become an Immortal, but you were already familiar with fighting with a weapon."
"Fighting with weapons and having hands are very human-like qualities. Additionally, you have searched for a Sect to join. This means that you want to be among humans instead of going solo. This is also very human-like."
Gravis furrowed his brows, but after a couple of seconds, he nodded. "Alright, fine. I’m a human with a beast body," Gravis admitted.
The old man only smirked confidently as he stroked his beard. His smirk didn’t feel like some kind of evil smirk or something to Gravis. It was more like an old grandpa that felt happy that he won in a game against his grandson. There was still kindness in his smirk.
"I’m pretty certain that our original topic and this one probably have connected answers, right?" Gravis asked.
"What was our original topic again?" the old man asked innocently with a smile.
"You said that I can’t join any other Peak Sect," Gravis said.
The old man nodded. "Yes, these two things are connected, but unveiling everything at once is boring. Why don’t you take a guess?" the old man requested.
Gravis furrowed his brows. He wasn’t the biggest fan of these nonsense talking games. Gravis liked to directly say what he had on his mind instead of using fancy words to play some kind of intellectual power game.
However, Gravis was pretty confident that he already had the answer.
"I guess holding the southern territory all on your own is pretty difficult, right?" Gravis asked with an insinuating tone.
The old man’s eyes gleamed a bit in surprise. ’Clever boy. He immediately found the right answer,’ the old man thought.
"Correct," the old man said with a smile. "If we don’t regularly attack the Great Forest, a beast wave will arrive. Due to our location, we have a lot of beasts to deal with, and the Purist Sect doesn’t like to involve themselves. They act like they want us to prosper due to our pills, but they are just waiting for us to get overrun. After all, many talented alchemists would then flee our Sect and enter the Purist Sect."
Gravis nodded. "I presume because of all the pressure, you can’t be wasteful with your limited resources, including disciples, right?" Gravis asked with a knowing tone.
The old man nodded with a smile as he stroked his beard. "That’s right," the old man said. "We are already stretched thin as it is. Destroying our own potential disciples would make it only harder."
"So, in short," Gravis said as he leaned forward on the table with his right forearm. "Children of humans and beasts are not being hunted in the southern territory, but the Life Sect is the only Sect with this philosophy. Because of that, I can’t join any other Peak Sect, and that’s also the reason why I am still alive right now, right?"
The old man nodded with a bright smile. "That’s right," the old man said. "We still hate the beasts, but as long as a mixed child shows the personality of a human, we are willing to accept them."
"And how would you know if they have a human personality?" Gravis asked.
The old man laughed again. "I’m sure you have seen how newborn beasts act," the old man said. "We only need to check if the baby wants to consume other babies around it to gain power. After all, the first thing that human newborns do is cry for their mother."
"And how can your Sect guarantee that you are present at every birth of a new mixed child?" Gravis asked with skepticism.
"We can’t," the old man said with a smile. "But those who keep a mixed pregnancy a secret will be exterminated."
"That’s plenty of incentive to inform us beforehand."
Chapter 850 - 850 – Journeying To The Beast Territory
"Yes, that is quite a strong incentive," Gravis said. "However, draconian rules often birth resentment."
"It doesn’t matter," the old man said with a smile. "There are some cases of revolution here and there, but it’s all an exercise in futility when the other side has overwhelming power."
Gravis’ eyes shone. "So, the Life Sect’s territory is not as united as you wanted to make me believe."
The old man furrowed his brows. "I have been honest with you."
"Yes, you have," Gravis said, "but you can be honest without telling me all of the details. I’ve also been honest, but we both know that there is more to my situation."
"There is?" the old man asked with surprise.
Gravis scoffed. "Don’t act innocent," Gravis said. "You’re not stupid."
"Alright, alright," the old man said with a smile. "Yes, yes, nothing is as simple as it appears on the surface," the old man admitted. "However, it doesn’t change reality. The Life Sect is the only place where you can live without worrying that some random Immortal Emperor will find out your secret."
"Hm," Gravis uttered. "That’s also true."
"Anyway, thank you for the map. I’ll be going now, and I will probably also visit the Life Sect in the future," Gravis said.
The old man nodded with a smile. "It has been nice talking to you, and I’m looking forward to what you can do. From what I’ve heard, your Battle Strength is incredible. You will see that the Life Sect can give you the best home you can get in this world."
"Best I can get, huh?" Gravis commented after he turned around. "That doesn’t promise much in this world where humans and beasts are at each other’s throats."
"But it’s still the best," the old man said with a smile. "In the grand scheme of things, a smaller man might appear small, but when he is among dwarves, he’s a giant."
"Hmph," Gravis harumphed one last time. After that, he motioned for Siral that they would leave.
When the old man saw Gravis gesturing to Siral, a gleam appeared in his eyes. Yes, he had taken note of this powerful Immortal King when he had entered the room, but as he was talking to Gravis, the Immortal King had seemingly stopped existing. It was like the old man was subconsciously ignoring Siral.
The old man noticed that Siral was not simple. To be able to hide one’s presence to such an extent inside such a small room was no easy feat. There was something very peculiar about this Immortal King after the old man thought about this.
"Why are you following our little friend?" the old man asked Siral. This Immortal King was not simple at all, and he felt like it was a bit weird that Gravis was actually the one that talked with him. Shouldn’t that have been the job of the more powerful one of the two?
"He has saved my life once, and he will do so again in the future. This is repayment," Siral said as he shot a short glance at the old man.
Siral was obviously referring to the time when Gravis had decided to spare him. Siral had attacked Gravis with a sneak attack with the intention to kill him. Sparing his life in such a scenario was definitely not expected. Because of that, Siral counted it as Gravis having saved his life once.
The second time would obviously be his tribulation.
The old man furrowed his brows. Gravis had saved his life before? When could that have happened? Shouldn’t that Immortal King already have been quite powerful back then? After all, Gravis had only been in this world for around 40,000 years.
Gravis and Siral left the house with their new map and teleported away.
The old man in the house only stroked his beard with a grin.
After teleporting a couple of times, Gravis stopped and looked at Siral.
"So, you now know that I have a beast body," Gravis commented. "What do you think about that?"
"Master is Master. That is all," Siral said deferentially.
Gravis wasn’t fine with that answer. "Alright," Gravis said. "Then, tell me, what would the old Siral have thought, the Siral shortly before I used my Life Ring."
Siral furrowed his brows as he tried to emulate his old mindset. It was rather difficult since the Life Ring had severely altered his personality. "I think he would have asked if you are a human or not first."
"I am a human," Gravis said. "I have been born a human, and I am still a human, even if I have a beast body."
Siral nodded. "Then, I think the old Siral wouldn’t have minded. As long as you genuinely consider yourself to be a human, you are a human."
Gravis also nodded. He wasn’t sure if he could trust Siral’s answer or not since he was still under the influence of the Life Ring, but it was better than nothing.
Gravis had thought about telling Siral some of his secrets but decided against it. Sure, Siral couldn’t betray him, but that was only temporary. Gravis planned to let Siral go in about 20.000 years. If Siral held some resentment towards Gravis, he could unveil all of Gravis’ secrets.
Gravis had made that mistake once before with Morus, who had then threatened Gravis with his three children. Gravis wouldn’t commit that mistake again. The less Siral knew about him, the better. If Siral decided to stay with Gravis after he had been freed from the Life Ring’s influence, Gravis could still decide to unveil some of his secrets.
Siral and Gravis continued along their journey as they followed the red arrow that the old man had showed them.
Several days later, they were still teleporting. It was actually insane how huge the world was. Gravis didn’t need more than a couple of minutes to go from one end of the Sect Alliance’s territory to the other, but they had already been teleporting for days. Even worse, they hadn’t even reached the Nine Elements Sect’s perimeter.
Gravis and Siral had stopped using their Laws of Shadow’s Subtlety.
Why?
Because if they accidentally ran into some important Sect territory, they wouldn’t be seen as invaders that way.
If someone accidentally stopped before a private, fortified mansion while normally walking, the guards would tell them to scram and warn them. However, if these same people had been sneaking around in the night while trying to be as hidden as possible, they would appear like invaders.
That wouldn’t end in just a warning.
Gravis was not confident enough in his hiding ability that he could enter these critical areas.
Also, there was no reason to, right now.
SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING!
Suddenly, five people appeared before Gravis and Siral as space froze.
"Stop!" the leader shouted. All of them wore black cloaks that fully hid their features. These cloaks also had the ability to hide their bodies from Spirit Senses.
Gravis looked at them with narrowed eyes.
He was absolutely certain that they had not come with good intentions.
Why?
Because two people in the back carried bloody torsos with heads. Each person carried five chains in their hands. These chains went over their shoulders and ended in meat hooks that had been stabbed into the torsos.
The torsos had no Spirit fluctuations, but Gravis noticed that they were still breathing.
These ten torsos were living people that were carried around by these five individuals.
Their Spirits had obviously been temporarily disabled with some pills, probably. On top of that, their eyes, ears, and mouths were burned shut.
By all intents and purposes, these poor people didn’t feel, see, or hear anything. They were only under severe pain as the meathooks tore at them whenever their captors moved.
Gravis hadn’t seen something like this before, and it appeared unnecessarily cruel.
Oftentimes, the worst beings were not beasts but humans.
Gravis wondered why these five people did this. What did they gain out of this? Gravis was pretty sure that it wasn’t just a desire for cruelty. Such things weren’t really important to powerful Immortals anymore. After all, they were all experienced enough to know that something like this didn’t help them.
There had to be a reason for their actions.
"What do you want?" Gravis asked with narrowed eyes.
The leading figure only smirked beneath his black hood.