Ch. 891..900

Chapter 891 - 891 – Coming Into Contact With Underworld

Gravis scratched his chin in thought. ’Underworld is a loose organization similar to a black market, mercenary army, and an assassination organization. They shouldn’t care about loyalty for the members that don’t know the really important information. This means that they and I are not enemies. I was simply a target of a squad and killed them.’

’I should come into contact with Underworld. If the Peak Sects try anything underhanded when I discuss my grand plan with one of them, Underworld might be able to help me,’ Gravis thought.

’Well, let’s meet them.’

SHING!

Gravis teleported away and appeared in front of the tavern. Then, he entered like a normal guest.

Gravis saw a couple of Nascent Nourishing Cultivators sitting around. He even saw some loose Law Comprehension Realm Cultivators, and there was even a Peak Immortal. The Peak Immortal acted like the owner while the bartender was only an employee. However, the bartender was the one truly in control.

"Welcome!" the bartender shouted with enthusiasm. "Do you want to drink something? First one’s on the house!"

Gravis chuckled a bit and walked closer to the bar. Then, he simply sat down in one seat.

"I think you don’t want our conversation to reach the ears of the other guests," Gravis transmitted to the bartender.

The bartender looked confused. "Is there something, sir? We already paid our protection fee."

Gravis had to chuckle. Extorting protection fee from a Major Circulation Immortal Emperor. Sure.

"Now, before we begin talking for real, let me first establish something," Gravis said calmly. "The entire Nine Elements Sect is obviously in my Spirit Sense’s range. So, if I wanted to do anything untoward to you, I wouldn’t be sitting here."

The bartender only looked with a genuinely confused expression at Gravis. One had to say that he was very good at acting.

"You are at least a Major Circulation Immortal Emperor in hiding, and below us is probably a stronghold of Underworld," Gravis said.

The bartender looked afraid as he stepped back in shock. "Underworld? I assure you that our fine establishment has nothing to do with Underworld! Only an idiot would create a stronghold so close to the Nine Elements Sect!"

The bartender sounded genuinely scared and shocked. Of course, everything was being said via voice transmission.

Gravis only smirked. "I am absolutely certain that you are at least at the Major Circulation Immortal Emperor Realm," Gravis transmitted again, but this time, he used his Law of Honesty.

The bartender seemed to calm down as he sighed, but at the same time, another voice transmission appeared in Gravis’ head. "Quite interesting," the cold and emotionless voice of the bartender appeared in Gravis’ head. "If you hadn’t proven that you didn’t want to go against us, you would have already died. I hadn’t thought that someone would use the Law of Honesty to uncover us. Quite creative, I must say."

Gravis only smiled.

"So, what do you want?" the bartender asked.

"I’m planning to talk with some Peak Sects about something quite big, and I’m afraid that they might go against me if they disagree. So, I want to protect my life," Gravis transmitted.

"We are talking about some high-quality goods here," the bartender transmitted as he cheerfully served another customer. "For that, I need to know what you have planned. You don’t need to tell me the details, but since you already know the Law of Honesty, you can tell me if it involves Underworld or not."

"It won’t damage Underworld, but Underworld might be tangentially affected. However, it won’t make a big difference. Instead, my negotiation has something to do with the beasts," Gravis transmitted with his Law of Honesty.

The bartender inspected Gravis very thoroughly, and then he uncovered why Gravis was so careful. However, Gravis had already expected to be exposed.

"I see. Yes, someone with a beast body should have a chance to negotiate with the beasts," the bartender transmitted. He wasn’t surprised when Gravis’ expression didn’t change. Gravis seemed to be quite smart, and by appearing here like this, he probably didn’t mind being exposed by Underworld.

Gravis had been in such a situation before. Back when Gravis was a Lord, he had met Styr. Styr could have killed him with a thought, and Gravis could have killed Styr with a thought. Both of them had the life of the other in their hand, ensuring the safety of both of them.

However, the bartender was incredibly shocked deep inside.

After he knew that Gravis had a beast body, he noticed that nearly all the beast crystals in the town were shining. However, nobody cared, and nobody looked at them. It was like they didn’t exist.

This made the bartender realize that Gravis was someone extraordinary.

This might be big money.

"By the way," Gravis transmitted. "I was once the target of a squad from Underworld, and you know what happened to them since I am still here. I hope this won’t be an issue."

"Not at all," the bartender transmitted directly. "Most of our members are freelancers. They take up the mission, and if the mission fails, we simply ask for more money from the contractor and send in a stronger team. I guess the contractor didn’t pay for you to be exterminated."

"I killed the contractor," Gravis transmitted.

"There you go. No problem," the bartender transmitted.

"So, can I purchase your wares now?" Gravis asked.

"How do you want to escape from a Peak Sect?" the bartender asked.

"An emblem that teleports me close to the frontlines, but not directly into them," Gravis said.

"So, you don’t want protection, but something that allows you to flee. That’s easier to accomplish. You probably want the emblem to be powerful enough to ignore the Formation Arrays?" the bartender asked.

"Yes, that would be great," Gravis transmitted. He couldn’t use Arc’s emblem since Arc said that the emblem wouldn’t work when Gravis was in danger. Otherwise, Gravis would have a trump card to fall back on while tempering himself, making it harder to increase his Will-Aura.

"However, I have to warn you," the bartender transmitted. "The emblem you’re asking for only works for every Sect except for the Primordial Force Sect. The Primordial Force Sect is the hegemon over gravity, time, and space, and not even we can create an emblem that allows you to flee from them."

"That’s not a problem," Gravis transmitted. "So, how much for one?"

"50 million," the bartender transmitted.

Gravis took a hidden, deep breath. That was a lot of money.

"However, since you have amused me quite a bit, I will give you a discount. 30 million," the bartender transmitted.

Gravis smiled. "Then, thank you very much."

"Here’s your drink," the bartender said with a smile as he put some wine on the counter.

Gravis smiled and chugged the wine. No poison could affect him, so he didn’t care.

As soon as Gravis downed the drink, something appeared in his stomach.

It was a kind of emblem, but not the one Gravis ordered. This one was black and had the crest of two snakes on it.

Gravis quickly retrieved the emblem into his Spirit Space and inspected it thoroughly.

There were no Law fluctuations, and someone else couldn’t intrude into Gravis’ Spirit like this. This meant that this emblem couldn’t be dangerous.

"That’s the token that gives you the discount," the bartender transmitted. "This stronghold is not a marketplace, but a defensive stronghold that accepts assassination missions. See it as insurance for the eventuality that the Peak Sects might become rowdy."

Gravis realized that probably several Immortal Emperors were currently below him. That was a powerful striking force.

At the same time, Gravis received some directions that told him where to go.

"Thank you very much," Gravis said with a smile. "The wine was good."

"Always a pleasure to hear that," the bartender said with a bright smile. "As said previously. This one’s on the house. Do visit us again in the future."

While Gravis and the bartender were talking politely, the sole Immortal in the tavern looked with furrowed brows at both of them.

’Why is master directly trading with someone? He is supposed to be hidden at all cost, and I’m normally the one making the trades. Who is this person that he can trade directly with master?’ the Immortal thought.

After some small talk, Gravis left the tavern and teleported away.

’Interesting,’ the bartender thought with a smile. ’Truly interesting.’

After leaving the tavern, Gravis made a short stop at Arc’s clearing to do something and teleported a couple of times more until he arrived in a Cultivation city.

Gravis entered a restaurant and sat down at an empty seat on the third floor.

"We’re very sorry, but we need to see your registration as a member of the city before we can serve you," an Immortal said politely as he arrived in front of Gravis.

The Immortal put a Space Ring on the table. This was normal since everyone wanted to keep their identification hidden. They didn’t want to be a victim of identity theft. Because of that, the identification would always be put into Space Rings so that only the ones with physical contact with the Space Ring could see it.

Gravis put the emblem and 30 million Immortal Stones into the Space Ring. At the same time, he informed the waiter what he was here to buy.

The waiter looked into the Space Ring and nodded. "Thank you very much. Now, what would you like to order?"

Gravis touched the Space Ring and acted like he was retrieving something, but everything inside the Space Ring had already vanished.

The waiter appeared calm, but deep inside, he was shocked beyond belief.

Only the true seniors of Underworld could give out these tokens.

This was an important customer!

The waiter gave Gravis directions of what he was supposed to order, and Gravis complied as he said the order out loud.

The waiter nodded with a smile and returned around 20 minutes later with some cooked meat.

Immortals didn’t need to eat, but good food still tasted wonderful.

Gravis ate it and was quite surprised at how good the food actually was. Well, he guessed that the food had to be good so that their disguise appeared authentic.

After eating the food, Gravis acted like he was paying and left.

He had already gotten the emblem that he had asked for while eating the meat. Just like the previous emblem, this one also appeared when Gravis had finished the food.

’Hiding goods inside food and drinks. That’s quite peculiar and interesting,’ Gravis thought. ’No wonder Underworld is still hidden. They actually avoid having a lot of physical locations where their members could gather. Instead, some shops simply sell these goods in normal restaurants. I always thought that some hidden entrance might lead to some underground cave or something.’

’I mean, the previous stronghold probably had something like this, but not this one. Also, if someone actually put their identification into the Space Ring, the waiter would know that the customer was just here to eat.’

’Underworld definitely is quite organized and smart.’

Chapter 892 - 892 – Suspicious

Gravis returned to the Nine Elements Sect with his new emblem in his Spirit Space. ’This should make things easier.’

After arriving near the Nine Elements Sect again, Gravis contacted the bartender. "The trade has been finished. Thank you again for the discount," he transmitted.

"Nice to do business with you," the bartender answered. "Let’s hope this isn’t the last time Underworld comes into contact with you."

"Oh, I don’t think this will be the last time," Gravis answered. "Trading with you is much easier than trading with the Peak Sects."

Gravis and the bartender exchanged some pleasantries until Gravis was finally ready to enter the Nine Elements Sect.

Gravis took a deep breath. ’It’s been over 40,000 years. I hope that situation from back then is in the past. I’m still uncertain if Stella is willing to travel with me, but I hope she will.’

To be honest, Gravis was quite nervous. Stella had already taken up an irreplaceable space in his heart, and he would feel horrible if she rejected him. Gravis was only this nervous when he was about to fight someone extremely powerful.

’I wonder how strong you have become. I have only focused on level four Laws for these years. You probably already know more level five Laws than I. How powerful has your Will-Aura become? Which Realm have you reached?’ Gravis thought.

Gravis wanted to see Stella immediately, but he couldn’t. Stella was probably inside the core palace, and he couldn’t look inside without risking his life. It was better to go the official way.

Gravis came to the main entrance of the Nine Elements Sect and kept his Law of Perceived Reality active. It was important that no one noticed the beast crystals. It was risky, but Gravis had a couple of assurances if things went south. He didn’t come here unprepared. He knew exactly how dangerous coming here was for him.

Gravis landed in front of the main entrance and looked at a Peak Immortal that stood guard there.

As Gravis walked up to the guard, the guard looked at Gravis with furrowed brows. He couldn’t feel Gravis’ Realm, which meant that he was an Immortal King.

"Halt!" the guard shouted. However, his shout also sounded not as forceful as one might think. There was some politeness hidden behind it. "What brings you to the Nine Elements Sect?" he asked.

The guard knew that Gravis wasn’t one of these disciples that wanted to take part in the entrance exams. After all, this was an Immortal King.

"Hello," Gravis said politely with a smile. Then, he summoned Stella’s emblem. "I’m here to meet a friend. This is her emblem."

The guard looked at the emblem and took a deep breath.

This was the emblem of the Holy Maiden!

This was an important guest!

"Please wait here. I need to ask an Elder for permission since this is beyond my authority," the guard said politely.

The people waiting outside saw how respectful the guard was and became shocked. This same guard had treated them like they didn’t exist, but he was so humble in front of this young man. Who was this young man?

The guard stretched out his hand to ask for the emblem, and Gravis put it into his hand.

Then, the guard flew into the Sect. Teleportation was blocked inside the Nine Elements Sect. After all, it would be devastating if an enemy army teleported right into the middle of their Sect.

While the guard flew away, a second guard replaced him at the gate. The second guard only stood at the gate stoically while waiting for the first one to come back.

The first guard flew for a couple of seconds until he arrived in front of an elder.

The elder had the appearance of a young man with blonde hair, but that didn’t mean that he was young. After all, Cultivators could control their looks.

"Greetings, elder," the guard said with a bow.

"What is it?" the elder asked neutrally.

The guard showed the emblem to the elder, and he inspected it. After a while, his eyebrows furrowed as he took the emblem.

"Who gave this to you?" he asked.

"An Immortal King is standing outside the gate. He said that he is here to meet a friend. He showed this emblem as proof," the guard reported.

The elder nodded. "The Holy Maiden has forbidden anyone from visiting, regardless of who they are," the elder said. "Tell him that and thank him for returning the token to us."

The guard looked with an uncertain expression at the elder. "But elder, isn’t this token-"

"Are you disobeying an order?" the elder asked coldly.

The guard shook in fear. "No, of course not! I will do as you commanded," the guard said with a bow.

"Good, then go," the elder said coldly.

The guard quickly left and flew back to the entrance.

Then, he looked at Gravis, who only looked at him with a neutral expression. The guard really didn’t want to do this, but these were his orders.

"I’m sorry, but the Holy Maiden doesn’t accept any visitors right now. However, we are thanking you deeply for returning the token to us," the guard said.

Gravis’ expression remained neutral. Obviously, he had heard everything that had been said.

However, he couldn’t let them know.

Deep inside, Gravis became furious. If Stella truly didn’t want to meet anyone, the token would have been returned to him. However, they kept the token.

Something was going on.

Either the elder was corrupt, or something happened to Stella.

However, what was Gravis supposed to do?

The only proof of his identity as Stella’s friend had been taken from him.

"Is there a way to meet the Holy Maiden?" Gravis asked calmly.

The guard was surprised that Gravis remained this calm. Didn’t Gravis realize what had just happened? Did he believe that he could return anytime soon?

"You can join the Sect," the guard said without certainty. "You can probably see her from time to time if you are lucky."

"Is there another way?" Gravis asked.

The guard became more nervous.

There was one other way, but the guard was certain that the elder wouldn’t want him to inform Gravis of it.

"I’m sorry, but there is no other way," the guard said.

Gravis furrowed his brows.

That was troublesome.

However, some seconds later, a voice transmission arrived, but it wasn’t from the guard.

It was from another guard.

"In 350 years, there will be a grand tournament," the unknown guard transmitted to Gravis. "The prize is a chance to meet the Holy Maiden and ask for her hand."

Gravis’ expression didn’t change, but he nodded at the guard in front of him. Obviously, this was meant for the hidden guard.

After that, Gravis turned around and left.

The elder couldn’t check the contents of voice transmissions, but he could probably feel the fluctuations of a voice transmission as long as the Realm of the sender was much lower than his.

Gravis was certain that the guard in front of him had asked one of his friends for help to inform Gravis. Like this, the elder would only be able to see that the guard spoke with one of his colleagues.

The guard was quite smart.

After teleporting a couple of times, Gravis narrowed his eyes coldly.

’This is beyond suspicious,’ Gravis thought. ’First, an elder is intercepting my request to see Stella, and now there is suddenly a tournament with a chance to marry Stella as a prize. Something is definitely going on.’

’This means that the elder isn’t corrupt, but that the Sect is suppressing Stella. The death of her teacher has probably severely affected Stella’s standing. Someone else that had some beef with Stella’s teacher has probably taken over, and they intend to get rid of Stella in a covert manner.’

’They’re probably planning to force her to marry some genius from another Peak Sect to strengthen their alliance. Stella would then probably leave for the other Sect. Like this, the Nine Elements Sect would get some incredible benefits while freeing up the spot for the Holy Maiden.’

’Stella would never do something like this, which means that she is forced. Even more, this might not even have been the first time. It’s very possible that this has happened before, but she was able to postpone it.’

Gravis quickly listened in on a couple of conversations in the Cultivation Towns, and sure enough, after some minutes, Gravis found out some interesting information.

’So that’s how!’ Gravis thought. ’These tournaments have happened before, but Stella said that she would only marry someone that has a greater Battle-Strength than her. The other Peak Sects have not sent their truly supreme geniuses, which allowed Stella to win every fight against every suitor. The supreme geniuses are probably not interested in a partner.’

Gravis’ eyes shone coldly. ’However, how long will that keep going? How long until a truly powerful disciple appears? How long until the Nine Elements Sect will weaken Stella with some poison? At some point, they will run out of patience.’

’From what I’ve heard, Stella is a Peak Immortal King right now. She probably had to rush her Cultivation so that no other Immortal King has the Realm advantage over her.’

Gravis sneered. ’However, the Nine Elements Sect made a horrible mistake. They even allowed the public to enter the tournament. People would think that the Nine Elements Sect is so generous that they would even allow an unknown Cultivator to have a chance to receive the Holy Maiden’s hand.’

’Of course, they know exactly that no free Cultivator could keep up with the resources, Weapon Techniques, and Laws of the other Peak Sects. This is only a publicity stunt.’

Gravis’ eyes narrowed. ’Nine Elements Sect, you have disappointed me. Sure enough, you’re not different from the Sect Alliance. Politics, vanity, deceit. Nothing of value.’

Gravis turned back to the Nine Elements Sect with rage.

’A tournament where only Immortal Kings can enter?’

’That’s not even a challenge.’

’And in the future, I will sort you out, Nine Elements Sect. I’ll kill whomever is behind these orders!’

Chapter 893 - 893 – Preparation

Gravis hadn’t been so angry in a very long time, and he was sure that it wasn’t because of Mortis.

The Nine Elements Sect DARED to suppress Stella!?

The Nine Elements Sect was suppressing the person Gravis loved. Gravis wanted freedom more than anything else, and Stella also knew the Law of Freedom. Suppressing Gravis or his loved ones was one of the worst things that someone could do in Gravis’ mind.

However, Gravis was still clearheaded enough to make rational decisions. He wouldn’t eliminate the entire Sect just because some people with a high status made some horrible decisions. Gravis would only take revenge on those that actually supported this idiotic decision.

"I feel quite a bit of anger coming from you," Mortis’ voice suddenly appeared in Gravis’ mind. "That’s a nice change of pace for once."

Gravis narrowed his eyes. "Your comments are not helping right now," Gravis answered.

"What happened?" Mortis asked neutrally.

Gravis told Mortis everything about what had just happened and his guesses.

"You won’t mind if I make the Nine Elements Sect our enemy?" Gravis asked after telling Mortis everything.

"No," Mortis answered directly. "You obviously have a good enough reason for it. Just because I prefer Joyce doesn’t mean that I dislike Stella. She is still one of the very few beings that I would consider a friend. If you didn’t take revenge, I would be the one that would."

Gravis was relieved when he heard Mortis’ words. Gravis didn’t want to implicate Mortis because of his conflict. He wasn’t like Mortis, who simply didn’t care that much about how his actions affected others. Hearing Mortis’ support only strengthened Gravis’ resolve.

’I need to plan everything out,’ Gravis thought. ’When I win the tournament, the Nine Elements Sect will surely try to twist facts to avoid handing Stella over to me. This means I need to have a way to flee with Stella from the headquarters of the Nine Elements Sect. Luckily, I bought that one emblem from Underworld. Without it, this would be much harder.’

Gravis scratched his chin as he thought. ’The first hurdle will be to appear close to Stella without being noticed. This means that I need to appear more normal. Being able to win against the strongest geniuses in the world with a four-level difference would be too conspicuous. I should increase my Realm first. The Late Major Circulation Immortal King Realm sounds just perfect.’

’I still have 350 years left, which is more than enough. Seems like it’s time to pay another visit to the beast territory.’

A cold gleam appeared in Gravis’ eyes. ’However, this time, it’s not for tempering, but for corpses.’

Gravis teleported away and directly journeyed to the beast territory. It only took him a couple of days.

Just like previous times, Gravis entered the beast territory via the underground. When he met Narcissus again, Gravis exchanged some pleasantries with him and informed him of why Gravis was here.

Narcissus didn’t mind, but he told Gravis that he shouldn’t go against the beast territory in the future. Right now, Gravis was about to consume Peak Immortal Kings, and every Peak Immortal King was important. Usually, it didn’t matter. After all, only other beasts would consume these Peak Immortal Kings, and these other beasts were still in the beasts’ camp.

However, Gravis was a human, and every Peak Immortal King that died to him would be lost.

This gave Gravis pause as he slightly altered his plan.

"Siral," Gravis said as he summoned his Life Ring.

"Yes, Master," Siral answered.

"Go and collect information about High-Level Sects. The beasts are kind enough that they are willing to allow me to consume some of their beasts, and its only right that I should equalize the losses of both sides," Gravis said.

"Understood, Master. What kind of High-Level Sect are you searching for?" Siral asked respectfully.

"The most important criterium is the personality of the Sect Master. You should know by now what kind of people I absolutely despise. The next most important criterium is that they should be from the Nine Elements Sect’s faction. The last criterium is their Realm. They need to be a Peak Immortal King. When you found a fitting Sect, inform me," Gravis ordered.

"Yes, Master," Siral answered.

Siral had already proven to be quite useful to Gravis, but his true worth would only appear when Gravis went through with his grand plan.

Siral was a master in espionage and assassination. He was like a silent, hidden blade that was ready to strike.

Gravis put the Life Ring away and informed Narcissus of his intention. Narcissus said that this was a fair exchange and that everything was fine. Gravis didn’t owe the beasts anything like this.

Gravis had planned to consume two Peak Immortal Kings in the beast territory, but that had changed. Now, he would only consume one.

After entering the beast territory, Gravis quickly searched for some Peak Immortal Kings. However, he didn’t directly choose the first one. While he was already here, he could also search for expensive ore. After all, Gravis needed some powerful weapons.

Because of that, Gravis was searching for a Peak Immortal King that had a metal affinity. Beasts with metal affinities always cultivated near some high-grade ore.

It took about a day, but Gravis found his target.

It was a kind of steel falcon that sat on top of a mountain of ore.

’Four levels, huh?’ Gravis thought. ’The last time I was here, four levels were very difficult to surmount, but now, they are basically nothing.’

’This is not tempering.’

Gravis quickly declared his challenge and waited for all the trees to move away. It was important to give the trees enough time to retreat. After all, they were also Cultivators, basically.

After the trees had left the vicinity, Gravis took out his World Weapon. He didn’t need to keep it hidden inside the beast territory since beasts were not really great at forging. Not even Narcissus would recognize a World Weapon.

The falcon screeched and transformed its body into tough steel. It obviously knew several Battle Laws related to defense. Its level five Law had something to do with wings. Gravis wasn’t entirely sure.

The only thing he was sure of was that the falcon was very, very fast, nearly too fast for Gravis to react.

The falcon had amazing defense and ridiculous speed. Killing something like that would have been very challenging for Gravis in the past.

However, now, everything was different.

The falcon hadn’t expected Gravis to be able to react in time. After all, Gravis was four levels lower than it, and it specialized in speed. If Gravis had warned the falcon of his power, it wouldn’t have attacked him this directly.

Yet, just as stated previously, this was not tempering. There was no reason for Gravis to warn the falcon.

BZZZZ!

Gravis’ saber crackled violently with Divine Lightning as he slashed down.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The explosion was gigantic as it destroyed thousands of kilometers of the surroundings.

This was Lightning Crescent with Divine Lightning.

This attack was not a joke.

Ssshhh!

The sound of wind could be heard as the vacuum was filled again.

The falcon was dead, and Gravis absorbed its Energy.

At the same time, Gravis looked over to the ore mountain and saw that its surface had liquified. His Lightning Crescent had been powerful enough to liquify a considerable portion of the mountain but not powerful enough to completely destroy the matter of the mountain.

This demonstrated that the mountain was of incredible quality.

’This material should be at the Peak Immortal King Realm,’ Gravis thought as he looked at the mountain. ’Not a crazy good help against Immortal Emperors, but more than enough for all Immortal Kings.’

With Gravis’ Law of Perceived Reality, he manipulated the surroundings as he simply pocketed the entire mountain. No beast in the surroundings would notice that the mountain had vanished. They just wouldn’t pay any attention to this area.

Gravis immediately entered the earth to find a good place to reach the next Realm, and after some minutes, Gravis became a Late Major Circulation Immortal King.

One had to remember that a Peak Immortal King had a ton of Energy, more than enough to make Gravis jump two levels.

Wait, but then why did he want a second Peak Immortal King? Hadn’t he already reached his goal?

The answer was obvious.

Gravis obviously wouldn’t enter the Nine Elements Sect with his actual body. In fact, this same body of Gravis’ was already a copy. A second one was currently sitting in Arc’s clearing.

Gravis broke Arc’s emblem and returned to the clearing. Then, he handed over the emblem to his other body. The other body then broke the emblem and went back to the beast territory.

This other body would travel back to the human territory while waiting for Siral to contact him.

Chapter 894 - 894 – Holy Judgment Sect

A couple of weeks later, Siral contacted Gravis again.

"I found a suitable target, Master," Siral said.

"Tell me about the Sect," Gravis answered.

"The Sect is called the Holy Judgment Sect, Master. They are a Sect of Weapon Cultivators that use the Brilliance Element for their support. Most of the Element-related Sects are affiliated with the Nine Elements Sect, and this is one of them."

"What about the Sect’s philosophy?" Gravis asked.

"They act kind and righteous, but in reality, their rules are draconian. They strictly control the movement and actions of their disciples, stopping them from ever betraying them. Apparently, when the Sect had implemented stricter rules in the past, a lot of disciples had left the Sect, weakening it immensely."

"However, instead of lessening the restrictions of the rules, they doubled down. Anyone that enters the Holy Judgment Sect is bound by a Formation Array in their mind, which allows the Sect Elders and Sect Master to kill any disciple from a distance," Siral explained.

"How did you find this Sect?" Gravis asked.

"I entered a couple of assassination strongholds of Underworld and checked the missions, Master. Some of the disciples that managed to escape this restriction by paying a ton of money to the Life Sect to destroy the Formation Arrays in their mind pooled their resources to request a hit on the upper echelon of the Holy Judgment Sect," Siral explained.

Gravis’ eyes gleamed. He needed some money right now.

"What’s the reward?"

"100 million Immortal Stones for the Sect Master and ten million for every Elder. The Elders also act as Vice-Sect Masters, which means that there are five Vice-Sect Masters in total. All of them are in the Late Major Circulation Immortal King Realm. If you kill everyone, you can earn 150 million Immortal Stones, Master."

Gravis nodded. "Meet up with me, Siral."

"Yes, Master," Siral said.

Gravis directly went to the location of the Holy Judgment Sect and inspected their Sect. He wanted to see everything for himself.

With his Law of Perceived Reality, it wasn’t difficult for Gravis to hide his Spirit Sense from everyone below the Immortal Emperor Realm.

When Gravis arrived, he saw a bright and friendly Sect. Everyone was talking politely and with a kind voice with everyone else.

However, Gravis was able to see through the façade of the weaker Cultivators. They were only putting up a front. In reality, they felt afraid and stifled.

Gravis also saw the bottles filled with small parts of Spirits, surrounded by a gigantic Formation Array.

Sure enough, everything that Siral said checked out.

After seeing everything he wanted, Gravis went to the Nine Elements Sect. However, he wasn’t going there to visit it. No, he wanted to visit someone else.

"You said that your stronghold also acts as an assassination stronghold, right?" Gravis asked the bartender of Underworld.

"Yes. Would you like to request a hit?" the bartender asked.

"The opposite. I would like to accept a mission," Gravis said.

The bartender was pleasantly surprised. "No problem. Any missions you are interested in?"

"Killing the upper echelon of the Holy Judgment Sect," Gravis answered.

The bartender inspected Gravis.

Gravis was just a Late Major Circulation Immortal King, and he was intending on taking on one Peak Immortal King and five Late Major Circulation Immortal Kings in the confines of their very home?

That would be very difficult to achieve.

However, the bartender didn’t care. It was Gravis’ decision.

"Alright," the bartender answered. "I put you down for the mission. You have 100 years to accomplish it. Please pay 10% of the mission reward as a contracting fee. If you are successful, you will get the contracting fee back."

This was important since missions would be locked as soon as someone accepted one. Everyone in the world could accept the missions. They didn’t need to be part of Underworld.

This restriction was put in place to stop the Sects from blocking their own missions. Like this, they would be required to pay a ton of money to Underworld every century. Missions like this were worth a lot of money, and a Sect would slowly succumb to such an insane expenditure.

"I will be done in less than a week," Gravis answered evenly as he paid the ten million Immortal Stones. That was nearly all of his money, but not for long.

"Quite a boast," the bartender answered. "I hope you can back that up."

"See you later," Gravis said, directly ending the conversation.

The bartender looked with amusement at Gravis as he left. Obviously, all of this had been done via voice transmission. While Gravis and the bartender had been talking about the death of a High-Rank Sect, the bartender was happily serving customers.

Gravis went back to the Holy Judgment Sect. When he arrived, he saw that Siral was already waiting for him.

"Master," Siral said with a bow.

"Late Major Circulation Immortal King," Gravis said. "Can you do it?"

"Yes, Master," Siral answered.

"Will the assassination serve as tempering for you?" Gravis asked.

"Yes, Master," Siral answered.

"Good," Gravis said with a nod. "Then wait near the southwest of the Holy Judgment Sect. I will lure an Elder out, and you can directly assassinate them. After you’ve finished the assassination, inform me. I will quickly return. You have to hide until then since the Sect Master will come very quickly."

"Yes, Master," Siral said. However, one could hear a slight trembling inside his voice.

This would be Siral’s first tempering experience since he had become Gravis’ servant.

Siral tempered himself by assassinating Cultivators more powerful than him. If the Cultivator survived the first strike, Siral would undoubtedly die, creating a powerful feeling of pressure and nervousness.

It was all or nothing for Siral.

Gravis teleported a couple of times to the southwest and found a Law Comprehension Area with three different Battle Laws for the Brilliance Element. All of these Battle Laws were level four Laws, which made them quite important.

There were some disciples inside the Law Comprehension Area, and it was overlooked by someone at the Mid Major Circulation Immortal King Realm. This person was obviously also a part of the upper echelon. Gravis checked out the person’s aura and compared it to the small pieces of the souls inside the gigantic Formation Array. His soul was not part of them.

Gravis took out his saber.

BANG!

Then, Gravis charged forward and hit the Formation Array that protected the Law Comprehension Areas with all of his physical power.

The Formation Array shook violently, but it still held.

Obviously, Gravis wanted to make it seem like someone was attacking them.

Gravis had already changed his appearance and released the Inferno Element around him while unleashing several Battle Laws of the Inferno Element. This would cloud his own aura and make it seem like he was an Inferno Element Weapon Cultivator.

The overseer retrieved his weapon and quickly spotted Gravis. When he felt Gravis’ Realm, his face whitened, and he quickly informed the Sect that a Late Major Circulation Immortal King was attacking them.

Gravis infused his saber with all of the Inferno-related Laws and unleashed a powerful strike. He had already reforged a normal saber to allow it to absorb the Inferno Element.

BAAAANG! CRK!

A violent explosion occurred, but it wasn’t enough to break the Formation Array. It only cracked. This was an important Law Comprehension Area, and the Formation Array had to be strong enough to buy some time for the Sect’s upper echelon to arrive.

BAAANG! BAAANG! BAAAANG!

After three more attacks, the Formation Array broke, and Gravis charged in.

"I’m finished, Master," Siral transmitted to Gravis with urgency. "One of the Elders is dead."

When Gravis heard that, he knew that he didn’t need to act anymore.

WHOOOOOOM!

Gravis unleashed his Will-Aura, and everyone was suppressed.

BANG!

Then, several bolts of Punishment Lightning left Gravis’ hand as he annihilated everyone inside here. Sure, some innocent disciples were among the people present, but Gravis’ identity was more important than sparing innocent lives.

Gravis immediately left and teleported a couple of times. He had to return to Siral.

After some seconds, Gravis saw with his Spirit Sense what was happening.

Siral was bombarded by attacks from several powerful Cultivators. They constantly shone Brilliance into the surroundings, making it difficult for Siral to escape. Siral was already heavily injured, and he would die in less than a second.

Whooop!

As long as Siral was inside Gravis’ Spirit Sense’s range, he could summon Siral directly into the Life Ring.

The Sect Master and Elders saw that Siral had vanished into thin air and looked with shock at his old location.

WHOOOOOM!

Gravis activated his Will-Aura and suppressed all of them. The Sect Master was just two levels above Gravis. He was helpless in front of him.

BANG!

Gravis unleashed some bolts of Divine Lightning, killing everyone present. He explicitly used Divine Lightning to make it seem like a powerful Immortal Emperor had become angry at the Sect. After all, no Immortal King could possibly know a level six Law. Even if the Nine Elements Sect employed someone that had the level six Law of Time, which was doubtful, they wouldn’t be able to see Gravis’ Realm.

They would only see that someone in disguise had unleashed a level six Law.

Gravis quickly pocketed all the wealth that the dead Sect Master and Elders had dropped after their death.

Then, Gravis retrieved an emblem and directly broke it.

BANG!

Gravis vanished. This had been the emblem that he had bought for 30 million Immortal Stones from Underworld.

Why?

Well.

SHING!

Just two seconds later, a Major Circulation Immortal Emperor from the Nine Elements Sect arrived. They had to protect their Sects, and if they couldn’t, they had to take revenge.

The Immortal Emperor inspected the surroundings and felt the familiar fluctuations of the emblem Gravis had activated.

The Immortal Emperor gritted his teeth.

"Underworld!" he said quietly to himself with seething rage.

Chapter 895 - 895 – Senior Judge

"What do you mean redacted!?" a young man with black hair shouted. He wore black robes, and his aura was hidden.

"As I’ve said, the name of the person that accepted the mission is redacted," a young girl with white hair said nervously. She appeared fearful and nervous in front of this person.

"How can it be reacted!? Do you know who I am!?" the man shouted with rage as his hand slammed on the table. The table that had been made out of Immortal King materials was pulverized in the process.

"I-I’m sorry," the girl said with a quivering voice. "I can’t do anything about it. Sir needs to go to the assassination stronghold that came into contact with the mission taker to investigate."

"I’m a Senior Judge!" the man shouted in anger, making the girl flinch. "I’m the highest-ranked person for investigations in Underworld! I’m personally looking into this case since the circumstances around the mission have been suspicious! I have the highest form of clearance in Underworld, except for the Elders!"

"Sir, I’m really sorry, but I just can’t tell you," the girl said with fear. "None of us know who accepted the mission. You can only find the answer from the assassination stronghold that came into contact with the mission taker."

The man gritted his teeth. He had never been so humiliated! He had been in Underworld for over 150,000 years, and he had climbed to the highest position for internal affairs. He was the person that assigned the tasks to everyone else when something didn’t seem right with a mission.

Underworld had several agreements with the Peak Sects, and these agreements had to be upheld. However, some greedy individuals might try to go against these agreements because of profit. They might give Underworld cleverly disguised fake currency or give wrong information to Underworld regarding a mission, which would end with people of Underworld dying.

This person was at the highest rank of the investigation department.

Additionally, a lesser-known fact, he was also a double agent of the Nine Elements Sect.

Someone had killed the upper echelon of a High-Tier Sect under the Nine Elements Sect’s banner. Because of that, this hidden ace of the Nine Elements Sect, this double agent, became active. He had to find the person that accepted this mission and inform the Nine Elements Sect!

However, he, who had the highest authority, couldn’t find the information in the central archives.

Intelligence and information were some of the most important things for Underworld. The entire survival of the organization hinged on being able to keep secrets. After all, if the Peak Sects found out the locations of the major strongholds and the headquarters, Underworld might be eradicated.

Because of that, information was stored in three differently ranked locations.

The lowest rank was the local stronghold. Everything that happened in this stronghold would be archived locally so that the investigation department could verify the information.

The next higher-ranked information hub was the central archives.

The central archives gathered all the information of the continent they were on in one spot. There were five such archives, each corresponding to one area that one Peak Sect ruled over.

Someone like this Senior Judge never bothered to go to the local strongholds. His clearance was incredibly high, and he always visited the central archives. He could access everything in the central archives.

Right now, this Senior Judge was in the central archive responsible for the area that the Nine Elements Sect ruled over.

However, this central archive didn’t have the information!

Someone had definitely messed up! It was mandatory to give the information to the central archives! They had to have the information!

The Senior Judge swore that he would kill whoever broke these rules! After he found out which stronghold gave out this assassination mission, he would kill the master of that stronghold! This person had broken the rules of Underworld!

Also, it made the Senior Judge’s work more bothersome, which was probably the bigger reason for his anger.

"Fine!" the man shouted as he narrowed his eyes. "Which stronghold gave out the mission?"

"Let me look, sir," the girl said as she interacted with the Formation Array.

After two seconds, for whatever reason, the girl started crying.

The man looked with annoyance at the girl for several seconds.

"So? Spit it out!" he said.

"I-It’s," she said as she stuttered.

"Speak in clear words!" the man shouted.

"I-I," the girl stammered. "It-It’s, It’s... redacted..."

"HOW CAN THAT ALSO BE REDACTED!?" the guy immediately shouted as the room shook. This was a Late Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor, and his aura couldn’t be underestimated. "Are you trying to provoke me!?"

The girl broke down in tears as she fell to her knees. "I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!" she stammered as she begged in tears.

The Senior Judge became even more enraged.

That the name of the mission taker was redacted could be assigned to a fuck-up, but the fact that the stronghold was also redacted held an entirely different meaning.

The reason for that was that the name of the mission taker was provided by the stronghold, while the name of the stronghold was provided by the central archives. The central archives saw where the transmission came from and assigned the name of the stronghold to that piece of information.

The Senior Judge had been in Underworld for more than a day, obviously, and he knew exactly what this meant.

’An Insurance Stronghold!’ he thought as he gritted his teeth. ’That’s the only explanation that would make sense! All the information from Insurance Strongholds gets directly transferred to the Hivemind instead of the central archives. The Hivemind then deletes all the information that’s confidential and sends it to the relevant central archives.’

’The central archives don’t have the information. Even if I search the Spirits of everyone in this place, I won’t find anything relevant. Additionally, the Insurance Strongholds are the third-highest ranked secret in Underworld, just behind the location of the headquarters and the Keeper’s identity. Not even I can find out the location of Insurance Strongholds!’ the Senior Judge thought with frustration.

’I can’t find out anything here. I can’t even go to the local stronghold since I don’t know where it is,’ the man thought with frustration.

’This means I can only go to the Hivemind.’

"Stop crying and stand up!" the man shouted at the crying girl. "Killing you is not worth getting investigated over."

The girl slowly calmed down as she followed the man’s orders. She stood up, but her body was still shaking in fear.

"If you find out anything relevant to this mission, inform me. You know how to find me," the man said.

"Y-Yes, sir," the girl said.

SHING!

Then, the Senior Judge directly teleported away.

After arriving at a secluded location, the man narrowed his eyes as he took out his insignia that showed that he was a Senior Judge.

For some seconds, he looked at it with narrowed eyes.

’It’s a risk, but I have been a perfect member of Underworld for over 150,000 years. The chances of failure should be low.’

’I never went to the Hivemind. Seems like today will be my first time,’ the guy thought.

The Hivemind was inside the headquarters of Underworld. Thus, nearly no one knew where it was. However, going there was easier than finding it.

The highest members of Underworld could use their insignia to directly teleport to the Hivemind. The insignia worked just like Arc’s emblem.

Why was the headquarters of Underworld so important?

Because this was the location of the elders that made all the major decisions in Underworld. There were no soldiers or clerks in there. The entire headquarter had less than ten people inside it, but these ten people were the absolute core of Underworld. If they died, Underworld would cease to exist.

The headquarters was also the location of the Keeper.

The Keeper was the person that controlled access to the most powerful treasures, most powerful pieces of information, and the entire wealth of Underworld. He was the controller of everything.

If Underworld were a Sect, this person would be the Sect Master or Ancestor of the Sect.

He was the person in charge.

The entire Hivemind was operated by this one person. No one had access to the Hivemind other than him.

What exactly was the Hivemind?

It was the Spirit of the Keeper. All the information from Underworld would be sent to the central archives, and they sent everything to the Keeper.

So, if someone wanted to sneak into the Hivemind, they would need to sneak into the Keeper’s Spirit. Of course, something like that was impossible.

This meant that if this Senior Judge wanted to access the Hivemind, he would need to teleport to the headquarters and talk with the Keeper directly.

Someone like the Keeper was an unfathomable existence, probably on the same level as an Ancestor from a Peak Sect.

’I need to prepare several things to not elicit suspicion,’ the Senior Judge thought. ’There are several suspicious pieces of information about this mission. I don’t even need to lie. I’m fully in my right to investigate this mission.’

The Senior Judge nodded. Then, he broke off a part of his Spirit and put it in the insignia. After that, he cut his finger and infused the insignia with his blood. Lastly, he created several Formation Arrays.

SHING!

And after several minutes, the Senior Judge vanished.

He had gone to the headquarters of Underworld.

And he would never come out again.

Chapter 896 - 896 – Everything's Prepared

Gravis waited for a couple of days until everything calmed down. The upper echelon of a High-Tier Sect had been killed, and this was something significant. Something like this happened very rarely in this world.

After a couple of days, Gravis went back to the Nine Elements Sect. It was impossible for the Nine Elements Sect to find out that he had been the one that attacked the High-Tier Sect.

Sure enough, even when Gravis came close to the area of the Nine Elements Sect, nothing happened.

After disguising himself with the Law of Perceived Reality, he entered the tavern of Underworld and ordered a drink.

"It seems like I have underestimated your background," the bartender transmitted to Gravis as he cheerfully served Gravis some wine.

Gravis drank the cup and did some superficial small talk with the bartender.

"Oh?" Gravis transmitted back.

"The Nine Elements Sect found traces of Divine Lightning in the Holy Judgment Sect," the bartender transmitted. "It seems like you have a powerful and mysterious person behind you. Cultivators that know a level six Law are rare and extremely powerful. Was this also the reason why you weren’t afraid when you confronted me? Has your teacher always protected you in secret?"

Gravis only grinned. "I won’t elaborate," he transmitted back.

"It doesn’t matter," the bartender transmitted. "If your teacher were hostile to Underworld, this stronghold would have already ceased to exist. My guess is that they will soon ascend and want to help you gather resources for the future when they are no longer there. Quite thoughtful."

"As I’ve said, I won’t elaborate," Gravis transmitted back.

"Fine, keep your secrets," the bartender transmitted with some amusement.

Gravis finished the wine, and before he knew it, 160 million Immortal Stones had already appeared inside his Spirit Space. Sure enough, the wine he had just drunk was worth a lot of money.

"I want three more of the emblems I bought recently," Gravis transmitted.

"You know where you can get them," the bartender transmitted.

"I do, but can I?" Gravis transmitted with a silent smirk.

"Quite sharp," the bartender answered. "Yes, these are high-quality goods, and you can’t just buy them even if you have the money. I wanted to make you travel for nothing, but it seems like you have seen through my trick."

"Here’s your egg salad!" the bartender shouted cheerfully as he put a plate filled with egg salad in front of Gravis.

"Thanks," Gravis said.

Then, he ate the egg salad, but it tasted very bland. It seemed like this was the bartender’s way of taking revenge for Gravis ruining his fun.

After eating the egg salad, Gravis left the tavern and teleported away.

Inside his Spirit Space was another emblem. Obviously, this emblem was the authorization for purchasing the three other emblems.

Sadly, Gravis didn’t get a discount this time. This meant that Gravis would have to pay a total of 150 million Immortal stones for the three emblems. That was the entire reward money for the mission.

However, Gravis also earned around 60 million from the remains of the Sect Master and the five elders of the Holy Judgment Sect. He also received quite a lot of Peak Immortal King ore.

This meant that Gravis now had over 100 million Immortal Stones again, which should be enough for his plans.

Gravis went to the restaurant again, but this time, he had to wait for two hours for his food. They probably had to run several security checks for such a high-value trade.

However, in the end, Gravis got his three emblems and left the restaurant again.

Why did Gravis buy three?

Because he wanted to elicit the least amount of suspicion as possible from the Nine Elements Sect.

If the Nine Elements Sect was fine with Gravis taking away their Holy Maiden the official way, everything would be fine. In that case, Gravis wouldn’t need these emblems.

However, if the Nine Elements Sect tried to find a way to deny Gravis, he would need to flee with Stella.

Sure, Gravis could pull Stella into his Life Ring, but if he unveiled that he also had a Life Ring, the Life Sect would also begin searching for Gravis. Offending one Peak Sect was one thing. This would only be a personal enmity. However, if he offended two of them at once, four of the Peak Sects might become involved. The only Sect that would not involve itself would be the Purist Sect due to their xenophobic and arrogant personality.

Obviously, if Gravis retrieved Stella by force, Gravis couldn’t stay in the northern continent anymore. Major Circulation Immortal Emperors would search for him, and Gravis wasn’t powerful enough to hide from them if they really put their minds to finding him. As long as they didn’t pay any attention to him, everything would be fine, but as soon as they actively searched for him, his Law of Perceived Reality would become useless.

The All-Matter Sect obviously had a very close relationship with the Nine Elements Sect since both of them were on the northern continent. The All-Matter Sect would help the Nine Elements Sect in searching for Gravis.

The Primordial Force Sect in the western continent wouldn’t get involved, but if they accidentally found Gravis, they might still hand him over.

Gravis wouldn’t even try to enter the eastern continent. The Purist Sect was, just as the name implied, very pure and didn’t accept anyone else without a very good reason. Every person not of the Purist Sect would be put under intense scrutiny if they wanted to enter the eastern continent.

This only left Gravis with the southern continent, which was under the rule of the Life Sect. The Life Sect already knew that Gravis had a beast body, and they didn’t mind. On top of that, they knew a little bit about his Battle-Strength. The Life Sect would keep Gravis’ location a secret from the other Sects as long as he proved useful.

So, if Gravis used the Life Ring, his only safe place in the human world would be compromised. If he used it, Gravis would have no other choice but to retreat to the beast territory and stay there until he became nearly unrivaled in the world. Obviously, Gravis didn’t like that. He was a human, and he liked to stay among humans.

Additionally, Stella would probably also want to live among humans.

But wait, then Gravis would only need two emblems. So, why did he buy three?

If one put themselves into the position of the Nine Elements Sect, what would one do in such a situation?

Imagine one wouldn’t be able to find Gravis or the Holy Maiden anywhere. How would one get Gravis or the Holy Maiden to show themselves?

Use something to force them out of hiding, something that either one of them needed desperately.

What would one use?

Liam, Stella’s brother.

The Nine Elements Sect knew that Stella and Liam were very close, so if they took Liam hostage, they would have a chance of pulling Stella out of hiding.

Gravis obviously had already anticipated something like that. Because of that, if the Nine Elements Sect didn’t keep their word, Gravis would not only flee with Stella but also with Liam.

That’s why Gravis needed three emblems.

’Everything’s prepared. I’m now at the Late Major Circulation Immortal King Realm, and I have three emblems. I have a second body in Arc’s clearing that’s also in the Late Major Circulation Immortal King Realm. So, even if this body dies here, I won’t die. All my valuables except for one saber and the three emblems are with my body in Arc’s clearing.’

’However, I want to avoid that this body dies. Fleeing with the emblems from Underworld is still in the Realm of something normal, but if this body dies, I would be at immense risk. If the Nine Elements Sect has a way to check if my Spirit died, they would know that I am still alive, and this would throw up uncomfortable questions.’

’Additionally, even if they didn’t have such a way, if I were spotted by anyone, they would still realize that I’m still alive. People are afraid of death, and if they think that I hide some secret about true immortality or something, all humans in the world will try to hunt me down.’

’Anyway, now that I have more ore, I can create a shield and create a defensive Weapon Technique for my shield by using the Law of Magma. I need to hide my insane Battle-Strength as much as possible, which means that I need to hide a lot of my powers behind powerful Weapon Techniques.’

After finishing his thought, Gravis broke Arc’s emblem in a hidden location and waited for the tournament to begin.

350 years passed by in a flash.

Chapter 897 - 897 – Elimination

Gravis traveled to the north of the Nine Elements Sect. The tournament would be held in a gigantic arena, 50,000 kilometers wide at the north of the Nine Elements Sect. This arena was reserved explicitly for fights amongst Major Circulation Immortal Kings and Peak Immortal Kings.

Sadly, even though the Nine Elements Sect had shown a lot of splendor with their incredibly expensive chains, the arena was nothing more than a big crater without any life. Not even the Nine Elements Sect could waste so many resources to fill such an arena with powerful materials.

Sure enough, the tournament was popular. Gravis already saw over 10,000 Peak Immortal Kings before the arena. How long would a tournament even take if so many people fought?

Gravis noticed a Mid Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor standing to the side of the crowd, wearing the typical robes of the Nine Elements Sect. The robe had the colors of all the Elements, and for some reason, all the different colors didn’t clash with each other.

Gravis arrived in front of the Immortal Emperor under the scrutinizing gazes of the other Immortal Kings. Nearly all of them scoffed in disdain when they felt that Gravis was only a Late Major Circulation Immortal King. What chances could someone so weak have?

The Immortal Emperor looked at Gravis, but he was so bored and annoyed that he didn’t even inspect Gravis. He simply pointed to the others.

Gravis took it as a sign that he should go with the others and complied. After walking over to the others, a wide, empty area formed around Gravis. Apparently, none of the Immortal Kings wanted to associate with this Late Major Circulation Immortal King.

This reminded Gravis of the time he joined the entrance exam for the Elemental Guilds in the lower world. Back then, such an empty area had also formed around him.

However, the reasons couldn’t be any different.

Usually, these Immortal Kings weren’t so arrogant that they wouldn’t even acknowledge a Late Major Circulation Immortal King, but this situation was different from usual.

Why was Gravis here?

To gain fame, obviously.

He had to know that he was weaker than anyone else but still decided to come here. He probably wanted to boast to his friends that he had taken part in the tournament for the Holy Maiden’s hand.

What a poser!

Gravis inspected the different Immortal Kings with his hidden Spirit Sense and noticed something peculiar.

’There’s no one from the High-Rank Sects or Peak Sects,’ Gravis thought. ’This means that this is probably some kind of preliminary tournament for Cultivators that are not associated with any powerful Sect. There will probably be a second one with the best from this tournament and the high-ranking Sects.’

It took a couple of days until everything started. During that time, Gravis heard tons of people talking bad about him behind his back. However, Gravis didn’t care. He could kill all these Immortal Kings with a thought. The opinions of ants were irrelevant.

"Alright, everyone pay attention," the Immortal Emperor said.

All the Immortal Kings stopped what they were doing and looked at the Immortal Emperor.

"Having so many people fight takes way too long," the Immortal Emperor said with annoyance. "Because of that, I will immediately disqualify everyone that will have zero chance in the actual tournament."

The Immortal Kings listened closely but were confused. How could the Immortal Emperor judge their Battle-Strength?

"Anyone that doesn’t have a Will-Aura on the level of an Immortal Emperor, get out," the Immortal Emperor said.

Silence.

A Will-Aura on the level of an Immortal Emperor? That wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t impossible.

"Sir, this criter- AH!"

One Immortal King spoke up, but some sort of force threw him into the horizon. Obviously, the Immortal Emperor was not patient.

"You can either leave with some dignity or leave like that person," the Immortal Emperor said.

"But sir- AH!"

The same thing repeated itself.

"You have five seconds," the Immortal Emperor said.

The ones that didn’t fulfill the requirement shook and left in droves.

From the nearly 15,000 Peak Immortal Kings, only around 6,000 remained.

"AH!"

Around 150 people were thrown into the horizon.

Apparently, some people thought that they could stay hidden in the crowd.

The Immortal Emperor looked at the gathered people and frowned. "Still too many," he said.

The Immortal Kings shook. What would it be this time?

"Anyone that doesn’t know a level five Law, get out!"

Nobody moved.

The Immortal Emperor’s frown deepened. "I will repeat myself. Anyone that doesn’t have a level five Law, get out! If you partake in the tournament, and I don’t see you using one, I will kill you for wasting my time."

"But sir-"

SHING!

This time, the person wasn’t thrown into the distance but killed directly.

"Don’t waste my time," the Immortal Emperor said coldly.

Immediately, a ton of Immortal Kings left. Many Peak Immortal Kings already knew level five Laws, but it wasn’t common.

From the 6,000 Immortal Kings, around 5,000 left. Now, there were only 1,000 left.

In other higher worlds, finding Immortal Kings that knew level five Laws was incredibly rare. These would normally be the most powerful geniuses in the world!

However, in this world, a thousand Immortal Kings that weren’t even associated with any powerful Sect had already comprehended level five Laws, and these people were only a small part of the world.

This was truly the most powerful higher world in the Cosmos. Even some people without any influential background were as powerful as the peak geniuses in other higher worlds.

The Immortal Emperor seemed to be fine with that number and finally started to inspect the different candidates. He had to check if someone had snuck past him.

His Spirit Sense went over every Immortal King, but it halted when it came to Gravis.

The other Immortal Kings sneered. Finally, this fame-seeking idiot would get what he deserved. With the Immortal Emperor’s temperament, Gravis wouldn’t be able to leave alive.

When the Immortal Emperor saw Gravis, he nearly attacked him.

A Late Major Circulation Immortal Emperor? What is this nonsense!

However, when the Immortal Emperor inspected Gravis’ Will-Aura, he became shocked.

Gravis’ Will-Aura was just as powerful as his! This meant that Gravis had the Will-Aura of a Late Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor.

That was beyond impressive!

Because of that, the Immortal Emperor decided to let Gravis stay.

The reason why the Will-Aura of every participant had to be on the level of an Immortal Emperor’s was because of the level suppression. There were two levels between Peak Immortal King and Early Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor. This meant that anyone with the Will-Aura of a Peak Immortal King would be suppressed by over 60%. There was no way one could win in a fight like that.

There were also two levels between Late Major Circulation Immortal King and Peak Immortal King. However, since Gravis’ Will-Aura was two levels higher than his opponents’, the level suppression would be perfectly nullified. Effectively, Gravis’ Will-Aura was just as powerful as everyone else. This gave him a fighting chance in the tournament.

The only issue was that Gravis’ physical strength and Energy would be much lower, but the Immortal Emperor knew that someone with such a powerful Will-Aura had to have an outstanding Battle-Strength.

"Alright, everything looks fine," the Immortal Emperor said.

The Immortal Kings felt shocked.

"What about that guy?" one Immortal King asked as he pointed at Gravis.

"What about him?" the Immortal Emperor asked with annoyance.

"He’s only a Late Major Circulation Immortal King!" the Immortal King said.

Gravis didn’t care. It was like the guy didn’t even exist to him.

"So?" the Immortal Emperor asked.

"But- AH!"

And the poor guy was thrown into the horizon.

"Anyone else interested in wasting my time?" the Immortal Emperor asked.

Everyone else remained silent. However, deep inside, all of them felt like this was unfair! Why was this weak Late Major Circulation Immortal King allowed to participate!? Was his daddy in the Nine Elements Sect!?

"You and you," the Immortal Emperor said as he pointed at Gravis and at a red-haired man. "Go fight!"

The Immortal King that had been pointed out sneered at Gravis. It seemed like he was the one that got the rewarding task of showing this fame-seeker what true power was.

Gravis flew over to the arena, and the Immortal King followed.

"Start," the Immortal Emperor said before they even settled down. It seemed like he was rather impatient.

"Do you regre-"

WHOOOOOOM!

Silence.

The eyes of the Immortal Kings widened in shock while the Immortal Emperor’s eyes shone.

Gravis would hide his Battle-Strength, but only to a certain extent. Because of that, he still unleashed a level four Law.

However, with Gravis’ Will-Aura, this level four Law showed a tremendous effect.

It was the level four Law of Major Suppression. The Law of Major Suppression had been upgraded to the power of a level five Law thanks to the Law of Perceived Reality, but Gravis kept it at level four. Sadly, since Mortis wasn’t here, Gravis couldn’t use the power of his Avatar, but that didn’t matter.

The level four Law of Major Suppression still had an amazing effect.

In fact, the Immortal King was suppressed by over 60%!

Yet, the speed and power of the Immortal King were still leagues above a normal Late Major Circulation Immortal King’s. After all, his body and Energy were 16 times as powerful.

Of course, if Gravis also activated the Law of Apathy, the Law of Control, the Law of Death, and the Law of the Dead World, this poor guy wouldn’t even be able to lift a finger, but Gravis didn’t want to overdo it.

He had to appear amazing but normal.

The Immortal King took a deep breath. "It seems like-"

SHING!

Gravis used the Law of Lightning’s Speed and Lightning’s Power to shoot forward with a lot of speed. At the same time, he retrieved the saber that he carried on his back. Usually, Gravis kept his weapons in his Spirit Space, but this time, he carried a saber and a shield on his back. After all, he had to appear normal, and Weapon Cultivators always carried their weapons on their bodies.

The guy had let down his guard, and Gravis stopped just a meter in front of him, his saber on the Immortal King’s neck.

Gravis’ speed was impressive. The Immortal Emperor realized that this guy might actually be able to fight two levels above himself.

That was a rare and valuable genius!

How was he not part of a Sect yet!?

The Immortal King looked with shock at Gravis.

"You lost," Gravis said his first words since arriving here.

"Kid!" the Immortal Emperor shouted from outside the arena.

"Do you want to join my Nine Elements Sect?"

Chapter 898 - 898 – End Of The Preliminary Tournament

"No, thank you, Senior," Gravis said evenly.

The Immortal Kings were shocked. An Immortal Emperor had invited Gravis personally, but he declined! What gall!

"Why not?" the Immortal Emperor asked.

"Let me counter that question with a question of my own," Gravis said with a polite smile. "Would I get better benefits if I joined the Nine Elements Sect after winning this tournament?"

The Immortal Kings felt that Gravis was arrogant. Winning? He wished! He had only won because his enemy had taken him lightly!

Meanwhile, the Immortal Emperor smiled for the first time. "Oh, I see. Yes, you would," he said. Gravis had only asked a question, but the Immortal Emperor immediately assigned an intent to Gravis’ question.

In the Immortal Emperor’s mind, Gravis wanted to win the tournament to directly join the Nine Elements Sect with a higher standing. He sure was smart!

Because of that, the Immortal Emperor stopped questioning Gravis and let the tournament continue.

Obviously, Gravis wouldn’t join the Nine Elements Sect.

The other Immortal Kings still ignored Gravis while the fights continued. Most of the fights were intense and took several minutes. One had to remember that Immortal Kings moved with insane speeds. A fight that took a couple of minutes was already incredibly long for Immortal Kings.

Fortunately, thanks to the Immortal Emperor’s impatient mindset, the fights were constantly happening without any downtime. Because of that, in only a single day, over 500 fights had been finished.

Now, there were only around 600 Immortal Kings left.

The second round of fighting commenced immediately, and Gravis was the first again.

However, this fight was very similar to the first one. Apparently, this Immortal King had also taken Gravis lightly. He had sworn that he wouldn’t make the same mistake, but as soon as he entered the arena, he just couldn’t help himself.

He just felt so confident and sure of himself. It was like he was in full control.

Of course, this was the effect of Gravis’ Law of Control and Safety. The Immortal Emperor wouldn’t be able to notice these Laws, and Gravis wanted to appear as low-key as possible. He decided that he would win his first couple of fights like this, making it appear like the enemy had underestimated him.

Instead of seeing Gravis’ power, the other Immortal Kings only grew angrier. This guy had such insane luck! Two Immortal Kings in a row had taken him lightly!

They felt that it was unfair that Gravis was still in the tournament. They had to fight with everything they got, while Gravis got two easy victories!

This was so unfair!

It took around half a day for the second round to end, and the third one began.

Gravis was the first one again, but just like the previous two times, the Immortal King just couldn’t take him seriously. He just couldn’t help underestimating Gravis.

Because of that, this fight also ended very quickly.

The Immortal Kings were seething in anger. What was this dogshit luck!? Did he suck Heaven’s dick or something!?

Nearly all the Immortal Kings felt bloodlust as they saw Gravis return to them. They would humiliate him thoroughly to vent their anger! This weakling didn’t deserve to stand amongst them!

The third round of fighting only took six hours.

Now, only 153 Immortal Kings were left.

From the initial 16,000, less than 1% were left. The area felt barren now.

"Kid, don’t stress your luck," the Immortal Emperor transmitted to Gravis. "Your previous opponents took you lightly, but that won’t continue. Leave now while you still can. Your result in this tournament is already impressive and can grant you amazing benefits in the Nine Elements Sect. Don’t ruin it with a loss."

Obviously, the Immortal Emperor wanted to stop Gravis from humiliating himself.

"I haven’t even truly fought yet," Gravis answered with a voice transmission. "I want to show what I really got!"

The Immortal Emperor frowned, but he had to agree with Gravis. It was possible that Gravis had far more power hidden away.

The fourth round began, and Gravis was the first one yet again.

However, this time, Gravis didn’t use his Law of Control and Safety. Now, it was time to show that he was actually powerful.

Gravis used his Law of Suppression and then clashed with the opponent.

As soon as the first actual clash happened, the Immortal Kings felt shocked.

Gravis was pushing the Immortal King back!

Gravis had to have amazing physical power!

In fact, Gravis was holding his physical power back.

One had to remember that Gravis had a beast body. A beast’s body was about as powerful as the body of an average Cultivator four levels above the beast. If Gravis actually unleashed his true physical power, the Immortal King would be thrown into the horizon.

Because of that, Gravis decided to only show that his body was able to jump two levels. Stella had a comparably powerful body, which proved that this was possible for a human.

However, with only that, the clash would have been equal. Yet, Gravis had won the clash.

That was because of his Law of Suppression.

The fight continued for a couple of seconds, with Gravis always taking the initiative. He never stopped his barrage of attacks.

After a while, his opponent used his level five Law.

However, Gravis didn’t unleash his Law of Magma in return.

Instead, he unveiled that he knew the Major Law of the Elements by using several different Elements.

The Immortal Emperor almost couldn’t control himself. This guy was so powerful, and he even knew the Major Law of the Elements? He was perfect for the Nine Elements Sect! They had to recruit him!

After Gravis showed his Major Law of the Elements, the fight quickly ended.

Gravis unleashed the Law of Shadow’s Darkness, Shadow Movement, and Shadow’s Subtlety.

In an instant, Gravis had already appeared behind the Immortal King and lightly stabbed his saber into the opponent’s neck. The opponent wouldn’t die like this, but it would be obvious that Gravis had won the fight.

Silence.

All the anger of the Immortal Kings vanished.

This Late Major Circulation Immortal King was insanely powerful!

The eyes of the Immortal Emperor shone with greed. He knew that he would be rewarded handsomely if he recruited such a genius! This was a hidden diamond! With such a Battle-Strength, this Immortal King could directly enter the ranks of the Core Disciples!

The Immortal Emperor immediately contacted one of the Vice-Sect Masters, and the Vice-Sect Master also started watching Gravis.

A Vice-Sect Master was already in the Major Circulation Immortal Emperor Realm, but Gravis kept his Law of Perceived Reality active at all times. As long as no one suspected that he was a beast, they wouldn’t be able to see his beast body.

Of course, nobody suspected that Gravis was a beast. After all, his Will-Aura was incredibly powerful, and he obviously had a Spirit. They didn’t even think of the possibility that Gravis might be a beast.

The Vice-Sect Master wanted to see how far Gravis could go before he would recruit him.

So, the tournament continued.

The rounds took less and less time, and in just a short few hours, the next round started. Only around 70 Immortal Kings remained. This was less than half.

Why?

Because sometimes, a contestant accidentally killed their opponent. This would disqualify them immediately.

The humans would not waste these rare talents for a simple tournament. After all, they still had to contend with the beasts.

The next round started, and when Gravis saw his opponent, he took out his saber.

BZZZ!

Some Punishment Lightning appeared as Gravis slightly reforged his saber. The two watching Immortal Emperors were elated! This guy also knew Matter Laws and could forge!

In the next fight, Gravis used his Law of Storm’s Pressure, Storm’s Power, Storm’s Efficiency, and Storm’s Mass to create a restrictive field around the opponent. Then, Gravis infused his saber with the Laws of Frost’s Infusion, Frost’s Concentration, Frost’s Power, and Frost’s Efficiency. Lastly, he used the Laws of Lightning’s Speed and Lightning’s Power to elevate his speed.

With everything put together, Gravis had now the speed advantage over his opponent. Additionally, his saber was now also more powerful.

The opponent barely blocked Gravis’ attacks, but he saw that his own sword was quivering dangerously. If this continued, his sword would break, and with it, his Avatar!

So, the opponent conceded.

’So many Elemental Battle Laws!’ the Vice-Sect Master thought. ’He might actually have a chance at becoming the Holy Son of the Nine Elements Sect!’

The Holy Son or Holy Daughter of the Nine Elements Sect was the Cultivator with the most powerful Battle-Strength. There was only one Holy Son or Holy Daughter present in the Nine Elements Sect. Their Holy Daughter would soon leave, which meant that the spot would be opened.

Finding an unaffiliated Cultivator with so many Elemental Laws that was so powerful that he could directly become the Holy Son of the Sect was far beyond ordinary. It was even far beyond very rare!

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and Immortal Emperors had very long lives!

They had to recruit Gravis, no matter what!

The round quickly finished, and only 30 Cultivators were left.

"That’s enough," the Immortal Emperor spoke. "We don’t have to eliminate everyone. We only need to reduce the number of participants to below 50 for the actual tournament."

"Congratulations to everyone. You qualified for the real tournament!" the Immortal Emperor said with a smile.

The Immortal Kings were elated. Every fight had been difficult, and they could finally relax!

They did it!

"You are also all cordially invited into the Nine Elements Sect as Elite Disciples!" the Immortal Emperor said with a smile.

The Immortal Kings were shocked and elated! They could directly become Elite Disciples!

Most of the candidates had joined specifically for that reason. They weren’t interested in the Holy Daughter’s hand. They were interested in directly becoming Elite Disciples. Like this, they wouldn’t need to slowly climb the ladder.

Nearly all of them accepted the invitation happily.

A lot of the Immortal Kings also wanted to get to know Gravis, but he ignored them.

Now, the Immortal Kings regretted their earlier disregard for Gravis.

If they had been nice, would Gravis acknowledge them?

Sadly, the lives of Cultivators were often filled with regret, and this was just one of these situations.

They simply had to deal with the consequences.

"We want to invite you as a Holy Son Candidate," the Immortal Emperor spoke to Gravis.

The Immortal Kings were shocked when they heard that.

A Holy Son Candidate? These people were the absolute peak geniuses of the entire world!

They were about to witness history in the making!

Chapter 899 - 899 – Vice-Sect Master

"Is that something you can decide?" Gravis asked.

"No, but I can," an unknown voice said.

SHING!

Someone new arrived beside the Immortal Emperor of the Nine Elements Sect. The Immortal Emperor immediately bowed to the second person.

The new person was an old man with white hair. He had a long beard, and his eyes were kind. If one didn’t know any better, one would assume that this was a very kind grandpa.

Gravis immediately noticed why this old man seemed so approachable. ’The Law of Empathy, eh?’ Gravis thought. ’So, it’s not a coincidence that Stella knows the Law of Empathy. A second person from the Nine Elements Sect also knows it, which probably means that the Law Comprehension Area for the Law of Empathy is under the control of the Nine Elements Sect.’

"With whom do I have the pleasure?" Gravis asked with a polite smile.

"I’m Vice-Sect Master Li," the old man said with a smile. "I have seen your battles, and I am willing to invite you as a Holy Son Candidate."

The surrounding Immortal Kings became shocked. A Vice-Sect Master of the Nine Elements Sect! This meant that this person was a Major Circulation Immortal Emperor! Except for the Ancestors and Sect Masters of the other Peak Sects, this was one of the most powerful people in the world! What an honor to see one with their own eyes!

"I thank you deeply for your invitation," Gravis said politely, "but I first want to finish the tournament before I decide if I want to join or not."

The old man sighed. "Young man, I don’t think that’s a very good idea."

"Why not?" Gravis asked.

"Because the actual tournament will have geniuses from other Peak Sects," the old man explained. "Even among the candidates here, there are two with a Will-Aura at the level of a Mid Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor. If you fight them, even with your Law of Major Suppression, you won’t be able to suppress your opponent. At that point, you will inevitably lose."

"I don’t doubt that you can fight two levels above yourself, but you can’t forget that there is no one left in this tournament that can’t also fight one level above themselves. In essence, you would need to jump three levels."

Gravis nodded. "However, I still want to try. If I lose, I lose. I see no problem with that. Losing is part of becoming more powerful."

The Immortal Kings and the Immortal Emperor were surprised. It was not easy to admit something like that. All of them were geniuses, and which genius didn’t have some arrogance and pride in their bones?

Usually, these geniuses built their powers on victory upon victory. Many of them couldn’t even imagine losing, and losing would also be a major humiliation for them.

However, this peak genius didn’t mind losing. This was a rare disposition.

The old man nodded inwardly with praise but didn’t show it. Instead, he showed a bitter smile. "You might not mind losing, but that doesn’t mean that others won’t mind," he explained.

Gravis nodded again with a smile. "I know, but what others mind doesn’t have any bearing on me. I am I. They are they."

Now, many others understood the truth. It wasn’t that Gravis wasn’t prideful, but that Gravis was so incredibly prideful that he saw everyone else’s opinions as irrelevant.

The Immortal Kings didn’t feel good about what Gravis had just said. They were also geniuses, but Gravis didn’t even treat them as humans. To him, their opinions were irrelevant. Many of them took that as a provocation.

’Sure enough, geniuses have their own pride,’ the old man thought with a sigh.

"That mindset is excellent for a solo Cultivator, but you need to change it if you want to join us," the old man said. "You are no longer alone now. From now on, the opinions of your fellow Sect Members are also important."

Gravis only smiled. "I’m not part of the Nine Elements Sect yet," he said. The old man furrowed his brows, but Gravis continued speaking. "Also, who says that I’m going to lose?"

The old man slightly shook his head while the Immortal Emperor looked with a dissatisfied expression at Gravis. "I have seen your power, and I’m telling you that you’re not powerful enough. I have seen what you can do, and while you are indeed incredibly powerful, you lack in your Realm."

"So, you believe you have seen my full power?" Gravis asked with a smirk.

The Immortal Kings took a deep breath. Yes, Gravis was powerful, but this was a Vice-Sect Master of one of the most powerful Sects in the world. How big must his guts be to smirk at the Vice-Sect Master!?

The Vice-Sect Master also narrowed his eyes slightly. "Are you saying that you haven’t shown your full power yet?" the Vice-Sect Master asked.

The Immortal Kings could only shake their heads. Gravis had fought against plenty of geniuses already, and some of the fights had also taken some time. His display was already good enough to become a Holy Son Candidate. How more could he have stowed away?

"Then, let me ask you a question," Gravis said with a smirk. "If I truly fought with my full power, answering this question will be very easy for you. In fact, everyone here could answer this question."

The Vice-Sect Master became interested, but he wasn’t born yesterday. This question could be a trick. "And how am I supposed to know if you are not lying?"

Gravis’ smirk widened.

Whoop!

Gravis suddenly summoned an Immortal Stone under the puzzled gazes of everyone else.

Then, he consumed the Immortal Stone.

After that, Gravis smirked as he looked at the Vice-Sect Master.

"I just consumed an Immortal Stone," he said.

The Immortal Kings became confused at that. Yes, he did. So what? What’s this got to do with anything?

However, the Immortal Emperor looked with furrowed eyes at Gravis.

Lastly, the old man looked with shining eyes at Gravis.

"Who would have thought that you have comprehended the Law of Honesty," the Vice-Sect Master said.

The Immortal Emperor nodded. Since his and Gravis’ Will-Auras had the same power, he couldn’t be sure which Law Gravis had used just now. So, it had been the Law of Honesty, huh?

The eyes of the Immortal Kings widened in understanding. So, that was why he had just consumed an Immortal Stone.

"If you have seen my full power, answering the following question will be very easy," Gravis said again with his Law of Honesty.

"Fine," the Vice-Sect Master said. "If I can’t answer your question, you are allowed to participate in the actual tournament. However, don’t underestimate me. I have lived for a long time, and I have learned more things than nearly anyone."

"Alright," Gravis said with a smirk. "Here goes."

"Name one of my level five Laws," Gravis said.

Silence.

Slowly, the eyes of the Immortal Kings widened in surprise.

They couldn’t answer the question!

But how was that possible!?

Everyone had fought with their full power, and that also included their level five Laws.

Yet, they couldn’t remember Gravis’ level five Law.

Why?

Because he had never used it!

The Immortal Kings took a deep breath in shock. Gravis had won against so many of them, and he hadn’t even used his most powerful Law.

He was far more powerful than they had thought!

The Immortal Emperor felt like things were going out of control. He also couldn’t answer the question.

The expression of the old man didn’t change.

Silence.

"Hahahaha!" the old man suddenly started laughing loudly. "Well done, young man. You managed to pull one over this old man."

Gravis bowed slightly with a smirk. "I apologize," he said.

"Fine!" the old man said with a smile and conviction. "You can fight in the main tournament!"

After that, the Vice-Sect Master teleported away.

"Come back here in ten years," the Immortal Emperor said. "I will take you to the Nine Elements Sect for the main tournament when the time arrives. Meanwhile, everyone else that has joined the Nine Elements Sect, follow me to the Nine Elements Sect!"

Gravis and the few Immortal Kings that didn’t accept the Nine Elements Sect’s invitation nodded and teleported away. The others followed the Immortal Emperor into the Nine Elements Sect.

After a couple of hours of introducing the new Elite Disciples to the Nine Elements Sect, the Immortal Emperor left.

After some seconds, he appeared near the previous Vice-Sect Master again.

"Senior, are you sure you want to allow the talented youngster to take part in the tournament?" he asked. "If he loses, and we accept him as a Holy Son Candidate anyway, the other Peak Sects will believe that our standards have fallen."

"I’m certain," said the old man calmly.

The Immortal Emperor felt a bit uncomfortable, but he wanted to know more answers. "Why are you certain, Senior?" he asked.

The Vice-Sect Master turned around to the Immortal Emperor and looked at him. The Immortal Emperor felt a shiver run down his spine. The old man didn’t seem kind anymore. In fact, he felt cold and apathetic now.

This Vice-Sect Master was mainly responsible for diplomacy and negotiations with other Peak Sects. Why? Because his Law of Empathy allowed him to perfectly mask his cold and ruthless personality.

In truth, he was one of the most ruthless Vice-Sect Masters in any Peak Sect.

Angering him was tantamount to suicide.

"You’ve not realized?" he asked coldly.

The Immortal Emperor quickly shook his head.

The old man turned back to the window. "He said one of his level five Laws. This means he has more than one."

The Immortal Emperor’s eyes widened.

Chapter 900 - 900 – Sect Masters

For the next ten years, Gravis prepared himself even more. There was something else that he needed.

After doing what he had planned, Gravis waited for the ten years to be over.

’Now, everything is hinging on this tournament,’ Gravis thought. ’The tournament will be held inside the central palace of the Nine Elements Sect, and I need to be ready for everything. Let’s hope that the Nine Elements Sect doesn’t go back on their word.’

Gravis waited near the arena where the preliminary tournament had been held. Ten years passed by in a flash, and some of the people had already gathered.

The Immortal Emperor arrived punctually, but what surprised Gravis was the fact that there was no one else accompanying him.

Gravis looked around and noticed that only six contestants had gathered. Gravis guessed that the other contestants were no longer interested in the tournament. After all, they had only joined the tournament to prove themselves to the Nine Elements Sect. Now that they were Elite Disciples already, they didn’t need to participate in the tournament anymore. Their goal had been accomplished.

"Everyone’s here," the Immortal Emperor said. "Follow me," he ordered.

The participants bowed in politeness and followed the elder. All of them flew to the Nine Elements Sect and directly entered it. They didn’t even go through the entrance but simply flew over the high walls. Usually, something like this would be met with lethal retaliation, but nobody stopped them since an elder was with them.

Gravis had already seen the inside of the Nine Elements Sect, but the others hadn’t. The other participants looked with amazement at the wonderland beneath their feet. It was like they had entered paradise.

Some of them even regretted that they had declined the invitation from the Nine Elements Sect. How powerful would they become if they could cultivate here?

"Look, all these people are flying!" a disciple of the Nine Elements Sect said as he pointed at the group.

"So?" another disciple to the side said. "Immortal Kings are allowed to fly in the Sect. Instead of envying others, you should work harder on yourself," she said.

"But I’m only in the Nascent Nourishing Realm," the disciple said helplessly.

"Then, hurry up!" the other disciple said.

"I’m trying!"

After flying over the Nine Elements Sect, the elder and the contestants landed at the entrance of the central palace. Another elder was guarding the entrance, and she nodded at the elder that escorted the contestants.

The elder nodded back and gestured for the contestants to follow him. From now on, they would no longer fly. Flying in the outside of the Sect and flying in the central palace were entirely different concepts. Not even elders were allowed to fly in the central palace.

They slowly walked along the humongous corridors, which were filled with valuable treasures. The walls were filled with portraits, and every portrait showed a previous Sect Master.

There were thousands.

Immortal Emperors could live for 250,000 years, but even if every Sect Master had only been a Sect Master for 100,000 years, these thousands of pictures would already show how ancient the Nine Elements Sect was.

The Nine Elements Sect had a history that had probably stretched for hundreds of millions of years.

This was already beyond impressive.

Why?

Because becoming a Peak Sect was easier than staying a Peak Sect for such a long time.

One single fuck-up in these long years could have destroyed the Nine Elements Sect. Yet, the Sect had always been a Peak Sect.

Near the end of the corridor, Gravis looked at a specific portrait.

He knew the person in the portrait.

It showed a red-haired woman with a proud demeanor.

This was Stella’s teacher, the previous Ancestor of the Nine Elements Sect. Sadly, she had died when she had interfered with Stella’s tribulation.

Behind the portrait were two more, but they were the last ones in the corridor.

A middle-aged man with blue hair was in the next picture, and a young woman with blue hair was in the last one.

’These had all been Sect Masters before,’ Gravis thought. ’Before Stella’s teacher became the Ancestor of the Nine Elements Sect, she has been the Sect Master. This means that the next portrait is of the Sect Master of the time when Stella’s teacher had still been alive.’

’After Stella’s teacher died, the current Sect Master probably broke through the Peak Immortal Emperor Realm and became the current Ancestor. The last picture of the blue-haired lady should be the current Sect Master.’

Gravis looked back at the corridor again.

’Over 80% of the past Sect Masters have either blue or red hair. The remaining ones have hair-colors that correspond to other Elements, but they are definitely in the minority.’

’Stella mainly used the Inferno Element in her fight against me, and she has red hair. Her teacher also had red hair. Yet, the newest Sect Master and Ancestor have blue hair. Does this mean that there is some kind of faction rivalry in the Nine Elements Sect? Is this the reason why Stella is in so much trouble right now?’

’The blue-haired people are probably most comfortable with the Frost Element, and the Frost Element is the opposite of the Inferno Element. If all of this is faction-based and not individual-based, it would explain why Stella is having difficulties right now.’

’However, I’m not certain who’s currently involved in this idiotic decision regarding Stella. The Ancestor is only responsible for protecting the Sect from life-threatening danger and Cultivation. The Sect Master should be responsible for dealing with all the political affairs and decision-making.’

’Lastly, the old Sect Master probably chooses the new one. Therefore, it’s possible that the current Ancestor has nothing to do with Stella’s situation since he had been chosen by Stella’s teacher. However, the current Sect Master is definitely involved.’

Gravis now had a better idea about who was involved with Stella’s current situation. If the Nine Elements Sect decided to be stubborn idiots, he would now know who his enemies would be. However, that was a big if.

Gravis had proven to be very capable, and when he won the tournament, there was a genuine possibility that Gravis could ask for Stella’s hand. As long as the Nine Elements Sect remained honest, there wouldn’t be an issue.

However, Gravis also knew that it wasn’t even certain that Stella wanted to see him. It could be that she wouldn’t want to get involved with him due to their situation back then. Yes, Gravis had only done that to help Stella, but was that enough to offset the horrible actions he had done to achieve his result?

Gravis wasn’t nervous about the Nine Elements Sect, but he was nervous about Stella.

Yet, if Stella didn’t want to have anything to do with Gravis, Gravis would lose in the tournament on purpose. However, he would need to meet Stella before that, or he wouldn’t know if she was still interested in him or not.

CRRRR!

Gravis had not paid any attention while thinking, but the group had arrived in front of some gigantic gates. The gates were opening slowly, and after some seconds, Gravis saw the hall behind it.

The hall was gigantic!

According to logic, this hall shouldn’t fit inside the palace since it was many times bigger. However, Gravis wasn’t surprised. This was simply the effect of a Formation Array that used the level six Law of Space.

The Nine Elements Sect might not currently have someone that knew the Law, but they probably had had someone in the past. As long as they took care of the Formation Array, they could use it indefinitely.

Yet, Gravis was still shocked by one thing.

The entire hall was built with Major Circulation Immortal Emperor Materials!

That was absolutely insane!

The chains below the Sect couldn’t even compare to this hall!

’It seems like some Sect Master in the past wanted to immortalize themselves in this Sect by building this huge hall.’

"Please wait here," the elder said.

A many kilometers wide arena was in the middle of the hall, and the contestants were supposed to wait at its edge.

"These will be your opponents in the tournament," the elder said as he gestured to the other side of the arena.

On the other side of the arena, they could see 16 young men.

Wait, only 16?

The participants had expected more people.

Gravis inspected the people and noticed several things.

First of all, they were all Peak Immortal Kings.

Second of all, six of them had Will-Auras on the level of a Mid Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor.

Third of all, the same six people wore the uniforms of three Peak Sects, the All-Matter Sect, the Primordial Force Sect, and the Life Sect.

The Purist Sect was absent.

The other ten people were from several high-profile Sects, but there was never more than one person per Sect. The Peak Sects were the only ones with two slots each.

Lastly, there was no one from the Nine Elements Sect.

Either the people of the Nine Elements Sect would arrive later, or they wouldn’t partake in the tournament. Gravis guessed the latter.

Gravis was already quite certain that the Nine Elements Sect wanted to use Stella to gain some advantages from some other Peak Sect. Because of that, Gravis guessed that the Nine Elements Sect wouldn’t take part in the tournament. After all, if one of their own won, what were they supposed to do, marry Stella to someone of their own Sect? That wouldn’t be useful to the Sect.

The people from the Sects didn’t pay any attention to Gravis’ group.

Well, everyone except for one.

One young man with grey armor glanced at Gravis with surprise and shock.

"Fancy meeting you here, Gravis," he transmitted to Gravis.

"Hey, Zern! You’re also here?" Gravis answered, equally surprised.

This was someone that Gravis had met in Arc’s clearing.

He was part of the All-Matter Sect, and he was also one of the main reasons why Gravis had targeted the All-Matter Sect with his grand plan.

Zern was supposed to be his inside man, who would make sure that everything went smoothly.