Ch. 901..910
Chapter 901 - 901 – Unaffiliated Vs. Sect
"I would have never thought that you would be here," Zern transmitted to Gravis.
"Why not?" Gravis answered with a laugh.
"Well, first of all, you have a beast-"
Suddenly, Zern’s eyes widened, and he looked at the corner of the hall. Every corner had a beast crystal.
Zern saw the beast crystals shining red, and panic appeared in his eyes.
Then, he looked around at everyone else with shock and confusion.
Why was no one noticing that the beast crystals were shining red!?
The bright, red light wasn’t subtle. It nearly illuminated the entire hall. It was impossible to not notice something like that!
"Surprised?" Gravis asked with a voice transmission.
Zern looked with surprise at Gravis, while the other disciples from the Sects looked confused at Zern. What was up with that guy? Had he become nervous because of the tournament?
"How has no one noticed the beast crystals?" he asked.
"Secret," Gravis transmitted to Zern. "However, it has something to do with a Law I know."
Zern took a deep breath. "That’s really impressive, Gravis. If anyone knew that someone with a beast body was able to enter the central palace of the Nine Elements Sect, they would start fearing that all the beasts could infiltrate them. However, no one would even believe such a thing!"
Gravis had to chuckle.
Zern and Gravis continued talking for a while. It was nice to see a familiar face among all these strangers.
Some minutes later, one of the doors opened, and several people entered.
All of them wore the uniform of the Nine Elements Sect. There were three in total, and Gravis couldn’t feel the power of any one of them.
This meant that all of them were at least in the Major Circulation Immortal Emperor Realm.
Even more, Gravis knew two of those people.
In the middle of the three people was a woman with blue hair. Gravis had never met her, but he had seen her picture in the hallway.
This was the current Sect Master of the Nine Elements Sect.
The woman smiled politely at the candidates, but her smile seemed frosty. There was no happiness or kindness behind that smile. It was like a being without emotion was trying to be polite.
’The Sect Master should be a Late Major Circulation Immortal Emperor, and the other two should be Vice-Sect Masters, which means that they are probably at the Mid Major Circulation Immortal Emperor Realm. Quite a powerful lineup,’ Gravis thought.
The other person Gravis recognized was the Vice-Sect Master that had invited him into the Sect. His smile actually felt genuine.
Gravis bowed politely, just like everyone else.
After the greetings were over, Gravis saw the Sect Master looking intently at him. It was like she was inspecting him with her Spirit Sense.
Gravis felt a bit nervous, but he knew that he wasn’t in danger. As long as she didn’t suspect that Gravis was a beast, she wouldn’t notice.
After a while, she looked away again.
"Welcome, everyone, to the tournament!" the old Vice-Sect Master said. The other one was a young man and remained silent besides the Sect Master.
"The esteemed Sect Master will decide who will fight who. Right now, we have 22 contestants, and we will continue with one versus one matches until only three remain. When three candidates remain, we will let the three candidates fight in an everyone versus everyone match!" the Vice-Sect Master explained.
The participants nodded.
’Stella isn’t here,’ Gravis thought nervously. ’How am I supposed to know what I should do if she isn’t here? I need to lure her out somehow!’
The Vice-Sect Master stepped back and bowed politely to the Sect Master. "Sect Master, if you may," he said.
The Sect Master nodded.
"You and you," the Sect Master said politely as everyone’s Spirits were moved to two people.
One of them was a person from a High-Rank Sect, while another was from the unaffiliated Cultivators.
The two participants entered the arena as they waited for the signal to start.
The old Vice-Sect Master also stepped into the arena. Apparently, he would be acting as a referee, and he would also make sure that no participants would die. The occasional death in the preliminary tournament wasn’t bad, which was why the elder hadn’t cared about that. However, here, it was essential to protect the disciples. After all, this was a gathering of elites.
"Begin!"
The two participants immediately started battling each other, but just after a couple of seconds, everyone was already clear on who the victor would be.
The unaffiliated participant fought bravely, but he just couldn’t compete with the powerful Weapon Techniques of his opponent. After all, the opponent came from a powerful Sect with powerful Weapon Techniques.
These Sects had millions of years to perfect their Weapon Techniques, while the unaffiliated Cultivators could only create their own or buy mediocre ones with a ton of money.
Gravis still couldn’t even imagine creating something as intricate and complex as the Weapon Technique that Stella had shown him back then.
Creating such a powerful Weapon Technique required time more than anything else, and Gravis just hadn’t had enough time.
After 30 seconds, the fight ended. The unaffiliated Cultivator conceded when he realized that he was running out of Energy.
The Cultivator then had to leave the hall. Only the participants and the upper echelon of the Nine Elements Sect were allowed here.
However, when the Cultivator was close to leaving the central palace, another elder came up to him and offered him a spot as an Elite Disciple again.
After the Cultivator saw the gulf between him and the Sects, he realized that he could never reach the top of the world without joining one. Therefore, the disciple that had rejected the invitation previously accepted it this time.
Gravis saw all of this with his Spirit Sense and was quite impressed. ’The Nine Elements Sect shows these prideful Cultivators the difference between a Sect and an unaffiliated Cultivator. Like this, they can pull even these prideful people that value freedom into their Sect.’
"You and you," the Sect Master said.
Another unaffiliated Cultivator and another one from a High-Rank Sect stepped forward.
Sadly, this fight was an even bigger massacre than the previous one.
The fight didn’t even take ten seconds.
"You and you."
A third unaffiliated Cultivator was called out.
’I think they want to clean up the trash before they start the actual tournament,’ Gravis thought. ’These unaffiliated Cultivators really aren’t that powerful.’
This fight was much closer, but in the end, the one from the Sect barely won.
The Sect Master looked at the young Vice-Sect Master beside her for a second, and the Vice-Sect Master nodded.
After that, the Vice-Sect Master personally escorted the Cultivator to the outside.
The other participants didn’t dare to follow them with their Spirit Sense, but Gravis had no reservation. No one would notice as long as he didn’t include the Vice-Sect Master in his Spirit Sense.
’Just as I’ve thought,’ Gravis thought. ’The Vice-Sect Master is inviting this Cultivator as a Core Disciple. Obviously, the guy accepted.’
Apparently, that Cultivator had caught the eye of the Sect Master. It was rare for an unaffiliated Cultivator to put up such a good fight against a powerful disciple from a High-Rank Sect. If they taught him correctly, this new disciple would be able to run over all the supreme geniuses of the High-Rank Sect.
That was what a Core Disciple was supposed to be. A Peak Sect was a Peak Sect because they had the most powerful and most talented people. A Core Disciple was supposed to be stronger than any genius outside a Peak Sect.
Now, only three unaffiliated Cultivators were left, and these three were different from the other three.
Two of these three had Will-Auras on the level of a Mid Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor. That was amazing, even for Peak Sect standards. The third one was Gravis.
"You and you."
One of the remaining unaffiliated Cultivators was sent against another Cultivator from a High-Rank Sect.
The fight was very close, but thanks to the difference in Will-Aura, the unaffiliated Cultivator won barely.
This was the first time that an unaffiliated Cultivator won their fight!
’He’s worse,’ Gravis thought. ’He won his fight, but if his Will-Aura hadn’t suppressed his opponent’s, this would have been a massacre. The previous disciple was better.’
The disciple from the High-Rank Sect left dejectedly under the ridiculing gazes of the other disciples.
Losing against an unaffiliated Cultivator? Trash!
"You and you."
The last unaffiliated Cultivator was called forth, and he was also up against a disciple from a High-Rank Sect.
However, this fight was nothing like the previous ones.
This was a one-sided beatdown.
However, it was the unaffiliated Cultivator that violently beat up the disciple of the High-Rank Sect.
’This guy can definitely fight two levels above himself,’ Gravis thought. ’Even without an edge in Will-Aura, he would still have a small shot. Except for Stella, this is the person with the most powerful Battle-Strength I have seen fighting in this world up to now.’
Even the Sect Master was looking at this unaffiliated Cultivator with slightly shining eyes.
"You and you."
Everyone looked at Gravis.
However, all the participants’ eyes widened in shock.
Only the unaffiliated Cultivators and the upper echelon of the Nine Elements Sect remained calm.
A Late Major Circulation Immortal King?
None of the Sect Disciples had even deigned to take a look at their unaffiliated opponents.
Yet, when it was Gravis’ turn to fight, they finally noticed his Cultivation.
Was this a joke?
Why was such a weak Cultivator here!?
Chapter 902 - 902 – Gravis' "Fight"
Gravis entered the arena under the shocked eyes of the onlookers. His opponent also quickly entered.
The expression of his opponent could be guessed with ease.
He looked with disdain at Gravis.
Fighting someone like this was beneath him! He could fight one level above himself, but he was supposed to fight two levels below himself now? What a humiliation!
Bzz!
A small Punishment Lightning bolt appeared on Gravis’ saber for a brief moment. The other participants scoffed. Why was this guy already showing his Element? Didn’t he know that this would give his opponent valuable intelligence about his fighting style?
Only the remaining unaffiliated Cultivators and the upper echelon of the Nine Elements Sect knew what had happened.
Gravis had reforged his saber just now.
However, it had been so fast that they hadn’t seen what exactly Gravis had done.
"I don’t know what dogshit luck you must have had to get here, but it ends today," Gravis’ opponent said with disdain.
Gravis didn’t answer and just took out his saber.
"Don’t take your opponent lightly," the old Vice-Sect Master in the arena transmitted to Gravis. "You’ve had easy opponents up to now, but this is a genius from a High-Rank Sect. He is far more powerful than your previous opponents."
"The Sect Master was kind enough to give you the weakest person from the High-Rank Sect so that you don’t humiliate yourself. However, even if he is the weakest, he is still far more powerful than any opponent you have ever faced."
"Vice-Sect Master," Gravis transmitted. "Have you seen my first three fights in the preliminary tournament?"
"No, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"I won my first three fights in just a second because my opponent didn’t take me seriously. Guess how this fight is going to go," Gravis answered.
"This is not a beginner," the Vice-Sect Master answered. "He won’t make that kind of rookie mistake."
’Won’t he?’ Gravis thought. ’Sadly, it’s not up to him.’
The Vice-Sect Master was frustrated that Gravis wasn’t listening to him.
"Begin!" he shouted.
WHOOOM!
Suddenly, some weird kinds of fluctuations appeared in the air.
The other participants were confused. What kind of fluctuations were these?
The Vice-Sect Masters were also confused. What was that? They had never felt anything quite like it.
However, the Sect Master’s eyes widened.
She knew these kinds of fluctuations!
Their current Holy Maiden had also shown these kinds of fluctuations previously!
The Sect Master didn’t know what Law it was that created these fluctuations, but she knew that their Holy Maiden also knew this Law. Sadly, the Holy Maiden had never told them what kind of Law this was.
Yet, nothing really happened.
These fluctuations traveled throughout the central palace, but the opponent didn’t seem different. Gravis also didn’t seem more powerful.
What was the point of these fluctuations?
Obviously, this was the Law of Freedom.
Gravis didn’t need the Law of Freedom for anything right now. He hadn’t even unleashed it for the fight.
No, this was a signal for Stella.
Gravis had to lure Stella here, and this was the best way. No one should be able to understand the purpose of these fluctuations. Because of that, even if Stella arrived, no one would become suspicious.
After all, it was natural to be curious about something like this.
’That should alert her,’ Gravis thought. ’Now, I only have to wait.’
Gravis’ opponent also furrowed his brows in confusion.
What was the point of these fluctuations?
At the same time, Gravis activated his Law of Control and Safety to elevate his opponent’s confidence.
Even if his opponent didn’t want to, he now underestimated Gravis severely.
’The less conspicuous I am, the better.’
WHOOOOM!
Suddenly, Gravis activated his Will-Aura with its full force and also included the Law of Major Suppression.
BANG!
The opponent’s Spirit was shocked. He hadn’t been ready for such an insanely strong attack on his Will-Aura!
BANG!
Gravis accelerated to his full speed with his different Lightning Laws and the Law of Time. In an instant, he appeared in front of his opponent.
The opponent couldn’t react since his Spirit was still under shock.
SHING!
Gravis bisected his opponent horizontally at his waist with his saber.
BANG!
Then, Gravis kicked the torso of his opponent.
BANG!
The guy hit the edge of the arena with his back and fell to the ground.
The other participants took a deep breath through their teeth.
If Gravis had beheaded this disciple, he would be dead now!
However, after calming down, they sneered again.
’What an idiot! He could have ended the fight by simply putting his saber on the neck of his opponent, but now, his opponent can simply heal himself and continue battling,’ they thought.
Gravis’ opponent glared with rage as his torso began levitating.
Then, his legs started to regrow with incredible speed. Obviously, he knew the Body Growth Laws.
Splat!
Yet, when he wanted to step on his newly regenerated legs, he fell over again as blood continued pouring out.
Everyone’s eyes widened.
Why hadn’t the guy’s legs healed!? They had stopped healing after his waist had regenerated!
The guy looked with shock at his missing lower body, and then he noticed something horrifying.
His body was aging!
His hair fell out as his muscles vanished. His skin started to cling to his bones as it started to split all over his body.
’I’m out of Life Energy!?’ he thought with shock and terror.
In shock, he extended his right arm towards Gravis, but his arm was falling apart.
He was dying!
CLING!
The Vice-Sect Master rushed over to the disciple and lightly tapped the body of the Cultivator. When he did that, a black mist left the guy’s body.
CLING!
Another tap and the Life Energy of Gravis’ opponent was refilled to ten percent of his total.
The Nine Elements Sect knew all the Elements, and the Vice-Sect Master also knew several Battle Laws that increased the healing effects of his healing Elements.
However, the poor guy still couldn’t make a coherent thought.
He had been about to die.
Something like this was always terrifying.
Gravis left the arena under the shocked gazes of everyone else.
He had used one of his new Weapon Techniques that he had created in the past 300 years.
What Laws did this Weapon Technique have?
Shadow’s Poisoning and Time.
Combining two Laws didn’t take that long, especially when it didn’t involve something as complex as the Law of Perceived Reality. This Weapon Technique simply infused the opponent with the Shadow Element and spread with insane speeds across the opponent’s entire body thanks to the Law of Time.
Gravis’ opponent quickly calmed down. After all, he had been in his fair share of tempering experiences.
He gritted his teeth as he hit the ground with his fist.
What a humiliation!
Why had he become so careless!?
He looked at the other disciples from the Sects, and his heart stopped.
Disgust.
Rage.
Hatred.
He had feared that his colleagues would ridicule him, but now, he wished that they had ridiculed him.
They hated him!
He had not only humiliated himself but every High-Rank Sect in existence. Losing against an opponent on one’s level was one thing, but being killed in a single attack by someone two levels below oneself was an incredible humiliation.
He had humiliated every single Sect Disciple here!
For that, everyone hated him!
They wished that they could kill him for what he had done!
Something like this was deserving of death!
The disciple looked away with horror. His face became white as his lips quivered.
What had he done?
"AAAAHHH!"
BOOOOOM!
The disciple suddenly exploded as his entire body was consumed by fire.
Everyone looked with shock at the dead disciple, but then, they sneered.
’Weakling! He couldn’t even face his problems and killed himself!’ they thought.
Yes, the disciple had been too ashamed to stay alive.
Usually, people with powerful Will-Auras wouldn’t commit suicide, but in this case, his powerful Will-Aura did the opposite.
He had valued respect and his own power above everything else, and when he had lost everything, his Will-Aura pushed him to commit suicide. He had been afraid of death, but he also had enough willpower to go through with it. After all, in his mind, this was the correct thing to do.
Gravis was also surprised.
’Dude, I didn’t want you to die,’ Gravis thought.
SHING!
The belongings of the dead disciple vanished as the young Vice-Sect Master gathered them.
"Inform the Raging Fire Sect of what has happened here and bring his belongings to them," the Sect Master said coldly.
The Vice-Sect Master bowed and vanished.
"You and You," the Sect Master said as she called out two new opponents. Apparently, she wouldn’t comment on what had happened here.
Gravis saw cold disdain in the Sect Master’s eyes. ’Sure enough, just like everyone else, she despises weaklings.’
Gravis had already left the arena, and the next two opponents entered it.
It was one disciple of a High-Rank Sect and one disciple of a Peak Sect.
There were no unaffiliated Cultivators left that hadn’t already fought, which meant that the Sect Disciples now had to fight amongst themselves.
The battle was completely one-sided.
The disciple of the Peak Sect completely dominated his opponent with his superior Will-Aura and Weapon Techniques.
It just took two seconds for the fight to end.
The same thing repeated itself three more times.
Peak Disciples were fighting High-Rank Disciples, and the battles were always one-sided.
After these battles were over, only two disciples hadn’t fought each other.
One of them was Zern, and another one was a Peak Disciple from the Primordial Force Sect.
The fight went on for multiple minutes, but Zern lost.
However, Gravis only raised an eyebrow. ’Zern hasn’t used all of his equipment. The All-Matter Sect is all about equipment. He should have won if he had gone all-out.’
"Surprised?" Zern transmitted to Gravis with amusement as he passed him on his way out.
"Yes," Gravis answered.
"I’m only here to make up the numbers. I’m not supposed to win this tournament. I’m only here to make a show and leave," he explained.
"Internal arrangements?" Gravis asked.
"Yes. The winner of this tournament is already set in stone. The other disciple from the All-Matter Sect is supposed to win this tournament, and even if there are more powerful disciples present, they will simply act like they are weaker after showing their power. The All-Matter Sect paid off everyone else."
"Is that so?" Gravis asked.
"Yes. Anyway, I have to go. See ya later!" Zern transmitted with a smile.
"See you later," Gravis answered.
Like this, the first round was over, and eleven people remained.
"Everyone gets two hours to regenerate their Energy," the old Vice-Sect Master said. "After that, the second round will start."
The participants nodded politely and relaxed.
Some of them were completely exhausted.
Gravis simply waited.
Time passed, but after only 90 minutes, something happened.
The doors of the hall opened as everyone looked over. Then, their eyes widened with shock.
The Holy Maiden!
However, the other Peak Disciples simply glanced at her. They were not supposed to win her hand in this tournament.
The Holy Son Candidate of the All-Matter Sect would win this tournament.
The Sect Master looked with furrowed brows at Stella.
Why was she here?
Wasn’t she completely against this entire marriage thing? She hadn’t appeared for any of the previous tournaments.
However, the Sect Master quickly remembered the fluctuations that Gravis had released in his fight.
’So that’s why!’ the Sect Master thought.
Gravis saw Stella, and his nervousness peaked.
What would be her decision?
Was she still hung up on what had happened in the past? Was she past it? Was she past it but still didn’t want to have anything to do with Gravis?
Gravis only felt this nervous when he knew that he was about to meet mortal danger.
Gravis looked at Stella.
Stella looked at Gravis.
And Stella’s eyes showed deep fear as she looked at him.
Gravis’ heart stopped.
Chapter 903 - 903 – Stella's Decision
Gravis’ world broke down.
’It’s over!’ he thought. ’Stella feels genuine fear towards me. My past actions are still fresh in her mind. She hates me!’
The fear in Stella’s eyes hurt Gravis deep inside. The one person he loved feared him.
Suddenly, Gravis saw Stella’s eyes darting to the corner of the hall, and her eyes widened in shock. Then, she looked around the room at the others. By now, her expression had changed to an aloof one.
However, in the end, her eyes returned to Gravis.
The fear was gone.
Instead, only confusion was left.
Gravis was also confused by Stella’s actions, but then he realized.
’So, she knows,’ Gravis thought. ’She has always known. I should have realized.’
However, Gravis’ nervousness vanished as relief washed over him.
’She knows that I have a beast body. That was why she was afraid. She wasn’t afraid of me but for me.’
’Of course her teacher would have informed her. I never told her of my beast body, but her teacher would have definitely noticed. She probably informed Stella of my beast body.’
Gravis almost couldn’t stop himself from smiling.
Another big worry of his had been that Stella would deny him as soon as she heard that he had a beast body. After all, humans were not normally attracted to beasts.
Yet, since Stella had known from the very beginning, it meant that everything between them had been genuine.
The Sect Master was the only one that noticed Stella’s imperceptible actions. Stella had camouflaged her actions very well, but the Sect Master knew her very closely.
After all, the Sect Master had acted as Stella’s aunt for thousands of years.
Even if no one noticed, she would notice.
However, the only thing that she had noticed was the look that she had thrown Gravis. She hadn’t noticed that Stella had also looked at the beast crystals. After all, why would she look at the beast crystals? There was no point.
’She fears this Cultivator?’ the Sect Master thought. ’She’s the Nine Elements Sect’s Holy Maiden, even if that won’t persist. Her Battle-Strength is amazing. However, she still showed fear in front of this unaffiliated Cultivator. Why?’
Then, the Sect Master remembered something, and everything clicked for her.
’Stella has once told me about someone she loves. She has also told me that this person has once battled her to a draw while being four levels below her. Originally, I didn’t believe her, but her reaction was too genuine just now.’
The Sect Master stealthily looked at Gravis.
’Is this him? Is this the person with that ridiculous Battle-Strength?’
’Now, everything makes sense. He isn’t here to join the Nine Elements Sect but to win the Holy Maiden’s hand.’
The Sect Master covertly frowned, but no one noticed.
’However, if his Battle-Strength is real, he might actually win this tournament.’
Yet, the Sect Master’s expression quickly changed to a hidden smirk.
Gravis looked away from Stella to not elicit any suspicion. However, he had already contacted Stella. The moment of truth had arrived.
"Stella, don’t answer! The Sect Master can feel when you send a voice transmission to me, but she can’t feel mine thanks to a new Law I know," Gravis transmitted. His nervousness was apparent in his voice transmission.
Stella didn’t react.
"Stella, my problem is resolved. From now on, I will forever be myself. I told you that I will come and find you when the problem is solved, and that time is now!" Gravis transmitted with conviction.
"For every day in the past over 40,000 years, I have missed you. I wanted to see your smile every day. I wanted to hear your voice every day. I want to be together with you, always!"
"Stella, I love you."
Stella didn’t react.
"However, my past actions have been horrible, and I can understand if you don’t want to be with me. I know that there is a high chance that you don’t want to see me again."
"Yet, even if you don’t want to be with me, I will repay you for what I have done in the past."
"I have a surefire way to get out of here with you and Liam. I know that Liam also needs to escape, or you will never be truly free. Even if the Sect Master does her best to stop us, she won’t succeed. I’m sure of it!"
"So, Stella, I want to hear your answer. If you want to escape this place with Liam, do something with the hair on your left side. If you want to stay, do something with the hair on your right side," Gravis said.
Stella walked over to the Sect Master and stopped beside her. Then, she coldly looked at all the participants.
After some seconds of silence, she snorted in disdain.
Then, she threw her hair back with her hand in a gesture of disdain. Obviously, all these gathered Cultivators were not up to her standards. She was the Holy Maiden!
It was the hair on her left side!
"Alright!" Gravis transmitted with more conviction than he wanted. He couldn’t control his excitement. However, it still wasn’t clear if Stella only wanted to escape or if she genuinely accepted Gravis.
"I will transfer something to your Spirit," Gravis transmitted.
Then, Gravis’ Spirit Sense came into contact with Stella.
Allowing others to access one’s Spirit meant handing them a blade while one was unarmed.
If the Spirit was opened to someone else, the other person could destroy them.
That was why no one traded while their Spirits were connected. No one would play with their life like this.
However, Stella didn’t resist.
In a moment, two things appeared in Stella’s Spirit.
"These are two emblems from Underworld," Gravis transmitted. "When you crush them, they will teleport you close to the frontlines. The Formation Array in this place isn’t able to stop them. Call Liam over and give one to him. I will try the official route, but if everything else fails, we will crush the emblems at the same time."
"Even if the Sect Master follows us, I have a surefire way to escape with the three of us!"
Stella remained silent, but Gravis knew that she had heard him.
"Why are you here?" the Sect Master asked with a kind voice.
"I have felt something familiar previously. I came to watch," she said curtly with an emotionless voice. She was showing openly that she didn’t like the Sect Master.
"Then watch. One of these young men will be your husband in the future," the Sect Master said kindly.
However, these kind words were not meant to reassure Stella but to put her under pressure. The Sect Master was showing her power.
Stella didn’t react. She didn’t want to talk with her ex-aunt. Every feeling of kinship that she had felt in the past had died.
However, the knowing look in the Sect Master’s eyes scared her.
Had she noticed?
Everyone waited in silence as the remaining thirty minutes of the pause passed.
"You and you," the Sect Master said.
The less powerful one of the remaining unaffiliated Cultivators entered the arena.
Then, one of the three remaining disciples from the High-Rank Sects also entered.
The tournament was about to continue!
Chapter 904 - 904 – She Knows!
The fight took a couple of minutes, but surprisingly, the Unaffiliated Cultivator lost.
He had the edge in regards to Will-Aura, but not all the disciples of the High-Rank Sect were equally powerful. This one was more powerful than the previous opponent of the unaffiliated Cultivator.
However, the Unaffiliated Cultivator didn’t lose heart. He had managed to win against someone of the High-Rank Sects previously. This meant that he could get a good offer!
The Unaffiliated Cultivator left together with the young Vice-Sect Master.
Gravis watched, but he couldn’t help smirking when he saw what happened.
The Unaffiliated Cultivator was not offered a spot as a Core Disciple.
Even though he had won a battle against someone from a High-Rank Sect, that was only due to his Will-Aura. His Battle-Strength was not as high as the Cultivator that had been offered a Core Disciple spot previously.
However, this disciple was offered a spot as an Elite Disciple with a free pass for the Core Disciple exams. Usually, Elite Disciples would need to pay some Contribution Points to take part in the Core Disciple exams. Yet, for this one, this exam would be free.
The unaffiliated Cultivator felt disappointed at the offer, but he accepted it in the end. He had declined the previous offer to get a better one after showing his power, and he had got one, even if it wasn’t what he had wished for. He had really wanted a spot as a Core Disciple.
This was the best he could get, sadly. Yet, he at least got a free pass for the Core Disciple exams. The only difference between directly being offered a Core Disciple spot and this offer was time. As long as he trained some more, he would become a Core Disciple for sure!
However, what the disciple didn’t know was that winning the Core Disciple exams was very, very difficult.
Many Elite Disciples already had power close to the Core Disciples, but they had to wait for the exams.
The previous Cultivator directly entered, even though he was currently weaker than every single Core Disciple. Yet, with time and resources, that would be fixed.
Sadly, this disciple had a very small chance of becoming a Core Disciple. He needed to become more powerful, more powerful than every single disciple of any High-Rank Sect.
This offer of the exams being free to him was worthless, in reality. He wouldn’t win anyway. It was a promise without any actual use.
Unfortunately, the Cultivator didn’t know that.
"You and you."
The powerful unaffiliated Cultivator entered the arena.
His opponent?
A disciple from one of the Peak Sects!
One had to know that all of these Peak Sect Disciples, except for that one Holy Son Candidate from the All-Matter Sect, were Core Disciples.
They were truly powerful!
However, the unaffiliated Cultivator was also very powerful. Previously, he had rolled over his opponent.
The fight began, and it was brutal.
This was the longest fight by far, nearly taking an hour.
The Peak Sect Disciple gave everything. He refused to lose to an unaffiliated Cultivator!
In the end, the Peak Sect Disciple even used several hidden trump cards. Not many Cultivators used their life-saving powers in such a tournament. However, this one had to since he refused to lose to an unaffiliated Cultivator.
In the end, the Peak Sect Disciple barely won.
However, everyone knew that the unaffiliated Cultivator would have won if it weren’t for the Peak Sect Disciple going absolutely all-out.
The unaffiliated Cultivator frowned, but he didn’t care that much. He had shown his power. Then, he left with the young Vice-Sect Master.
He was offered a spot as a Core Disciple immediately.
However, he also got several advantages that the other guy hadn’t received.
He already had the power of a genuine Core Disciple of a Peak Sect without any guidance from any powerful Sect.
This was an incredibly valuable seedling!
The Nine Elements Sect intended to forge this new Core Disciple into a Holy Son Candidate!
It would take a lot of time and lots of resources, but the chances were definitely there. It was worth the investment!
What was the unaffiliated Cultivator’s decision?
He accepted.
Why would he decline?
He wasn’t some proud guy that valued his own freedom above everything else. No, he wanted power. He had worked his ass off all for this day. He had remained in the Immortal King Realm for nearly two tribulations just to get the best offer possible.
And it had paid off!
He didn’t immediately become a Holy Son Candidate, but he would become one in the future.
Now, Gravis was the only unaffiliated Cultivator left in the tournament. Three were left of the High-Rank Sects, and five were left of the Peak Sects.
In the beginning, the disciples of the Peak Sect had made up less than 30% of the participants, but now they made up 55%!
The other disciples of the Peak Sects didn’t look down on the Peak Sect Disciple that had gone all out. This unaffiliated Cultivator was genuinely powerful. They weren’t even sure if they would have won.
"You and you."
And then, it was Gravis’ turn.
His opponent?
A disciple from a High-Rank Sect.
Everyone was still looking at him with disdain. After all, he had only won because his opponent had underestimated him. It wouldn’t happen a second time.
And it didn’t. After all, Gravis didn’t want to appear too conspicuous. Being underestimated once was okay, but twice would be suspicious.
So, the fight started.
The fight took many minutes.
Gravis had to appear weak and act like he was going all out against his opponent.
Gravis was even pushed back. His opponent obviously had taken some treasures in the past that increased his physical power. These treasures were very valuable, but High-Rank Sects were wealthy enough to buy them for their most powerful disciples.
Gravis appeared to be on the losing end for a long while, but the upper echelon of the Nine Elements Sect noticed something peculiar.
He still hadn’t used his level five Law!
Gravis had been able to go up against a disciple of a High-Rank Sect with a two-level difference for such a long time without using his level five Law.
By now, the other two High-Rank Sect Disciples no longer underestimated Gravis. Gravis was genuinely terrifying.
His Battle-Strength was probably the most terrifying of everyone present, except for the Holy Maiden and the Holy Son Candidate of the All-Matter Sect.
’Man, this is so annoying,’ Gravis thought.
After several minutes of fighting, Gravis took out his shield for the first time.
His opponent had even forgotten that Gravis even had a shield since he had never used it. It had always remained on his back.
In their next clash, the disciple was ready for the shield to block his attack.
However, it was the saber that blocked his attack!
The disciple was taken by surprise as the shield suddenly grew bigger in his vision.
One should never forget that a shield was also a weapon.
Ever been hit by a shield?
It wasn’t any different than being hit by a massive brick.
It was a genuine weapon!
Especially when it suddenly exploded with Magma.
Gravis’ level five Law showed itself for the first time, and it turned the tide.
The opponent’s body was mutilated by the sudden expansion of Magma.
However, Gravis hadn’t won yet. His opponent could still heal.
Suddenly, Gravis pointed his shield at the disciple that had been thrown into the distance.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
Three spikes shot out of the shield and buried themselves in the disciple’s body.
These spikes were filled with the Shadow Element and its respective Battle Laws.
Just like the previous opponent, this one was also beginning to age as his Life Energy was used up.
The old Vice-Sect Master got involved and healed the disciple. The fight was over.
However, this disciple didn’t receive the same treatment as the previous one.
The other disciples noticed that Gravis was genuinely powerful. Losing against him, even with a two-level advantage, was not something shameful.
"So, he knows the level five Law of Magma," the old Vice-Sect Master transmitted to the other two. "He really is perfect for the Nine Elements Sect."
"If nothing goes wrong, he will become the future Holy Son," the young Vice-Sect Master transmitted to the other two.
"Why don’t you let everything play out and continue watching? Things might not develop as you’d expect," the Sect Master transmitted with a knowing tone.
The other two were surprised. What did their Sect Master mean?
The Sect Master didn’t elaborate further as she only smirked quietly to herself.
When Stella saw the Sect Master’s smirk, her body shook, but she suppressed it.
Did the Sect Master know?
How much did she know?
The tournament continued.
The next battle was the last High-Rank Sect Disciple that hadn’t fought yet against a Peak Sect Disciple.
It was obvious who won.
Lastly, two disciples from the Peak Sects fought each other.
The opponent that Zern had lost against had lost against an opponent from the Life Sect. However, none of them had gone all out. It was more of an exhibition match.
The Holy Son Candidate of the All-Matter Sect got a free pass since the number of contestants had been odd.
No one raised an objection.
Then, another pause happened for everyone to regenerate themselves.
While waiting for his next match, Gravis noticed several times that the Sect Master smirked at him knowingly. This was obviously a power play and signal for Gravis.
Stella became terrified.
The Sect Master knew!
Yet, how much did she know!?
However, while Stella was terrified, Gravis was calm.
’I’ve already won. You just don’t know it yet.’
Gravis thought.
Yet, the Sect Master thought the same thing.
Chapter 905 - 905 – The Last Two
Stella seemed proud on the outside, but she was fearful on the inside. She had known the Sect Master for a long time, and she knew that the Sect Master enjoyed being in control. Whenever she was in control, she showed it to everyone.
However, she would never show what her actual hand was. She obviously knew something, but no one could guess what her actual plan was.
"You and you."
And like this, the next round started.
It was Gravis versus the last remaining High-Rank Sect Disciple.
Gravis frowned slightly. ’She obviously knows something about me, but she is still sending me against someone from a High-Rank Sect instead of someone from a Peak Sect. What’s her plan?’
Gravis fought with his opponent, and it took around five minutes before a winner could be seen.
In the end, it seemed like Gravis had barely won.
With that, all the High-Rank Sect Disciples had vanished.
The last High-Rank Sect disciple didn’t feel bad about losing to Gravis. Gravis was genuinely powerful, and he felt like he had lost honestly against Gravis. He thanked Gravis for the match and left the palace.
’Not everyone in this world is an arrogant ass,’ Gravis thought with a smile.
The next match was between two Peak Sect Disciples, and the match took over ten minutes. However, the match lacked a certain feeling of desperation and conviction. It was more like a casual sparring match between them.
Yet, even such a casual sparring match was already beyond any disciple from a High-Rank Sect.
The one from the Life Sect lost in the end and left with a smile on his face. Obviously, he didn’t take that loss seriously.
The last match was between the Holy Son Candidate of the All-Matter Sect and the remaining member of the Life Sect.
Surprisingly, the disciple from the Life Sect conceded without even fighting.
What was even the point of fighting? He had been paid to let the All-Matter Sect win, and on top of that, even if he tried to fight the Holy Son Candidate, he would lose anyway.
The power of different Peak Sects was distributed over different Cultivation Realms.
At the Peak Immortal Emperor Realm, every Peak Sect was about equally powerful. Maybe the Purist Sect was a slight bit more powerful, but there wasn’t much difference.
However, before one reached the absolute peak of the world, there were two Sects that stood out in terms of individual power. One was obviously the Purist Sect, while the other was the All-Matter Sect.
Why were the people of the All-Matter Sect so powerful in these Cultivation Realms?
Materials.
The All-Matter Sect was all about equipment, and as long as they had access to higher-ranked materials, they could create equipment out of them.
This was the same thing that Gravis was doing. Gravis always created weapons out of ore a couple of levels above his actual Realm. The All-Matter Sect could obviously do the same thing, and they also had a lot of ore.
When one reached the peak of the world, there were no more stronger materials left. Peak Immortal Emperors could only create equipment with Peak Immortal Emperor Rank Materials, but before that, there were always more powerful materials.
A Holy Son Candidate of the All-Matter Sect would have mighty equipment.
So, because of all these reasons, the disciple of the Life Sect simply conceded without a fight.
And with that, only three people were left.
One was a Disciple of the Primordial Force Sect.
One was the Holy Son Candidate of the All-Matter Sect.
One was Gravis.
When the old Vice-Sect Master saw that Gravis was still in the tournament, he almost couldn’t believe it.
What Holy Son Candidate?
Gravis could just directly become their Holy Son!
By now, a lot of people had forgotten that Gravis was actually two levels below the other contestants. Yet, he had managed to beat so many peak geniuses with a level disadvantage.
Gravis could directly become their Holy Son after Stella left.
The two Vice-Sect Masters became excited when they realized that they were about to welcome a nearly peerless Cultivator into their Sect.
However, the Sect Master only smirked knowingly.
She knew that Gravis would not join the Nine Elements Sect.
What’s such a genius worth when they didn’t belong to one’s own Sect?
Nothing.
"The next match will be an everyone versus everyone match," the old Vice-Sect Master announced.
"That’s not necessary," the disciple of the Primordial Force Sect said. "I concede. There’s no point in fighting against the Holy Son Candidate of the All-Matter Sect."
Everyone that had been put up against the Holy Son Candidate had given up, but no one was surprised. Even if the other disciples hadn’t been paid off, he would have still won in a fight.
This was also a big reason why every other member of the Peak Sects accepted the bribe.
They would lose anyway. So, why not make some extra money while losing?
The main reason why everyone was paid off, even though it was really not necessary, was to keep the trump card of the Holy Son Candidate secret.
One shouldn’t forget that winning the tournament didn’t mean that one had won the last fight.
No, there was one more opponent after winning the tournament.
That was Stella.
Stella had postponed the whole marriage business by stating that she would only consider someone with a higher Battle-Strength than herself. This meant that the winner of the tournament would need to fight a Holy Daughter of a Peak Sect on the same level.
One could imagine how difficult that was.
Even worse, Stella always fought with everything she had. It was like her life was on the line.
In the first couple of tournaments, the other Sects had sent some powerful Cultivators, but Stella had always barely won.
Even worse, with every win, Stella became even more powerful. It was like she was tempering herself.
Yet, how could that be!?
These were not life and death fights, but Stella still managed to become more powerful. Even worse, even her Will-Aura had increased from these fights.
Something like that shouldn’t be possible.
Sadly, what the others didn’t know was that taking away the freedom of someone that knew the Law of Freedom was not much different from killing them. If Stella lost, she would lose all her freedom. This was enough pressure to temper her Will-Aura.
When Gravis had first gotten the Law of Freedom, it had appeared rather underwhelming. Yes, it was useful to ignore every kind of suppression, but was that enough?
But then, Gravis also managed to comprehend the level six Law of Divine Lightning thanks to his Law of Freedom.
Then, Gravis received the ability to ignore help from others. Help from others would no longer negatively impact his Will-Aura.
Lastly, Stella demonstrated that the Law of Freedom could also be used to temper oneself in a different way.
In short, the Law of Freedom helped in cultivating one’s Will-Aura in multiple ways.
"And you?" the old Vice-Sect Master asked Gravis.
"I intend to fight," Gravis said.
The two Vice-Sect Masters furrowed their brows. Did Gravis honestly think that he had a chance?
"Fine, then regenerate your Energy over the next two hours. In two hours, the finals will start," the Vice-Sect Master said.
Gravis sat down and closed his eyes. He was acting like he was regenerating his Energy.
After around an hour, something happened.
"I would like to invite my brother to watch," Stella said to the Sect Master.
Only the upper echelon of the Sect was allowed to watch this tournament. Liam was a Core Disciple, but his standing was still not high enough to watch this tournament.
The Sect Master smiled kindly. The entire decision was on her. If she said no, Liam wouldn’t be allowed to come here.
Stella was nervous, and Gravis covertly paid attention to their discussion. No participant dared to stretch their Spirit Sense to the upper echelon. Something like this would be disrespectful.
Of course, Gravis didn’t care. They wouldn’t notice his Spirit Sense anyway as long as he manipulated it correctly.
’Wonder what her plan is,’ Gravis thought as he glanced at the Sect Master.
"Sure. You can call him," the Sect Master said with a kind smile.
Stella was shocked that the Sect Master had agreed so readily. Why would the Sect Master allow something like that when she obviously knew that something was going on with Gravis?
If Stella had needed to convince the Sect Master, she would have felt calmer. However, the Sect Master immediately agreed without even putting up a fight.
What was her assurance?
Had she done something to Liam?
"Thank you, Sect Master," Stella said.
After that, Stella left the hall in search of her brother.
Ten minutes later, she came back with him.
During their entire walk, they were under the scrutiny of the Sect Master’s Spirit Sense. Even more, the Sect Master was not hiding her Spirit Sense. She was basically telling the two of them that they shouldn’t think about doing anything funny.
Because of that, Stella had only been able to talk with Liam. As soon as she sent a voice transmission, the Sect Master would feel it.
Liam was confused when Stella told him that an interesting match would take place. Why would he care?
However, he saw the hidden urgency in Stella’s gaze.
Because of that, he came with her.
Stella was pulling Liam on the arm while going into the hall, an action that wasn’t suitable for the Holy Maiden of a Peak Sect. It was more like a child.
Liam also became confused, but Stella purposefully grabbed his arm with a lot of power. In addition, her hand was shaking.
The shaking intensified when they just opened the door.
Liam realized that this was a signal to him.
Liam guessed that he should probably not show any outward reaction to anything when entering.
After entering, he looked around the room.
And spotted Gravis.
Liam’s body shook.
Chapter 906 - 906 – Why The All-Matter Sect Wants Stella
Luckily, Liam had been warned by Stella. The shaking of his body was only internal, and one couldn’t see anything on the outside.
Another interesting thing was that Liam didn’t show any fear in his eyes, and he also didn’t glance at the corner of the halls. This meant that Liam didn’t know that Gravis had a beast body.
’Stella had kept this secret of mine from her brother,’ Gravis thought. His heart was warming at the fact that Stella kept his secrets safe even from the closest person in her life. This was an incredible show of trust.
Liam glanced at Gravis, but his eyes only had a complex mix of emotions inside them.
Surprise, a bit of wonder, a bit of hope, and a bit of rage.
Liam had no idea what he should think of Gravis.
On one hand, Gravis had done something horrible to his sister.
On the other hand, Gravis had solved Stella’s issue with her Will-Aura.
Under normal circumstances, Liam would still hate Gravis, but it was difficult to feel hatred towards Gravis now.
Why?
Because Liam knew that Gravis was here to help them escape.
Would a monster risk their life and pay so many Immortal Stones for these emblems just to save the two of them? Liam had already received his emblem when Stella had grabbed his arm.
If Gravis had only been ready to save Stella, Liam could still rationalize hating him. After all, Stella cared about Liam, and Liam knew that. If Gravis wanted to use Stella like everyone else, he would have ignored Liam.
Yet, he had also spent 50 million Immortal Stones for him, a person that hated Gravis.
Gravis was not a kind person, and Liam knew that. Gravis wouldn’t save anyone that hated and despised him.
However, for Stella, Gravis was even willing to make such a sacrifice for Stella, all so that she could feel happy.
Gravis and Liam didn’t like each other, but Gravis still helped Liam just for Stella.
Because of that, it was difficult for Liam to hate Gravis right now.
Liam and Stella stopped beside the Sect Master and looked at the people gathered.
Liam had known about this tournament, but he had not expected Gravis to be here.
However, to him, even though he hadn’t expected Gravis to be in the tournament, if Gravis took part, it wasn’t surprising that he was in the finals. If Gravis took part in this tournament, there would be no one that could stop him in the same Realm.
Yet, when Liam saw Gravis’ opponent, he still became nervous.
Liam knew Gravis’ Battle-Strength very well, but there was a gigantic issue with Gravis’ opponent.
Winning against this opponent didn’t require someone to have a great Battle-Strength. In fact, it was basically impossible.
If Gravis were at the same level as the Holy Son Candidate of the All-Matter Sect, he could win, but not with a level disadvantage.
The last minutes passed, and it was finally time for the fight.
Gravis and the Holy Son Candidate entered the arena, and the signal to begin had been given.
Yet, the two of them didn’t directly fight.
Instead, they were only looking at each other.
A normal onlooker might be confused, but the upper echelon of the Nine Elements Sect knew what was going on.
Gravis and his opponent were conversing with their Spirits.
"Why do you want to marry Stella?" Gravis asked.
"The same reason why everyone wants to marry her," the Holy Son Candidate answered emotionlessly. He had never shown any kind of emotion ever since he had entered the hall. It was like he was an emotionless iceberg.
"And that reason is?" Gravis asked.
"You don’t know?" the Holy Son Candidate asked without any surprise. "Although, now that I think about it, you don’t belong to any Sect. So, it actually makes sense that you don’t know."
"Could you explain?" Gravis asked.
"Fine," the Holy Son Candidate answered. "Take this as a show of respect from my side for making it this far. You are very powerful, and if you were a Peak Immortal King, you might even win against me. I don’t like to make enemies since making enemies is stupid. So, let me explain."
"The Holy Maiden knows the Law of Empathy. The Law of Empathy can build a connection between two people. With Dual Cultivation, the connection will be strengthened significantly."
"You mean sex, right?" Gravis asked.
"Yes, I mean sex, but we call it Dual Cultivation," the Holy Son Candidate answered emotionlessly. "The connection that the Law of Empathy can produce in Dual Cultivation allows the partner to comprehend the Laws of the partner that knows the Law of Empathy."
Gravis’ eyes widened. That was possible!?
"Of course, one session isn’t nearly enough. You need to stay in Dual Cultivation for thousands of years to comprehend all the Laws of your partner, but it basically has the same effect as staying in a Law Comprehension Area for every single one of their Laws at the same time," he explained.
"But don’t you have access to basically all the Law Comprehension Areas?" Gravis asked in confusion. "It doesn’t sound that would be worth it for you."
"It wouldn’t be," the Holy Son Candidate answered. "However, my All-Matter Sect has control over the Secret Zone that allows someone to comprehend the Law of Apathy. I know the Law of Apathy, and with the Law of Apathy, cultivating with someone with the Law of Empathy becomes very worth it."
’So that’s why he is always emotionless,’ Gravis thought. ’He knows the Law of Apathy and probably completely follows it. He is similar to Mortis, but not completely the same. Mortis still has other emotions like rage and pride, even if they are not the most positive ones. However, this guy is completely emotionless.’
"What does the Law of Apathy do?" Gravis asked.
"The Law of Empathy builds a connection and transfers parts of the Laws to the partner," the Holy Son Candidate explained. "You can see these little Law snippets as something that the owner can easily recover quickly."
"However, with the Law of Apathy, I can pull on that connection. I can pull more and more snippets out of my partner and vastly speed up the process. It wouldn’t even take 10,000 years to comprehend all the Laws of the Holy Maiden of the Nine Elements Sect."
Gravis frowned. "And what happens to the Holy Maiden then?"
"She will lose about half her comprehension of the majority of her Laws. She only needs to spend something like 50,000 to 100,000 years to regain them. Obviously, she will be of no use to me anymore after that."
Gravis felt a chill run down his spine.
The Holy Son Candidate continued emotionlessly. "However, she is an incredibly talented Cultivator, and women often hold grudges for a long time. We obviously can’t allow her to escape, or a Peak Immortal Emperor might one day charge into the All-Matter Sect and kill everyone."
"Therefore, we have to pull the problem out by its roots," the Holy Son Candidate finished coldly.
Gravis’ insides were on the verge of exploding right now, but he appeared terrifyingly calm on the outside. "So, in short, you will strip Stella of most of her Laws and then kill her. Is that it?"
"Yes," the Holy Son Candidate answered. "Why would you care? You are not part of a Sect, and you don’t know her. Power is everything, and killing other Cultivators is normal. This is no different than just killing her."
To a certain extent, Gravis had to agree with the Holy Son Candidate. This wasn’t much different from simply killing any other Cultivator. Cultivators constantly killed each other, and doing something like that wasn’t that despicable. Death is death, after all.
However, Gravis loved Stella. Just because Cultivators constantly killed each other didn’t mean that Gravis had to sit on the sideline and allow everyone to kill his loved ones just because he had killed Cultivators in the past.
They were humans, not beasts. Emotions of belonging, love, and kinship were what made a human a human. Sure, there were also emotions like arrogance, hate, greed, and so on, but humans were complex, to begin with.
So, in short, Gravis saw not much problem with the action in itself but with the chosen target of the action. One should never forget that Gravis was not a kind and friendly person. However, he was fiercely protective of his loved ones.
This guy wanted to force himself on Gravis’ loved one for thousands of years and then kill her.
Gravis’ eyes shone coldly.
’Everything’s ready. Stella and Liam have the emblem.’
’I don’t need to hold back anymore!’
Chapter 907 - 907 – Visions
After the two of them finished their conversation, Gravis charged forward.
This time, he was even far faster than before. Gravis used the fastest speed he could muster, which was far faster than anyone else in the tournament.
The eyes of the Vice-Sect Masters opened widely when they saw his speed.
Gravis had been holding back against his previous opponents!?
WHOOOM!
Gravis released his Will-Aura. On top of that, he used his Law of Major Suppression.
However, the Law of Major Suppression was different now.
During the earlier fights, Gravis had only used it with the power of a level four Law, but now, he was strengthening it with the Law of Perceived Reality. This gave Gravis’ Law of Major Suppression the power of a level five Law.
The opponent was suppressed by 30%. One had to remember that he had a Will-Aura on par with a Mid Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor.
The Holy Son Candidate narrowed his eyes and took out two sabers. Apparently, that was his choice of weapon, pure offense.
WHOOOOM!
However, Gravis activated his Laws of Storm’s Pressure, Storm’s Power, Storm’s Efficiency, and Storm’s Mass to harden the surroundings.
It was becoming hard for the Holy Son Candidate to move, but his eyes didn’t show panic.
WHOOOOM!
Then, Gravis used the Laws of Graphite’s Gravity, Graphite’s Mass, and Graphite’s Efficiency.
By now, the opponent narrowed his eyes. He was taking Gravis very seriously right now.
WHOOOOM!
Then, Gravis used his Laws of Frost’s Cold, Frost’s Penetration, Frost’s Efficiency, and Frost’s Power to freeze the insides of his opponent.
With all of these suppressive forces stacked together, the Holy Son Candidate was so slow that he couldn’t even block Gravis’ attack anymore.
The Vice-Sect Masters looked with shock at Gravis.
So many Laws!
Gravis’ saber hit the opponent’s chest.
SHING! CLANK!
Gravis’ saber shook violently like it had hit something incredibly hard.
BANG!
The Holy Son Candidate was shot into the wall of the arena as a cloud of dust exploded.
Gravis furrowed his brows.
Clink!
The sound of metal boots could be heard as a black, shiny foot came out of the cloud of dust.
WHOOM!
The dust cloud was blown away, and Gravis’ opponent was revealed.
Black.
His entire body was encased in black armor.
Gravis narrowed his eyes, and the Sect Master smirked.
’This armor has been created with the Hard Complex Material Law. In addition, it has been made out of Low Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor Rank Materials.’
’That armor is no joke.’
"Quite impressive," the Holy Son Candidate said calmly. "If you weren’t fighting a Holy Son Candidate of the All-Matter Sect, you would have already won. To think that you are two levels below me and still force me to unveil my armor is beyond impressive."
"Sadly for you, your Realm is just too low to get through this armor," he said calmly as he stopped in the middle of the arena.
Then, he lifted his arm to demonstrate his armor.
"If you were at the same level as I, you would need to unleash an attack on the level of a level six Law to get through this. This means that every Element that isn’t your Avatar would be useless."
"However," the Holy Son Candidate said calmly. "I will definitely survive a strike, and that’s all I need. Even if you break this armor, I can simply summon a second set."
"Originally, I intended to use this armor only against the Holy Maiden of the Nine Elements Sect, but you forced me to summon it early. Very impressive."
Then, he shook his head. "Sadly, you are two levels below me. If you want to break through this armor, you need something with the power of a level 6.5 Law. This means that you would need to use your strongest Weapon Technique with your Avatar to get through this. That costs a ton of Energy, but it should still be possible."
"Of course, that doesn’t really matter," he said. "After all, I have 20 sets. Even if you are faster than me, I can easily outlast you."
"Concede," the Holy Son Candidate ordered. "I don’t want to humiliate you. You have shown enough power as is."
Gravis’ eyes shone slightly. "20 sets? Do you have the authority and money to buy so much ore?" he asked.
"No," the Holy Son Candidate said. "At most, I can buy around four, and that would already consume most of my wealth."
"So, where did you get so many from?" Gravis asked. It was rather obvious to him where the Holy Son Candidate got these sets of armor, but he wanted to hear the real reason from him. After all, the reason might change Gravis’ plan.
"The All-Matter Sect, obviously," the Holy Son Candidate said. "We have already lost two of our strongest Core Disciples to the Holy Maiden in the last tournaments. So, for this one, we went all out. I will take the Holy Maiden away today."
’Sure enough, it was the All-Matter Sect,’ Gravis thought as he narrowed his eyes. ’This makes things different.’
’Originally, I wanted to work together with the All-Matter Sect with my grand plan, but that has changed now. If it were only him, I wouldn’t care. After all, he’s just a single person, and his actions don’t reflect the entire Sect.’
’However, since his entire Sect is behind him, it means that he wants to take Stella away with borrowed power. There is no issue with borrowed power inherently, but it depends on what kind of borrowed power it is and for what it is used.’
’The All-Matter Sect is willing to throw pride and self-respect away to get Stella. Seems like the upper echelon of the All-Matter Sect isn’t any different from the upper echelon of the Nine Elements Sect. Both of these organizations are schemers and politicians. The individual isn’t important. Only the Sect is important.’
’I hate that mindset!’ Gravis thought.
’However, he is right. I can’t break through his armor in the traditional way. Even a Lightning Crescent with Divine Lightning might not completely kill him. This armor is four levels above me.’
’There are only two attacks that can break him, Mortality with Divine Lightning and Samsara.’
’I don’t want to show that I know Divine Lightning already. That would be too conspicuous.’
’Well, time to test Samsara.’
BZZZ!
Gravis reforged his saber.
"Still not giving up?" Gravis’ opponent asked.
"You know, I actually don’t have anything against you," Gravis said. "You have treated me with respect and have explained several things to me. Under normal circumstances, we could even become friends, even with our different mindsets."
"However," Gravis said with conviction as he narrowed his eyes. "You’ve chosen the wrong target!"
"You honestly believe you can win?" the guy asked. "Do you plan to use a soul attack? You do know that there are Formation Arrays on my armor that also protect my soul, right? I obviously wouldn’t overlook such a glaring weakness."
Gravis took a deep breath.
"Anyway, thanks for explaining everything," Gravis said.
Then, he lifted his saber.
The Vice-Sect Masters looked with confusion at Gravis’ saber.
Stella and Liam looked with intrigue at Gravis’ lifted saber. They knew that Gravis didn’t utter empty boasts. He had something he could rely on.
The Sect Master only smirked.
This was her trump card.
Even if Gravis could battle four levels above himself, he wouldn’t be able to exhaust the wealth of the All-Matter Sect. It was simply impossible for him to create an attack that was powerful enough to win in a single shot.
Power gathered on Gravis’ saber as his opponent only watched. He wanted to see what Gravis could do.
Suddenly, Stella’s eyes widened.
’That’s the Law of Freedom, but how?’ she thought. ’Why do I feel the Law of Freedom in his saber? Also, isn’t that also the Law of Suppression and the Law of Danger?’
Then, it hit her. ’Wait, is there an overarching Law for all these situational Laws? What kind of Law would that even be? These Laws have nearly nothing in common with each other!’
Then, Gravis slashed down.
CREEEEEEE!
A grey crescent was released, and it made an ear-grating sound. It was like an insanely fast piece of metal was cutting through gravel as it was ground to nothingness. This was the sound of Perceived Reality clashing with Physical Reality. Perceived Reality was cutting through Physical Reality.
Many pictures appeared inside the slash as it moved forward. It was like a different form of reality could be seen in these pictures.
For the instant that the slash existed, many people felt drawn in. The slash looked wondrous. It was like it had impossibly many possibilities and opportunities inside it.
Suddenly, the Holy Son Candidate felt his body shake.
Death!
He felt death approaching him.
But how!?
How could an attack from such a weak Cultivator cut through his armor!?
It took a long time to describe, but everything happened in an instant. Before the Holy Son Candidate could even react, the slash hit him.
Samsara ignored everything physical. In its reality, the enemy didn’t wear any armor. The enemy didn’t even have a physical body. Only things that could come into contact with ethereal things mattered.
And humans had such a thing.
The Spirit.
Everything else didn’t matter.
Samsara went past everything and directly hit the Holy Son Candidate’s Spirit.
WHOOOOM!
Time seemingly stopped.
"That’s your little brother," a graceful woman said.
’What’s happening?’ the Holy Son Candidate thought. ’Is that my mother?’
"Yay, I have a little brother!" the Holy Son Candidate shouted.
’Wait, I didn’t say that! Why do I sound female?’
Then, the vision changed as the Holy Son Candidate saw a tiny child in the adult woman’s arm.
’That’s my mother, and that baby, it’s me!’ he thought with shock.
"Hey, little bro!" the Holy Son Candidate seemingly shouted.
He was in the body of his big sister, and he saw the moment of his birth.
Years passed.
The Holy Son Candidate saw himself growing up, and he looked different than he remembered.
In his past, he had always seen himself as someone prideful and powerful.
Yet, in his sister’s eyes, this boy looked adorable, cute, and innocent.
’Is this really me?’
More years passed.
"Save me, little bro!" the Holy Son Candidate seemingly shouted with his female voice.
In front of them were raiders.
Right now, the past version of the Holy Son Candidate was on an excursion...
And he wouldn’t return for five more days.
The Holy Son Candidate felt the reality of his sister’s demise.
The raiders forced themselves upon her multiple times and then killed her.
"Little bro," she said with tears as a blade came down upon her. "Be happy."
CUT!
The cold heart of the Holy Son Candidate felt emotions for the first time in an eternity.
Then, a new image appeared.
This time, he was looking at the newborn version of himself from the viewpoint of his mother. He looked adorable and helpless.
This time, as he grew up, he saw himself differently again.
In his mother’s vision, he looked troubled. The sister didn’t see the issues with her brother, but the mother noticed the problem with her son.
He held some kind of apathy and pain inside. In her vision, he appeared like a hurt and angry teenager.
"Why didn’t you just stay and become a farmer?" were the last words of his mother after she went through the same torment as the Holy Son Candidate’s sister.
Then, she also died.
The next vision was of his father.
This time, as the Holy Son Candidate grew older, he appeared disrespectful and cold. He also had slight cracks in his appearance.
In his father’s mind, his son was broken and had to be fixed.
His father died as he tried to defend himself against the raiders.
"You’ve abandoned your family for glory!" he shouted to himself in rage before he died.
The next vision was of one of the Holy Son Candidate’s previous friends.
The next one was from another friend.
The next one was from an enemy.
The next one was from one of his previous masters.
The visions just didn’t stop, and they became longer and longer as the Cultivators also became more powerful. After all, the Cultivators could live longer.
’Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!’
This was what the Holy Son Candidate had shouted to himself for years now.
He just couldn’t take it anymore!
He saw himself making several decisions he had regretted without being able to change them.
’Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!’
The visions continued.
After the 30th one, he started to doubt himself.
’Who am I? Is this person really me?’
All the different visions affected him.
He had been in these visions for far too long, and without the ability to do what he wanted, he started doubting his very existence.
What would he have done?
Yet, he saw himself do several things.
’Have I really done that?’
’Why would I do that?’
His thinking became slower and slower. It was like he just couldn’t think as fast anymore. It was like his Spirit was becoming smaller and weaker.
This was the effect of having one’s Spirit destroyed. It usually happened instantaneously, but these realities slipped by with such insane speeds that the instantaneous destruction of the Holy Son Candidate’s Spirit by the Law of Deep Wood’s Destruction played out over millennia upon millennia.
’Who am I?’
’What am I?’
Who... am I?’
’Who... am...’
’Who...’
And then he stopped thinking.
He didn’t exist anymore.
Chapter 908 - 908 – Aftereffects
Gravis keeled over and fell on one knee. He was breathing heavily.
’I- I’m back?’ he thought.
’Fuck, I didn’t know Samsara would pull me into the same visions as my opponent!’ he thought with shock and terror. ’Luckily, the Laws of Shadow’s Illusion and Deep Wood’s Destruction didn’t affect me.’
Yes, Gravis had seen everything that the Holy Son Candidate had seen.
However, the impact was not nearly as strong for Gravis as for the Holy Son Candidate.
First of all, Gravis was an onlooker. Watching the life of someone else was like watching a very, very long performance. It didn’t have anything to do with him. That made it far easier for Gravis to stay himself.
Second of all, Gravis wasn’t affected by the Law of Shadow’s Illusion. This made the visions appear far less clear. It was like there was a constant haze over everything. One could liken it to a dream, and it just didn’t feel real to Gravis. After all, Perceived Reality wasn’t physical reality.
Third of all, Gravis’ Spirit wasn’t attacked by the Law of Deep Wood’s Destruction. This meant that he was not losing his faculties over time. His Spirit still had the power of a Late Major Circulation Immortal Emperor. This allowed him to stay more clearheaded.
’1,324 years,’ Gravis thought. ’Just a short 100 years of his life already amounted to 1,324 years of illusions. Without the Law of Deep Wood’s Destruction, the visions would have been far longer. I don’t know how old he is currently, but if he had made it all the way, we might have seen visions for over a million years.’
THUNK!
The Holy Son Candidate fell over, dead.
Gravis looked over with complex emotions in his eyes. ’Cutter, huh?’ he thought. ’Your father was a farmer, but he liked cutting wood as a hobby. He thought that you could learn from him and become a woodcutter. Therefore, he called you Cutter, huh?’
’Your life was truly tragic. You already had issues with bonding with others when you were young, but that was only exacerbated when your family died. You cut off all your emotions since you never wanted to feel pain again, finally becoming who you are today.’
’I might have only seen your first hundred years several times, but it still feels I’ve known you for a lifetime.’
’It kind of feels like I killed an old acquaintance.’
One couldn’t help feeling for someone after seeing them live their life for over a thousand years.
Gravis also felt horrible for Cutter’s dead family. He went through the same things as Cutter’s family did, and it was horrifying.
Gravis had felt utterly helpless in that situation, but he kept telling himself that this was his attack and that all of this wasn’t real.
With Gravis’ Will-Aura, he managed to get through everything without any damage. He only felt slightly mentally drained.
Silence.
The entire hall fell into silence as Cutter’s dead body fell over. His belongings were already strewn around him.
Gravis narrowed his eyes at Cutter’s corpse. ’Even if I feel for you, I don’t regret killing you. You wanted to force yourself upon Stella and kill her. Even if you have been formed into who you are today by your surroundings, it doesn’t justify what you wanted to do to Stella.’
’I need to be careful of using this attack. If someone had lived with nearly no regret, they wouldn’t break easily. They wouldn’t dissociate with themselves since the character they are watching would do the same thing as them. In that case, I would need to go through the entirety of my enemy’s life.’
’I can deal with a couple thousand years, but if it becomes even longer, my personality might change. I might become very similar to my enemy. Then, wouldn’t the opponent have won?’
’However, Samsara truly is terrifying. I’m not even sure if someone five levels above me can resist it. As soon as I hit, the fight will basically be over as long as they are not some saint that lives completely without regret.’
’Yet, every time I use it, I will be pulled in.’
However, there was a slight glint in Gravis’ eyes. ’Samsara has disadvantages, but funnily enough, these disadvantages also bring some certain advantages with them.’
’My Will-Aura has grown a slight bit more powerful. After all, I was facing the danger of losing myself.’
’Additionally, going through someone else’s life multiple times from different viewpoints gives me more insight into the Emotional Laws. I’m certain that I learned quite a bit about the Law of Empathy just now.’
’Lastly, I’m also certain that Samsara’s effects can be weakened by mastering more Emotional Laws. The Law of Apathy allowed me to dissociate from Cutter’s life to some extent. If I also know the Law of Empathy, I can probably live through these visions for a lot longer without any aftereffects.’
’If I comprehend the Law of Emotions, I can basically ignore all of these aftereffects. Then, it wouldn’t matter how long the visions are. My emotions will be stable beyond comparison, and it would just be like reading a long story. I wouldn’t need to face the danger of losing myself.’
’However, for now, I need to be careful against whom I use Samsara.’
’But everything actually makes sense. The Law of Perceived Reality can help me understand the Emotional Laws with Samsara. When I master the Emotional Law, I can probably use it to learn more about life. After all, emotions are a big part of life. The Law of the Dead World also helps in comprehending the Laws of Life to some extent since everything is basically made out of different materials.’
’At the peak of the categories, the categories help me with learning different categories. That’s probably also how Divine Gods can gain insights into the Laws of Perceived Reality. At that point, the Situational Laws no longer need different situations to be comprehended.’
’Anyway, off to save Stella!’
Gravis stood up as he stretched his body. It felt weird to be back inside his own body for a short time, but he quickly acclimated to his body again.
Gravis looked around and noticed the expression of the other people in the hall.
Shock.
Everyone was shocked.
One single attack had directly killed the Holy Son Candidate!?
How!?
Wait, he was dead!?
How were they supposed to explain this to the All-Matter Sect!?
Their ally’s Holy Son Candidate had died in their headquarters in their own tournament!
They were supposed to save his life!
However, the most shocked person out of all was the Sect Master.
She had bet everything on the fact that Gravis couldn’t win against the Holy Son Candidate. After all, how was he supposed to get through that armor?
All her plans were destroyed.
Yet, she quickly calmed down as she narrowed her eyes.
A ton of ideas, schemes, and plans went through her eyes, one after the other. She was a very scheming person, and her superb ability to quickly come up with complex plans was one of the main reasons why she managed to become the Sect Master.
"Now I understand," the Sect Master said coldly, claiming the attention of everyone in the hall.
The Sect Master slowly stood up from her throne as she looked with cold eyes at Gravis.
"No wonder you didn’t mind killing the Holy Son Candidate of the All-Matter Sect."
"Everyone else wouldn’t dare to kill a Holy Son Candidate inside the very headquarters of another Peak Sect."
"This can only mean one thing."
"You didn’t come here with pure intentions."
"You didn’t come to claim the hand of the Holy Maiden."
"You didn’t come to win the tournament."
"No, you came here to damage the alliance of the Peak Sects."
"Killing someone in my very house will inevitably damage the relations between the Nine Elements Sect and the All-Matter Sect."
"And why?"
The Sect Master’s eyes narrowed with cold hatred.
"Because you come from Underworld!"
The eyes of everyone opened in shock. They still couldn’t get over the fact that the Holy Son Candidate of their allied Peak Sect had died, but the Sect Master’s words brought clarity back to their minds.
Everything made sense!
Yes, Gravis had been sent here by Underworld to damage the relations of the Peak Sect!
Like this, Underworld would have an easier time developing in the regions under them!
WHOOOOOM!
The Sect Master released her Will-Aura, and everything was locked down.
Even Gravis couldn’t move anymore.
After all, without his Avatar, Mortis, Gravis’ Law of Perceived Reality could only exhibit the power of a level five Law.
The Will-Aura of such a powerful Immortal Emperor was far beyond the ability of the Law of Freedom, which had been boosted to the power of a level five Law.
"First, I deal with you," the Sect Master said as she slowly pointed towards Gravis.
"And then, I deal with Underworld."
"This will not go unpunished!"
Chapter 909 - 909 – Underworld Will Pay!
The Will-Aura of the Sect Master suppressed the entire hall, including Stella and Liam. Sure enough, she had the fitting power for her position.
However, Gravis’ eyes only shone. Obviously, he had expected something like this.
SHING! SHING!
Two attacks were suddenly unleashed by the Sect Master, but they didn’t target Gravis. Gravis didn’t feel his Law of Danger shouting, which meant that he was not in danger. Because of that, he didn’t react.
BANG! BANG!
Gravis’ saber and shield were destroyed by the Sect Master. "With your Avatar destroyed, you won’t be able to flee, no matter what you do," she said.
Then, she smirked. "Did you believe that I would give you a chance to use whatever trump card you had prepared for this occasion? Hah, it doesn’t matter! Even if you can still unleash your trump card, with your Avatar destroyed, you have essentially become a cripple."
"Now, I will take my time and siphon out all the knowledge in your head. For your affront to the mighty Nine Elements Sect, you will live a life worse than death until the end of your days. I hope you have made your amends."
’She thinks my Avatar is in my weapons,’ Gravis thought with a sly grin.
"You think I’m from Underworld?" Gravis asked with a voice transmission to everyone at once. He couldn’t move his body, but the Sect Master didn’t suppress his Spirit. She could have if she wanted to, but she wanted to hear Gravis plead for his life.
"There is no point in denying," she said coldly.
"Haha," Gravis laughed briefly without any mirth. "Then, tell me. If I were from Underworld, would I do something like this?"
SHING!
Suddenly, a new person appeared in the hall. The Sect Master and the Vice-Sect Master hadn’t noticed this person at all. They knew one way that could summon a living being directly, and all of them looked at Gravis.
No, no Life Ring. If Gravis had summoned that person with a Life Ring, he would have needed to actually summon the ring first.
This person looked very similar to Gravis, but he had white hair and white, cross-shaped eyes.
It was Mortis.
Who said that Mortis wasn’t with Gravis?
But wait, wasn’t Mortis currently imprisoned?
Yes, he was, but he was also here.
After the preliminary tournament, Gravis had gone to the beast territory to get a clone of Mortis. By his calculations, Gravis should have had enough absorbed Energy for Mortis to also make a clone.
Yet, when Gravis arrived, he felt half of his Energy vanish.
Mortis was Gravis’ Avatar, but he also needed Energy, just like every other Cultivator. This meant that Gravis now needed double the amount of Energy to reach the next Realm.
When Gravis realized this, he gnashed his teeth and absorbed 50 million Immortal Stones. He needed one of Mortis’ copies.
It cost quite a bit, but Gravis got his Mortis clone.
Ever since then, Mortis had been inside Gravis’ Spirit Space. Others couldn’t enter Gravis’ Spirit Space, but since Mortis was lightning, just like Gravis, he could easily enter and stay there. Sadly, as long as Mortis was not beside Gravis on the outside, Gravis couldn’t use the power of his Avatar.
However, now, Mortis was here, and he stood beside Gravis.
The Sect Master and Vice-Sect Masters looked at Mortis in shock. He hadn’t come out of a Life Ring, so where had he come from?
In an instant, while everyone was shocked, Gravis’ Spirit stretched to the suppressed Stella and Liam. With Mortis beside him, Gravis’ Law of Freedom had the power of a level six Law, enough to resist any Immortal Emperor.
Gravis immediately requested access to Stella’s and Liam’s Spirit Space.
Stella accepted without any issue, and Liam also knew that he couldn’t be stubborn now. He had to trust Gravis!
After that, Gravis pulled out the two emblems from Underworld in their Spirit Spaces out and put them into their hands.
Gravis summoned his own emblem and smirked at the Sect Master.
Gravis used his Spirit to move Stella’s and Liam’s hands to crack the emblems.
The Sect Master exploded with anger, and she shot a violent icicle of powerful Frost at Gravis with insane speeds.
However, Gravis, Stella, and Liam had already vanished.
The Sect Master’s mind went wild.
She remembered Gravis’ words.
"Then, tell me. If I were from Underworld, would I do something like this?"
Yes, that’s exactly what someone from Underworld would do!
The Sect Master’s aura became fiery red and unstable. This was a sign that she knew the Law of Rage and that it had been triggered.
This mere Immortal King had played her!
How dare he!
Underworld!
The Sect Master hadn’t been certain that Gravis had come from Underworld before, but now, she was certain!
She knew these emblems!
Only an organization like Underworld would sell or give these kinds of emblems to unknown Cultivators!
Underworld!
The Sect Master gnashed her teeth.
This time, Underworld had gone too far!
They would pay!
Suddenly, the Sect Master’s violent eyes turned to the old Vice-Sect Master.
In an instant, the old Vice-Sect Master felt death had come.
’She knows!’ he thought with terror.
In that instant, the Vice-Sect Master retrieved an emblem and wanted to crush it.
BANG!
However, the Sect Master wouldn’t fall for that trick again. She immediately pushed it away with her Laws.
"You have gone too far this time!" the Sect Master said with venom and hatred.
"He’s not from Underworld!" the Vice-Sect Master said with rage, panic, and frustration.
"You’re lying even now!?" the Sect Master shouted, her voice nearly becoming shrill.
The Vice-Sect Master’s emotions were going wild. Yes, he was from Underworld, but this had nothing to do with them! Yet, the Sect Master was adamant about killing him! He hadn’t done anything!
’You’ll pay for that!’ the Vice-Sect Master thought. However, these thoughts weren’t targeted at the Sect Master but at Gravis. In his mind, Gravis had framed Underworld!
This wasn’t just some minor conflict. In the Sect Master’s mind, Underworld had completely gone against the All-Matter Sect and the Nine Elements Sect.
This meant war!
"Die!"
BANG!
The Vice-Sect Master felt a powerful attack coming at him, and in the end, he had no other choice.
Just when the attack hit the Vice-Sect Master, he exploded by himself thanks to a Formation Array that had been cast on his body by Underworld.
This was the sign for Underworld that the Nine Elements Sect would go to war with them.
Underworld had been warned of the Nine Elements Sect’s intentions!
The Vice-Sect Master had timed his explosion just right, making it appear like he had died to the Sect Master’s attack.
The Sect Master hadn’t noticed that Underworld had already been informed of her intentions, and she would pay a heavy price for that.
"Sten!" the Sect Master shouted.
SHING!
"Yes, Sect Master?" a new person said. He had just teleported inside the Nine Elements Sect, which should be impossible. Even the Sect Master couldn’t teleport.
This person was a stalwart, young man with earthen-brown hair. His tone towards the Sect Master was neutral. He was not respectful but also not dismissive. He also didn’t bow.
This person obviously had a high status.
"The Holy Maiden, her brother, and an attacker from Underworld have killed the Holy Son Candidate of the All-Matter Sect and have fled with an escape emblem from Underworld," the Sect Master informed him. Her tone was surprisingly neutral, even though her anger and hatred were close to exploding. Obviously, she also had to take this person seriously.
Sten lifted both of his eyebrows with surprise.
That guy killed a Holy Son Candidate in the central palace of the Nine Elements Sect and managed to flee with two people alive?
That sure was an impressive performance.
"Track them down! Kill the attacker from Underworld and the Holy Maiden’s brother! Bring the Holy Maiden back. Her condition doesn’t matter as long as she is still alive," the Sect Master quickly ordered.
Sten nodded. "Sure," he said, but instead of leaving, he looked with interest at the hall. ’To think that Underworld managed to make emblems that can crack my Formation Arrays.’
’Seems like there is now a fourth person in this world that knows the level six Law of Space,’ Sten thought.
After that, Sten teleported away in the blink of an eye. His teleportation speed was so incredibly fast that not even an Immortal Emperor could react.
It was many, many times faster than the teleportation speed of anyone else.
This could only mean that this person knew the level six Law of Space, and even more, the level six Law of Space was his Avatar.
His speed of teleportation was ridiculously fast, and he was also a Late Major Circulation Immortal Emperor, which meant that his Spirit Sense was also ridiculously wide.
This was one of the current Ascenders of the Nine Elements Sect. The only reason why this person hadn’t left the world was that he wanted to comprehend even more Laws before ascending.
He could reach the Peak Immortal Emperor Realm and ascend in less than an hour if he wanted.
Sten teleported over 20 times per second, which was insane. Teleporting oneself one time nearly took a whole second, which was also why people very rarely teleported while fighting.
Yet, 20 times in a second was incredibly fast, and every time he teleported, he moved for millions upon millions of kilometers.
Even worse, with the level six Law of Space, Sten could track where the emblem from Underworld had deposited Gravis, Stella, and Liam.
’Near the frontlines, eh?’ Sten thought calmly.
’Give me five minutes.’
Chapter 910 - 910 – Frontlines
Gravis, Stella, and Liam appeared in the middle of nowhere.
"Gravis!" Stella shouted with urgency, panic, longing, and fear. She knew that they had not nearly reached safety yet. The Sect Master was sure to send that one Ascender with the level six Law of Space after them!
"No time! Trust me!" Gravis transmitted to both of them at once.
PACK!
Gravis threw his Life Ring to Stella, who caught it immediately.
"Liam, into the ring!" Gravis ordered.
Liam didn’t say anything and simply entered the ring at the same time as Gravis.
"I am the owner of the ring, which means I can still spread my Spirit Sense to the outside and communicate with you," Gravis transmitted to Stella from inside the ring.
"You know the Law of Primordial Force, and your Realm is higher than mine. You are faster with teleportation. Immediately teleport to this spot!" Gravis transmitted.
At the same time, Stella received the image of a map. There was a marked spot at exactly the edge of the frontlines where humans and beasts met.
Stella grew nervous. If they went there, they wouldn’t be beyond the Spirit Sense of that terrifying Ascender. Even more, the beast territory was just before them. They would get killed by an avalanche of beasts!
However, she trusted Gravis fully, and she immediately started teleporting.
All of this had not even taken a second. Communication with voice transmission was nearly instantaneous, and Cultivators on their levels could think very quickly.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
Stella made one teleportation after the other with urgency.
In less than a minute, they saw an army of Cultivators and fortifications made out of Formation Arrays.
There were so many Formation Arrays that it was insane. In fact, the Nine Elements Sect’s headquarters couldn’t compare to this region.
These were the frontlines, and they ensured that humanity continued to survive. 80% of the humans’ resources went to the frontlines, and they were absolutely packed with fortifications and soldiers.
Stella could even already feel the shockwaves of fighting. Beasts and humans were in constant conflict all over the entire frontlines. Humans invaded the beast territory in order to kill as many beasts as possible. If they relaxed for even a couple of years, there would be so many beasts that they could attack the fortifications.
The humans would still be able to defend themselves against such an assault, but they would be using more resources than they would have saved up in 100 years. If this happened a couple of times, the saved up resources of humanity would be ground to dust, severely weakening the fortifications.
That was why the frontlines were under constant battle. It was a literal meatgrinder that worked at 100% of its capacity.
The frontlines stretched over a gigantic territory, but it was nothing compared to the entire beast territory or human territory. Thousands of Cultivators and beasts died every hour on the frontlines, and it was the primary way to temper oneself as a human or beast.
Constant, unstoppable fighting.
When Gravis saw the frontlines, he truly understood how this higher world could have become so powerful.
In the middle world, only the weaker beasts had constantly fought. Everyone else had waited on the defensive lines. The strong beasts only saw fights every couple of years.
But here, absolutely everyone was going crazy.
Any Cultivator that had lived their life in peace, after they came here, would realize that their world was not as safe as they thought.
If any one of these frontlines fell, an apocalyptic army of beasts would swallow the land, killing every human they saw, mortal and Cultivator alike.
These frontlines instilled a sense of urgency in everyone’s Spirit.
Their world was constantly on the brink of destruction!
Stella continued teleporting and came to the Formation Arrays.
Her emblem on her chest that showed that she was the Holy Maiden of the Nine Elements Sect shone, and the Formation Arrays let her pass. If anyone with a weaker status had come here, they would have been annihilated by the Formation Arrays. After all, they had to register first.
This was another reason why Gravis had let Stella teleport to the frontline. No one would have the guts to stop the Holy Maiden of a Peak Sect.
Sure enough, some guards on standby looked at the rapidly passing Stella with wonder.
"The Holy Maiden of the Nine Elements Sect," they said with respect and awe.
"Yes, she comes here from time to time," said a Peak Immortal King from beside the guard.
"Even the Holy Maiden tempers herself in the frontlines?" the guard asked.
"Yes, why not? It’s a great place for tempering," the Peak Immortal King said.
The Peak Immortal King didn’t seem very respectful when he talked about Stella. In fact, he was talking about her like they were on the same level.
Anyone that didn’t know the intricacies of the war between humans and beasts would be shocked. That was the Holy Maiden!
However, one had to know one thing.
The leaders of the frontlines didn’t belong to the Peak Sects.
In fact, they belonged to the Human Alliance.
The Human Alliance represented the entirety of humanity, and they were led by the five Peak Sects.
However, that didn’t mean that someone had to belong to the Peak Sects to make it big here. In fact, many of the most powerful Cultivators in the world belonged to the Human Alliance directly. They spent day and night at the frontlines, continually fighting beasts. They only fought and never involved themselves in the conflicts between humans.
The higher officers all had Will-Auras at least two levels above their level, without exception, and there were thousands of them.
Holy Sons and Holy Maidens?
The Human Alliance had over 20 similarly powerful and talented Cultivators on the frontlines.
These were the soldiers and warriors that protected humanity. Their Battle-Strength was insane, and they didn’t care about honor and status. No, they only cared about power.
Why did they care about power?
Because they wanted to protect their home!
The gathered soldiers on the frontlines could flatten all five Peak Sects at once if the Peak Sects didn’t have their Ascenders and Ancestors.
This was the true power of humanity.
Stella continued teleporting urgently to the frontline, and she was quickly attacked by several Immortal King beasts.
Fighting was constant.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Stella released three bolts of burning lightning and annihilated the beasts instantly.
This was the level five Law of Punishment Inferno.
SHING!
Suddenly, Gravis appeared beside Stella.
Then, he transformed into his beast form instantaneously and grabbed Stella’s body.
Stella saw Gravis’ beast form for the first time, and she became afraid for a second. However, when she felt that Gravis was still careful when pulling her with him, she relaxed.
This was still Gravis.
Even if he looked like a Black Demon, he was still Gravis.
"Graphite Movement!" Gravis transmitted to Stella.
Gravis pulled Stella and himself down with the Law of Graphite’s Gravity.
SHING!
And both of them passed through the earth.
Luckily, Stella also knew the Law of Graphite’s Movement.
WHOOOOOM!
Stella’s face whitened as Gravis’ eyes narrowed.
’He’s here!’ Stella thought with terror.
"There you are," Sten transmitted.
He had already arrived.
The three of them hadn’t even left for three minutes!
Thanks to the Law of Graphite’s Gravity, Stella and Gravis shot into the earth with insane speeds.
"You think that will stop me?" Sten transmitted with a calm smirk.
SHING!
Gravis immediately stopped.
Sten was just in front of him below the ground.
Their speeds were not even in the same world.
The difference was too vast.
"Hand over the Holy Maiden, and I will make your death swift," Sten said calmly.
Stella’s body shook.
’No! We’ve been so close!’ she thought.
However, Gravis only smirked.
"You’re dead, and you don’t even know it," Gravis said with a slight laugh.
"Hm?" Sten was quite surprised. "What give you such- fuck!"
BOOOOOOM!
Gravis threw himself in front of Stella and summoned his repaired shield in front of him.
The shield broke instantly, and Gravis’ scales also broke.
However, luckily, that was enough. After all, this attack hadn’t been aimed at them.
No, it was aimed at the wave of roots that came towards Sten.
"I was missing the level six Law of Space," Narcissus transmitted to Gravis. "This human is perfect."
"Ah! What is this! Who are you!?" Sten shouted as a tsunami of roots attacked him.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Several of the roots glowed with calm, cyan flames.
Sten was still able to defend himself after roughly five strikes, but his expression became blank after being struck for the tenth time.
The roots hit Sten two more times to make sure that Sten couldn’t escape. Finally, some roots calmly enveloped Sten in a cocoon.
The cocoon slowly moved into the distance, and Sten couldn’t be felt anymore.
Gravis took a deep breath.
’That’s the Ancestral Wood Element, the level six Law equivalent to Deep Wood,’ Gravis thought. ’Narcissus is incredibly powerful.’
Stella was frozen in terror and shock.
What was this!?
This being felt incomparably powerful!
In fact, this being felt even more powerful than her teacher!
Yet, how was this possible!?
Her teacher had been a Peak Immortal Emperor!
How could this being be even more powerful!?
Sten, someone with a level six Law that could put up a fight against even an Ancestor, was utterly helpless in front of this being!
This hadn’t even been a fight!
And now, they stood in front of this being, alone!
What would happen to them!?
"See?" Gravis said with a chipper tone. "I didn’t disappoint you, did I?" he asked.
"No, you didn’t," Narcissus answered. "Yet, I also saved your life. Therefore, I will take this as repayment for saving your life."
"No problem," Gravis said with a wide smile.
Stella felt the being’s senses stretch to her.
"Is that your lover?" Narcissus asked.
"Hopefully," Gravis answered in embarrassment.
"Hm, she doesn’t have any flowers or roots. I don’t get your taste," Narcissus said. "Anyway, I would advise you to travel towards the east, along my domain. For obvious reasons, I can’t let normal humans enter. It’s already a favor from my side that I didn’t immediately kill her."
"Sure, thanks, Narcissus!" Gravis said.
Meanwhile, Stella was shocked.
Gravis knew this impossibly powerful being!?
What!?