Ch. 971..980

Chapter 971: Tribulation

Gravis had just been in the middle of comprehending the Law of Graphite's Supreme Cutting when his Laws of Danger and Safety screamed at him.

Someone was attacking him!

BANG!

Two snake fangs bit into Gravis' neck as they injected a ton of Shadow Poison into his veins. An instant later, the entire body of the snake coiled around Gravis as all his bones broke.

There was deep hatred visible in the snake's eyes as it tried to kill Gravis, and its attack was definitely not weak.

This was an Early Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor, someone four levels above Gravis.

"Why?" Gravis transmitted.

"It's you!" the snake transmitted with hatred. "You were the one that ruined the purity of our beasts! You were the one that introduced the manipulation of metal to the beasts! You have ruined everything!"

Gravis scratched his chin as he calmly watched the snake wrestling with itself.

Yes, Gravis had never been hit.

As soon as Gravis' Laws had shouted at him, he activated his Law of Perceived Reality, making it appear like the snake had hit him.

For the last couple of seconds, the snake was biting the air as it coiled around nothing.

Gravis wanted to know why someone had suddenly attacked him, and he quickly got his answer.

While the snake was wrestling with itself, Gravis checked up on his basic Formation Array that told him how long he had been in comprehension.

'A little bit over 10,000 years have passed already,' Gravis thought. 'Huh, a bit longer than I thought.'

Why was Gravis checking the time?

Because he had a suspicion.

'Sure enough, I had my fight against Eran when I was 46,000 years old. Eran was supposed to be Siral's tribulation, but I killed the opponent, which meant that he transformed into my tribulation. Therefore, my longevity has been extended after I won the fight.'

'Right now, I'm about 146,000 years old, nearly exactly 100,000 years after my fight with Eran,' Gravis thought as he watched the snake.

'This is my tribulation.'

Gravis scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he looked at the snake that grew happier as it felt the life of its target slowly vanishing.

'Officially, since Eran counts as my first tribulation, this snake is my second tribulation. This means that the snake is supposed to be two levels above me. However, there are two levels between Late Major Circulation Immortal King and Peak Immortal King. Additionally, there are also two levels between Peak Immortal King and Early Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor.'

'So, even though the snake is only two Cultivation levels higher than me, its Battle-Strength is four levels higher than mine.'

Gravis looked with a complex expression at the snake. 'Four levels, huh?' he thought. 'When I just arrived in this world, fighting something four levels above me was perfect tempering for me.'

'However, now, four levels are nothing. With the current power of my Will-Aura, even five levels wouldn't be hard.'

'Anyway, it doesn't matter.'

Gravis slowly walked over to the snake, who was growing more shocked by the second.

How was its prey still alive!?

The snake was certain that it had broken all of the Black Demon's organs and bones. How is its prey still struggling in its grasp!?

Meanwhile, Gravis walked up to the snake from behind and took out a spear.

Then, Gravis enhanced his body with the Law of Physical Power and loaded his spear with Mortality.

BANG!

The snake's head exploded as Gravis stabbed his spear into its head from behind.

Even until the end, the snake had never realized that the Black Demon in its grasp had only been its perceived reality.

However, it wasn't physical reality.

As Gravis looked at the corpse, he had to sigh.

'The Law of Perceived Reality really is terrifyingly powerful,' he thought. 'In my fight against the Black Demon, it alone has won me half the fight. If the defense of my opponent hadn't been an entire level above his Realm, he would have even completely died to it.'

'My enemy sees what they want to see. This means that, in their perception, everything is going smoothly while, in reality, it isn't. This leaves them in a dream where they get what they want.'

'At least, until they wake up.'

Gravis ignored the corpse since there was nothing of value on it. After all, Gravis had enough Immortal Stones to become a Late Major Circulation Immortal Emperor. This corpse was literally worthless.

"Mortis, I just had my tribulation," Gravis transmitted.

"So?" Mortis answered neutrally. "It's only an Early Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor."

Gravis groaned. "Yes, I know that. I contacted you because I wanted to know if you also got attacked."

"No," Mortis answered. "Technically, I am you since we share the same Spirit. Therefore, I won't go through tribulations."

"Just wanted to make sure," Gravis said. "Anyway, did you make any progress in the Laws?"

"Corefrost is nearly done," Mortis answered.

"Nice," Gravis answered. "Anyway, I'm going to finish the Law of Graphite's Supreme Cutting. It might still take me another 10,000 years since my affinity towards earth is horrible."

"Okay," Mortis answered.

After talking with Mortis, Gravis contacted Stella and informed her that everything was alright. Gravis was pretty sure that Stella paid more attention to Gravis' age than Gravis himself.

Sure enough, when Gravis told Stella about his tribulation, she released a sigh of relief. She knew that Gravis couldn't possibly die in his tribulation, but she had still been nervous.

The two of them talked for several hours. By now, they both longed for each other again.

They had been apart for a really long time.

"Give me another 30,000 years or so," Gravis answered. "However, if you want, I can come over right now."

"No, it's fine," Stella answered quickly. "I don't want to interrupt your comprehension. 30,000 years sounds fine."

Gravis sighed. He knew that Stella probably wanted to see him right now, but Gravis knew that Stella might feel guilty if Gravis came over.

So, Gravis went back to comprehending Laws.

8,000 years later, Gravis finished the Law of Graphite's Supreme Cutting.

That single Law took Gravis a collective 18,000 years.

During that time, Mortis finished the Law of Corefrost. In addition to that, Mortis also finished the Law of Deep Inferno, which was a fusion of Inferno and Deep Wood.

'So many Mixed Elements,' Gravis thought with a sigh. 'Even more, they don't even really increase my power since my lightning eclipses their power by far.'

'Yet,' Gravis thought, 'I am gaining a ton of Law Comprehension experience, and all these Laws are for the Law of Mixed Elements. With that Law, all of these Elements will reach the power of a level six Law, giving me unprecedented variety.'

'However, 36 level five Laws for a single level six Law is honestly overkill. It's simply so much to comprehend.'

'The Law of the Dead World is the easiest one to comprehend out of the four main Laws, but it certainly requires the most work by far. Life only needs four level six Laws, which are comprised of a grand total of only seven level five Laws. The Law of Emotions only needs six upgradable level six Laws. Even more, the Law of Perceived Reality only needs five upgradable level six Laws.'

'Meanwhile, how many Laws does the Law of the Dead World need?'

Gravis counted the Laws.

'Six level six Laws, only on par with the Law of Emotions. However, the number of level five Laws is terrifying. The Law of the Dead World needs a grand total of 40 level five Laws!'

Gravis sighed.

'Fortunately, I'm more than halfway there.'

'Anyway, time for the last Law that I need for the Form Law of the Saber.'

Gravis left the area and went to his last stop, the Law of Graphite's Supreme Explosion.

This time, Gravis wasn't interrupted, and he completed the Law in one sitting.

It took him 16,000 years.

'Finally done!' Gravis thought as he released a sigh. 'Now, I can condense the Form Law of the Saber.'

'14 level five Laws,' Gravis thought. 'I wonder how powerful that Law will become.'

Gravis looked towards the west. 'Well, I'm already done, Mortis, but you have more Laws to comprehend,' Gravis thought with a smirk.

What had Mortis comprehended during this time?

First, Mortis had comprehended Shadowinferno, and after that, he had comprehended Soulstorm, which was a fusion of Deep Wood and Storm.

'23 out of 36, nearly two-thirds done,' Gravis thought.

After informing Stella that Gravis would condense his Form Law of the Saber soon, he went to a secluded place and concentrated on comprehension.

A Form Law didn't take nearly as long to comprehend as other Laws. After all, Gravis already had all the knowledge inside his mind. He only needed to combine it.

Chapter 972: Ocean and Desert

Gravis sat down and gathered all the different insights of all the different element-specific Battle Laws he had comprehended.

Then, he isolated the element-neutral aspects of these Laws, leaving about 33% of each Law behind.

All of this only took Gravis a couple of days.

After that, Gravis looked at the best aspects of the remainder, leaving behind only about 15% of the different element-specific Battle Laws.

This took Gravis a couple of weeks.

However, that still left far too much. After all, 15 times 14 was 210. This meant that Gravis had to reduce the Laws yet again.

This time, it took Gravis a couple of years. It took so long because Gravis had to test the effectiveness of the different aspects and compare them to each other. He also had to see if these aspects could work with each other.

In the end, about 10% of each Law was left. He only had to reduce it a bit more, but it was already proving to be quite challenging.

The next refinement took Gravis nearly 50 years, and 9% were left.

Still a bit too much.

By now, Gravis had reached a point where he didn't want to give up anything. All of these things were absolutely top-notch, but he couldn't have duplicates for the same concepts.

The next refinement took Gravis 500 years, and he was left with about 8% of the insights.

'Just a little bit more!'

The next refinement took Gravis nearly 5,000 years, but in the end, he was done.

He had created a blueprint for his Law.

'I had to give up so much good stuff,' Gravis thought with a sigh. 'However, only the best things are left!'

'Time to finish the Law!'

Gravis took out his saber and tried out many different concepts by swinging his saber. He knew that these concepts all made sense and that they fit together, but they didn't really create a whole. He needed to fuse the aspects together.

As Gravis tried every possible attack he could do with his saber, he tried to make the connection between them as smooth as possible, which was not easy.

Gravis even felt like his concentration was being used up at a terrifying rate. His mind was going through an uncountable number of calculations every instant.

Another 5,000 years passed, and Gravis became much better at condensing the Law.

'Over 10,000 years for a Form Law,' Gravis thought with a bit of frustration. 'That's way too much!'

Gravis was only a single step away, but that step was impossibly hard to take.

Everything had already perfectly clicked into place, but there was one spot between two different concepts that just wouldn't flow smoothly, no matter how much Gravis tried.

It was like these two concepts couldn't be incorporated.

'I mean, I have a different concept from a different Law that I could insert here, but I like this one way better. I don't want to give up this one!'

So, Gravis continued trying to make it fit, but it just wouldn't.

As time passed, Gravis grew more and more frustrated.

'Why isn't this working!?' Gravis thought.

'The concept is perfect! It should work, but it just doesn't!'

'My control is also absolutely perfect! There is absolutely no error in my movement!'

'So, why doesn't this work!?' Gravis thought with gritted teeth.

By now, Gravis had no idea what he should do anymore, which made him decide to check out some other Laws. Maybe something could make the transition between the two concepts work?

Gravis went through all his Laws and, after a while, just randomly tried them out.

SHING!

"Oh?" Gravis suddenly uttered as he noticed something.

The transition had become a bit smoother just now.

'Interesting,' Gravis thought. 'Who would have thought that this Law would help me in making progress? It's actually ironic. Form Laws require a perfect control over everything so that I move accurately every time, but this Law that reduces my control is actually making it smoother.'

Which Law did Gravis mean?

The level three Law of Rage.

The Law of Rage reduced one's control over their attacks in exchange for a powerful boost of power.

Gravis tried out the Law of Rage a bit more as his saber started to shine in red light.

As Gravis activated the Law of Rage, controlling his own attacks became more difficult.

All the other attacks and concepts lost synchronicity, but that one aspect that had caused Gravis so much trouble flowed smoothly now.

Gravis thought that he was onto something here and checked out some other unrelated Laws.

Gravis tried out the level three Law of Calm during the other segments, and, sure enough, they flowed beautifully.

'Perfect!' Gravis thought.

After that, Gravis activated both the Law of Rage and the Law of Calm. If their forces had identical strength, they would cancel each other out, but Gravis didn't do that, of course. He simply used them in alternating powers depending on the situation.

As soon as Gravis noticed that he could incorporate these two Emotional Laws, his progress sped up.

After only a couple of days, Gravis had perfectly gotten used to using these Emotional Laws as support for his attack. He even incorporated the Law of Apathy into his attacks.

Sadly, the Law of Empathy was useless. An attack with a saber had nothing to do with empathy.

After a while, Gravis lost himself in comprehension again. Swinging his saber like this had a magical effect on himself.

It was like he was traveling through the lands of emotion.

Gravis traveled through a dead land.

Apathy was all around him.

The ground around him was a desert, representing the Law of Rage. The Law of Rage had already destroyed everything, leaving only sand behind.

After walking for a while in this illusory land, Gravis saw a tranquil ocean that didn't move. It almost looked like a pane of glass.

Gravis noticed that the ocean and the desert were separated by a small cliff.

For some reason, Gravis thought that this didn't really fit. The only word Gravis could think of was janky.

Gravis lifted his right hand and moved it a bit.

SSHH!

The sand from the desert flowed over the cliff, creating a smooth walkway.

Gravis smiled and looked at his surroundings again.

Now, there were three areas.

One was the desert.

One was the ocean.

And the last one?

The last one was a beach.

Suddenly, Gravis' eyes widened as comprehension shone in his eyes.

BOOOOM!

BOOOOM!

Gravis was shocked for a second but immediately had to laugh.

'It was actually so simple?' he thought. 'That was all?'

The Law of Rage and the Law of Calm had not been combined into a single area. They were still separate from each other.

However, there was now an area between them that connected both of them.

In seconds, the beach transformed into a forest, which slowly transformed into a swamp the more it stretched into the ocean.

Gravis looked at the desert.

'The extremes of rage don't allow for life since it destroys everything. This is a form of apathy for life.'

Then, Gravis looked at the ocean.

'The ocean is calm and beautiful, but in order to remain calm, everything that moves has to die. Pure calm doesn't allow other things to influence it. This is also apathy.'

'Only the balanced center allows for life to flourish. This is empathy.'

Gravis glanced at the ocean and desert again.

'And the extremes are apathy.'

BOOOOM!

Gravis smiled.

He had seen that coming.

In the real world, Gravis opened his eyes with a smile as he struck down with his saber.

WHOOOOOOOM!

The world was cut apart.

Everything in front of Gravis had been cut apart. The ground in front of Gravis had a thin crevice now. The trees in the distance had been cut apart. The mountains had been cut apart. Even the clouds thousands of kilometers away were cut apart.

This had only been a normal strike of Gravis' saber.

Gravis stopped and looked at his saber.

'Who would have thought that the core to making my Form Law of the Saber work was the level five Laws of Rage, Calm, and Apathy?'

Yes, Gravis had comprehended the level five Laws of Rage, Calm, and Apathy!

Four of the six Emotional Laws were perfectly incorporated into each other now, and this combination allowed Gravis to create this Form Law of the Saber.

Gravis looked at the split horizon and grinned.

BOOOOM!

Gravis finally comprehended his Form Law of the Saber.

'That's not a level five Law,' Gravis thought with a smile.

'That's a level six Law!'

'No wonder it was so hard to comprehend!'

Chapter 973: True Power

Gravis closed his eyes to take a deep breath as the sensation of his new Form Law of the Saber washed through his being.

'It's so powerful,' Gravis thought. 'A Form Law is normally only supposed to give someone the same power as the level five Law of Physical Power.'

'Yet…'

Gravis looked down at his saber.

'This is so much more powerful.'

Since Gravis had comprehended the Law, he understood what powers this Law could unleash.

How strong was it?

Gravis' Form Law of the Saber was composed of 14 different element-specific level five Laws and three Emotional Laws. This was already more than enough to condense a level six Law, but not enough to make a level seven Law. After all, Form Laws only took parts of Laws, not the entire thing.

So, Gravis' Form Law of the Saber had reached the power of a level six Law.

While it sounded impressive on the surface, just describing the Form Law like this wouldn't make it justice.

Yes, the Form Law had the power of a level six Law. That was true.

Yet, exactly that was the terrifying thing.

Form Laws were not Laws that someone used by using Energy. No, Form Laws were used passively without any Energy cost. After all, it was just a specific way of movement.

In short, unleashing this Form Law cost absolutely nothing but just some physical stamina.

Yet, it was able to unleash the power of a level six Law.

This meant that every single casual attack of Gravis now had the power of a level six Law.

Just with his saber alone, Gravis could slice through the body of a beast four levels above him. He needed no lightning, no Elements, nothing.

Even more, the Form Law could also be combined with all of Gravis' other Laws since it didn't take up a spot inside Gravis' saber.

The combinations could become terrifyingly powerful.

'If Mortis had had this Law, the Black Demon would have died to his two Lightning Crescents,' Gravis thought.

Gravis glanced once more at the split horizon, which was slowly regenerating itself.

Gravis still remembered how Eran had also managed to achieve something like that. However, the power between Eran's attack and Gravis' attack was monumentally different.

Gravis smiled a bit.

SHING!

Then, he swung his saber casually.

In an instant, everything in a straight line for over 10,000 kilometers had been cut apart.

Nothing could withstand the power of a level six Law!

'I have come this far, huh?' Gravis thought with a surreal feeling. 'I can destroy thousands of kilometers with but a wave of my hand. I don't even need to use any Energy.'

Gravis thought back about his life and his power.

In the beginning, he was just a bit more powerful than a mortal.

Then, he managed to destroy several meters with his attacks in the Energy Gathering Realm.

When he got his Lightning Crescent, he managed to destroy the peak of a normal mountain in the lower world.

In the Unity Realm, he already could destroy hundreds of meters.

In the Nascent Nourishing Realm, his power of destruction reached kilometers.

In the Law Comprehension Realm, it became nearly a hundred kilometers.

As an Immortal, Gravis nearly managed to destroy a thousand kilometers with his Lightning Crescent.

As an Immortal King, Gravis had already destroyed thousands of kilometers with his Lightning Crescent.

Now, Gravis could destroy over ten thousand kilometers with but a wave of his hand.

'Power, huh?' Gravis thought as he looked at his hand.

'It does feel nice.'

Then, Gravis started grinning widely.

'But not as good as my honey!'

Then, Gravis took out his Life Ring. "Hey, honey. Sorry that I'm only calling you now. Condensing my Form Law took longer than expected."

"It's okay," Stella answered with a reassuring voice. "So, are you done?" She asked with hope.

"Yes, I am," Gravis answered with a wide smile. "Want me to come over right now?"

"Yes, please," Stella said with excitement.

Then, she cut the connection.

Gravis had to chuckle a bit.

After that, Gravis left the beast territory and went towards the eastern continent.

While doing so, Gravis absorbed a ton of Immortal Stones.

Gravis had never been in the Purist Sect, and he wanted to be sure that nothing would be going wrong. Because of that, Gravis decided to become a Peak Immortal King first.

The breakthrough was already finished before Gravis even left the beast territory.

What he didn't know was that Narcissus was paying close attention to him.

'His growth speed is terrifying,' Narcissus thought. 'He might even be able to fight Early Major Circulation Immortal Emperors as a mere Immortal King. This is already beyond impossible.'

'As a mere Immortal King, he already eclipses my Law Comprehension by a terrifying amount.'

Narcissus wasn't certain what he should feel right now.

Narcissus had been one of the most powerful beings in this world. The only beings stronger than him were Exar and Arc, but Exar had already left. On top of that, one couldn't really count Arc since he was an ancient being.

So, Narcissus was basically the most powerful being in this world right now.

Yet, the only thing that stopped Gravis from being more powerful than Narcissus was a session of absorbing Immortal Stones.

If Gravis wanted, he could become the most powerful being in this world in less than a day.

Should Narcissus feel inferior?

Should he feel threatened?

Should he feel proud?

Narcissus wasn't certain.

Usually, Narcissus put a ton of weight on power, and when someone was more powerful than Narcissus, he felt inferior.

Narcissus wanted to be the most powerful being!

Yet, when Narcissus looked at Gravis, he didn't feel inferior, even though Gravis was essentially far above Narcissus.

Why was that?

Because the gulf was just too vast.

When another being was just a bit more powerful or a bit more successful than oneself, one might feel inferiority, envy, or jealousy. Yet, when that same being was on a completely different level, this feeling vanished.

That was because the person would not consider the other person to be in the same world as them.

They lived in a completely different world.

Narcissus had seen Exar as his rival.

Yet, he couldn't see Gravis as his rival.

To him, it felt like it was only natural that Gravis would overtake him.

Without noticing it, Gravis had left the world of the normal Cultivators far behind.

The average Cultivators could not jump levels.

Geniuses could jump one level.

Prodigies could jump two levels, but these prodigies were supremely rare.

A jump of three levels was only in legends. After thousands and thousands of years, maybe one such person would appear in a world. This represented the absolute peak of Battle-Strength. No one even considered that a jump of four levels was possible.

Near the end of the lower world, Gravis could jump three levels.

However, the difference between the levels wasn't as vast in the Spirit Forming Realm as in the Unity Realm and above.

On top of that, Gravis hadn't been in a powerful lower world.

In fact, the lower world he had gone to had been one of the weakest ones.

The lower Heaven had suppressed the talent of the world for eons as it killed everyone that managed to condense a Will-Aura in the body tempering Realm. This hurt the overall power of the world immensely.

Yet, Gravis had only managed to jump these weak three levels back then.

The middle world Gravis had gone to was one of the more powerful ones, and Gravis had managed to jump four levels in that world near the end.

However, the Battle-Strength of the beasts in that world wasn't the most powerful. Yes, they were powerful, but there was still a lot of potential left.

Jumping four levels in that world was like jumping three levels in this world.

Yet, the difference was already vast.

In the lower world, Gravis could only be counted as very talented in the grand scheme of things.

However, after he exited the middle world, Gravis' strength had become the stuff of legends, even in this higher world, the strongest higher world in existence.

Gravis had managed to jump four levels in the Sect Alliance's territory, but the Cultivators there weren't very powerful. After all, if one put the Cultivators in the Core Regions of this world in any other world, even the most average Cultivator would be able to jump a level.

The Cultivators in the Sect Alliance's territory couldn't reach that power.

The Cultivators in every other world had to fight with the bottlenecks between the major Realms. After all, one needed a level four Law to become an Immortal King and a level five Law to become an Immortal Emperor.

The vast majority of Cultivators remained at the peak of their Realm as they tried to take that last step.

Yet, in this world, it was normal for everyone to comprehend the prerequisite Law for their next major Realm without even reaching the peak of their current Realm.

This was the power of this world.

Yet, in this powerful world, Gravis had now become a true absurdity of Cultivation.

When a jump of three levels was the stuff of legends, and when the concept of jumping four levels didn't even exist, what were jumps of five or maybe even six levels?

If four levels were impossible, what were five or six levels?

When Gravis had entered this world, he had been at the peak of Cultivation Battle-Strength.

And now, he wasn't part of the Cultivation world anymore.

No Cultivator could compare to him in terms of Battle-Strength.

None.

Not even a single one.

Not even in the highest world.

Nowhere.

Even the past Heaven's Magnates were left behind.

His power had eclipsed absolutely everyone by a humongous margin.

If the average Cultivators were only 100 meters behind the most talented Cultivators, Gravis would be several kilometers away.

In their eyes, Gravis was a being that would only exist once.

A one-time occurrence.

A miracle.

Yet, even the Cultivators of legend couldn't see the front since they were just too far behind.

However, Gravis was able to see it.

He wasn't the first place.

In this imaginary representation of Battle-Strength, a group of blonde people with multiple eyes were walking in the distance.

There was still a huge gulf between Gravis and them.

However, for the first time, Gravis could see them.

They were within his reach.

Only a little bit more!

These were the Heavens, and they were Gravis' current goal.

And after that…

In the distance.

On a mountain on the horizon, an impossible distance away…

There stood only a single middle-aged man with black hair as he looked up at another mountain to his side.

Another blonde man with an unknown face stood on the other mountain, looking back.

After Gravis overtook the Heavens…

These two would be next!

Chapter 974: The Purist Sect

Gravis left the beast territory and reached the eastern continent. After transforming back into a human, Gravis went further to the east, towards the Purist Sect.

He wondered what it looked like.

After around an hour, Gravis reached the Purist Sect, and he was looking at it with lifted eyebrows.

What did the Purist Sect look like?

What kind of atmosphere did it radiate?

The Nine Elements Sect had appeared like a wonderland filled with money, peace, and power. The Nine Elements Sect had shown the prestige that a supreme power of the most powerful higher world should have.

And the Purist Sect?

The Purist Sect looked… simple.

It wasn't situated on a mountain like the Nine Elements Sect, but in a brown basin, surrounded by mountains.

The mountains created a full circle, only leaving one spot open which acted as a gate for the Purist Sect.

The ground in that basin was brown since it was made of earth, not stone. Sadly, there were no plants around.

If it weren't for its ridiculous size of nearly a thousand kilometers, the Purist Sect wouldn't look much different from a mortal village.

Basic stone houses and wooden huts littered the ground of the Purist Sect, and Gravis could see a ton of disciples in white robes walking around. For some reason, they were not teleporting, and they also weren't flying.

At the innermost part of the mountain circle, Gravis could see a stone castle. However, it was only about as big as the castle of a mortal king.

Behind that castle was a singular, shabby wooden hut.

However, the most surprising thing was the absence of Formation Arrays.

There wasn't even a single one!

The Nine Elements Sect and the Purist Sect couldn't be any different.

One was ostentatious.

One was simple.

'Huh,' Gravis thought with a bit of bewilderment. 'The Purist Sect is a bit different than I've imagined.'

'But I like that look more.'

Gravis landed before the entrance of the Purist Sect and looked inside.

In front of him was a simple wooden gate a couple hundred meters high.

There were no guards.

Gravis looked to the side and noticed that people were coming and going without any inspections or interruptions.

"Surprised?"

Gravis' mouth widened in a stupid smile as he looked towards the front.

Stella stood behind the entrance of the Purist Sect, and she looked absolutely stunning.

She wore a long red dress. Her cheeks were pink, and her lips were red.

Apparently, she had brushed up on her appearance just for Gravis.

SHING!

Gravis teleported over and hugged Stella.

Stella was a bit surprised by the sudden approach, but she only giggled a bit and hugged Gravis back.

It was like no time had passed between them.

WHOOOOM!

Gravis' eyebrows furrowed while Stella glared to her side.

Someone had just unleashed their Will-Aura on Gravis.

"Only Immortal Emperors are allowed to teleport and fly in the Purist Sect," a man said.

The man had silver hair and wore simple, brown clothes. On his back was a long sword.

Right now, the man was looking at Gravis with a cold but indifferent expression.

"Am I air to you, Kerron?" Stella asked with an imposing voice as she glared at the man.

Kerron looked at Stella with an even expression. "This man obviously has a close relationship with you, Core Elder. However, everyone must follow the rules. His relationship with you changes nothing."

Stella's eyes narrowed further.

However, the Elder didn't shrink back.

The rules were on his side.

Stella wanted to say something, but Gravis stopped her.

Then, he looked at the guy with a smile. "Sorry, I didn't know that. However, I have the power of an Immortal Emperor. Therefore, I didn't violate any rules."

The man was shocked when he saw that Gravis could still move under his Will-Aura.

One had to know that he was a Mid Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor while Gravis was only a Peak Immortal King.

There were three levels between them!

Yet, Gravis could still move?

How!?

The eyebrows of the Elder furrowed as he looked at Gravis. "If that is true, I must apologize. However, I must still ask you to prove your claim."

"This proof enough for you?"

BANG!

The Elder immediately jumped back in shock.

What had just happened!?

One moment, this man had been in front of the Core Elder, but in the next moment, he had suddenly appeared right in front of him!?

How!?

What speed was this!?

For a second, the Elder had also felt his Law of Danger screaming at him, which shocked him.

Of course Gravis was fast, but not that fast without using his lightning.

He hadn't really charged at the Elder but had simply walked over to him while manipulating his perception with the Law of Perceived Reality.

Then, when Gravis had arrived in front of the Elder, he had simply dispelled the effect of the Law of Perceived Reality.

This made it appear like Gravis had just appeared in front of the Elder.

Stella had also been under the effect of the Law since Gravis wanted to brag about his power a bit, and she was just as shocked.

To the two of them, it had appeared like Gravis could simply change the place where he existed.

Even a Mid Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor couldn't see how he had moved.

One moment, Gravis was here, and the next moment, he was there.

How terrifying was this ability!?

How could one defend themselves against it!?

"So? Is that enough proof?"

Stella and the Elder quickly looked to a different spot.

Gravis was back beside Stella!

The Elder still couldn't wrap his head around what he had just seen.

'What is he!?'

"Hey, I'm-"

BANG!

The Elder jumped away again as Gravis appeared in front of him again.

"Hey, I'm asking you something!"

The Elder turned around and saw Gravis.

However, his shock only grew.

The old Gravis hadn't vanished.

There was simply another one now!

And even worse, they were multiplying.

By now, the Elder was certain that this was an illusion.

It was impossible that one person could exist in multiple places at once!

The Elder activated his Laws as he strengthened his perception to see through any falsehood.

Yet, to his shock, the Gravises didn't disappear.

No matter what he did, the army of Gravises was just looking at him with a questioning expression.

Was he going insane!?

The Law of Perceived Reality could manipulate the perception of everyone until reality was questioned.

However, that was only true when the person's Will-Aura suppressed Gravis' Will-Aura.

This elder was just a Mid Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor, while Gravis was a Peak Immortal King.

Three levels separated them, but three levels weren't enough to offset Gravis' Will-Aura, which was at the level of a Late Major Circulation Immortal Emperor's Will-Aura.

This meant that the Elder couldn't escape the effect of the Law of Perceived Reality, no matter what he did.

"That's enough!"

Gravis' expression changed into a guilty one as he heard Stella shout.

All the Gravises vanished, and Gravis appeared in front of Stella again with a worried expression on his face.

"I think he gets it," Stella said with a sigh.

Stella had seen what the Elder had seen, and she was just as shocked.

So this was the Law of Perceived Reality, huh?

It truly was terrifying.

The Elder also released a sigh.

"I apologize for my earlier offense," he said with a polite bow.

Gravis waved his hand. "It's fine. Sorry for going a bit overboard. I'm allergic to people that want to suppress me."

The Elder bowed again and left.

Stella sighed again. "You didn't have to go that far, you know?" she said.

Gravis scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "I mean, he did use his Will-Aura on me."

"I know," Stella answered softly, "but he isn't a bad guy. He simply takes the rules way too seriously. He only wanted to uphold the rules."

PACK!

Gravis hugged Stella again with a smile. "Fine, fine!" he said. "If my honey says that he's not a bad guy, then he isn't a bad guy."

Stella had to laugh at Gravis' words.

Gravis was acting like an innocent child right now, which amused Stella.

Why?

Because Gravis was about as far away from an innocent child as it got.

"Want me to show you around?" Stella asked.

"Sure!"

Chapter 975: Purist Sect Selection Process

Stella and Gravis walked through the Purist Sect as Stella showed Gravis all the different buildings. Usually, she would have pulled Gravis along with her arms, but she didn't want to appear inappropriate in public. After all, the Purist Sect was now her home.

She also answered a lot of questions that Gravis had had about the Purist Sect.

For example, why was the Purist Sect so simple?

The reason was that the philosophy of the Purist Sect said that nothing but strength mattered. In their eyes, only strength could gain respect. Wasting resources to appear powerful and rich would only show the weakness of a person. After all, if they were powerful, they wouldn't need to appear powerful. Only people that couldn't rely on their own power needed to demonstrate their power.

The appearance of the Purist Sect reflected this mindset, reminding the disciples of it. The Sect demonstrated that, even though they were the most powerful power in the eastern continent, they didn't need to appear powerful.

The thoughts of others wouldn't change their power.

Another question of Gravis had been why there were no Formation Arrays.

The answer was basically the same as the answer to the previous question.

The Purist Sect relied on their own power, and they didn't need Formation Arrays as a shield. If someone managed to create a Sect more powerful than the Purist Sect, it would be the fault of the Purist Sect if they were overtaken. After all, weakness was wrong, while strength was right.

That was at least how the Purist Sect viewed it.

The reason why there were no guards in the Purist Sect was also similar.

Everyone in the Purist Sect was powerful, and they didn't fear any invaders. There was no reason to employ guards if every single person on the street was one of the most powerful Cultivators on the continent.

Stella also pointed out that the Elder from earlier had said that only Immortal Emperors were allowed to fly and teleport. He didn't say that they had to be part of the Purist Sect.

Allowing any person with strength to teleport around in one's home showed how confident the Purist Sect was.

Another interesting piece of information was the hierarchy of the Purist Sect and how it was decided.

Apparently, the hierarchy in the Purist Sect wasn't decided by Realm but by the power of one's Form Law.

Everything in the Purist Sect revolved around the Form Law. All the Cultivation lessons concentrated on it. Power was decided on it. Money was decided on it.

'Interesting,' Gravis thought when he heard that. 'So, in essence, only Battle-Strength matters in the Purist Sect, not Realm. No wonder their average disciples are so powerful.'

There were multiple ways to join the Purist Sect.

For example, even Body Tempering Cultivators could join.

The Purist Sect held a continent-wide tournament every single year, which sounded crazy in Gravis' ears.

Every single year?

Only teenagers below 16 could join, and they were put through insane trials that tested their physical power, compatibility with Elements, and, most importantly, will.

If someone managed to condense a Will-Aura, they would be immediately accepted.

However, this was insanely hard to accomplish. After all, Gravis himself also only managed to condense a Will-Aura barely before he became 16, and he had gone through an insane amount of tempering in the practical exams.

Apparently, the will-trial of the Purist Sect was made to allow the participants to condense a Will-Aura.

This meant that the death rate of participants was terrifyingly high, at over 30%!

If they managed to condense a Will-Aura, they could join. If they survived but didn't manage to condense one, they would still have a chance if their other talents were outstanding.

Yet, the big question was, how was the tournament held? After all, even a hundred kilometers took Body Tempering Cultivators over a day to traverse.

The continent was billions of kilometers long.

The solution was that the tournament wasn't held in the Purist Sect but in many cities at once.

The subservient Sects of the Purist Sect were responsible for holding these tournaments.

Of course, these subservient Sects gave the task to their subservient Sects, which would give the task to their subservient Sects.

In the end, Nascent Nourishing Cultivators would oversee the tournaments. This was the lowest the strength of the overseers could go. After all, testing the compatibility with Laws required someone that knew Laws.

Of course, this setup had a big chance of fostering corruption. The Sects could favor participants and could allow them to buy their way in.

However, since even a mortal could see that danger, the Sects could obviously see it too, which was why they would thoroughly check all the survivors of the trials.

If a participant managed to survive, the lowest Sect would choose everyone that they wanted to have in their Sect.

Then, the next higher Sect would look at the selected ones and take those they wanted.

Then, the High-Rank Sects would look at these chosen candidates and take the ones they wanted.

And lastly, it was the Purist Sect's turn.

This opportunity was gargantuan for mortals!

Mortals had the chance to immediately join the most powerful organization for billions of kilometers!

Mortals had the chance to join an organization with over a hundred Immortal Emperors!

This jump in status was insane beyond belief!

Put yourself in the shoes of a 15-year-old teenager that went through hell. Maybe your family was killed, and you lived the last couple of years in the wilderness, trying to become powerful.

Now, imagine you get picked to join a Sect, the thing every youngster wished for.

You saw the powerful Elder that could fly. Everyone was respectful to that Elder!

Then, all the Elders gathered, and even the Sect Master appeared.

Why?

Because someone even more powerful arrived that demanded the respect of the entire Sect.

Who was that? Who was so powerful!?

Then, you were chosen by this mysterious Elder, and you were the only one that was chosen.

Then, you would go to a different, even more powerful Sect, and other teenagers from somewhere else came to you. All of them were more powerful than everyone you had fought in the tournament.

Then, an even more powerful person appeared that chose you!

And lastly, an even more powerful person appeared!

For a mortal, this was a surreal experience akin to a dream.

These tournaments decided one's future!

Of course, this wasn't the only way to join the Purist Sect.

Another way to join the Purist Sect was to go to any city and demand to be tested.

How could one win in this test?

Have a Will-Aura at least four levels above your Realm.

Was this enough proof of one's power?

Yes!

Having a Will-Aura one level above one's Realm would allow the person to suppress any other, normal person on their level, meaning that they were one of the most powerful people in that Realm.

Having a Will-Aura two levels above oneself would allow one to fight an average Cultivator one level above themselves equally. Just having such a Will-Aura already proved that one had fought very powerful people. After all, if one had a Will-Aura one level above oneself, one couldn't temper oneself against normal Cultivators anymore. They needed to either fight very powerful Cultivators or fight above their level.

In short, having a Will-Aura four levels above oneself basically guaranteed that one was able to jump two levels, which was proof enough of one's power.

Of course, these tests only counted for people below the Unity Realm.

At the Unity Realm, the Form Laws became important.

Want to join the Purist Sect?

Have a Form Law that corresponds to your Realm!

This meant that Unity Realm Cultivators needed to condense a level one Form law, Nascent Nourishing Cultivators needed a level two Form Law, and so on.

Since every single Form Law required the comprehension of at least three other Laws of the same level, this meant that only Unity Realm Cultivators that knew four level one Laws were allowed to join.

If one thought back to the tournament Gravis had been part of to become Azure's mate in the middle world, one would realize how insanely hard that was.

The most powerful beasts in the tournament only knew two level one Laws.

Joining the Purist Sect required four!

Of course, the strictness of the selection criteria lessened in the Immortal and Immortal King Realm.

After all, these Cultivators already counted as pretty powerful in the entire world.

At that point, the power of one's Form Laws was important.

Immortals didn't need to have level four Form laws to join. However, their level three Form Law had to show outstanding power.

This was tested with a stone filled with Formation Arrays.

When Gravis heard that, he became interested.

Stella noticed Gravis' interest and smiled.

"Want to try?"

Chapter 976: Queuing Up

Gravis scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I don't want to put on a big show," Gravis said.

Stella only smirked as she looked at him. "But I want you to put on a show."

'Huh,' Gravis thought, not expecting that answer.

"Why?" Gravis asked.

Stella came a bit closer to Gravis, her head just centimeters in front of his own. "Because I want to show everyone how powerful my man is," she said.

Gravis was captivated by Stella's eyes.

'I mean, why not?' Gravis thought. 'I'm no longer at a level where I need to keep my power a secret. Additionally, the Purist Sect is not like the Nine Elements Sect. Exar has led this Sect for hundreds of thousands of years.'

"Well, if you want me to, sure," Gravis agreed.

Stella smiled happily. "Thanks, Gravy," she said, giving him a little kiss.

Gravis' insides trembled a bit.

Stella only called him Gravy when they were intimate.

She had even said one time that she would only eat sausages with Gravy.

After hearing that, Gravis couldn't wait until they were by themselves again.

However, Gravis didn't lose his rationality. Even if the chances of someone too powerful attacking him was low, Gravis still consumed some Immortal Stones.

After that, Gravis created another body and sent it away.

It was important to have a fail-safe.

After doing that, Stella led Gravis to the northern side of the Purist Sect. The entrance to the Purist Sect was at the west while the leaders were on the east.

In the south were all the important buildings like the trading hub, exchange hall, mission hall, and so on.

The north was for disciples to cultivate and fight. It was the general training area for the Purist Sect.

Gravis and Stella quickly arrived at the place and looked at it. Stella didn't show any reaction, but Gravis was quite surprised.

There were so many people!

There were not many people in the surrounding areas, but the center was completely filled with people of different strengths.

Even more, the people stood in a long queue that snaked its way through the training area.

Apparently, all of them were queuing up in front of a jade-like stone that had the symbol of the Purist Sect on it. The stone was three meters tall and one meter wide.

An old man with white hair stood beside the stone with a serious expression.

He was a Peak Immortal King.

Quite powerful.

"These are all people that want to join the Purist Sect," Stella said from beside Gravis.

"That's a lot of people," Gravis said. "I take it that stone is for testing the Form Laws?"

Stella nodded. "Yes. This stone is for people that want to join the Purist Sect. We have several more such stones in the Sect, but only this one can be used by outsiders."

"And you want me to hit that one?" Gravis asked as he scratched the side of his head.

Stella nodded with a smile.

Gravis looked at the stone and nodded. Then, he turned to Stella with a smirk and winked at her. "Alright! Just wait for me! I'm going to put up an awesome show for you!"

"I can barely wait!" Stella said with a wide smile.

Then, he walked over to the back of the queue and started waiting.

He wondered how long it would take.

As Gravis arrived at the back of the queue, the person in front of him looked back at Gravis.

Then, the eyes of the person widened, and he bowed.

"Please, you can take my spot, Senior," he said.

Why was this person so polite?

Because he couldn't feel Gravis' Cultivation.

One had to remember that Gravis was a Peak Immortal King, which was the level of a Sect Master of a High-Rank Sect.

Unaffiliated Peak Immortal Kings basically didn't exist. They were all either leaders of High-Rank Sects or were part of the Purist Sect.

It was incredibly rare to see a Peak Immortal King in this queue.

Of course, the person in front of Gravis didn't know about Gravis' true power. After all, he was only in the Law Comprehension Realm.

"It's fine," Gravis said with a dismissive wave. "I have time."

"Senior sure is old and wise. Even the passage of several days is nothing but the blink of an eye in Senior's eyes," the young man said respectfully. "I thank Senior for allowing this one to stay in the queue."

Obviously, the guy was only bootlicking, which was why Gravis just dismissed him.

While Gravis waited, he was throwing looks at the distant Stella, who had to laugh at Gravis standing in a queue.

"Hey, Liam," Stella transmitted.

"Yes?" Liam asked.

"You have to take a look at this!" Stella said with mirth.

Liam stretched out his Spirit Sense but didn't see anything peculiar.

"See what?" Liam asked.

Stella giggled a bit. "Look at the last person in line," she answered.

Liam didn't know what could be so interesting here. These were all newcomers. Sure, there might be some talented people, but nothing that would warrant Stella calling him.

However, when Liam saw the last person in the queue, his mind stopped working.

Gravis!

What was he doing here!?

And… was he lining up for the Form Law Stone? Did he even know a Form Law?

"Does he know a Form Law?" Liam asked.

Stella had to chuckle a bit again. "Yes," she answered.

Liam knew about Gravis' power, and he also knew that anything involving Gravis was world-toppling.

How powerful was his Form Law?

Liam became interested and teleported to Stella, also looking.

Gravis noticed Liam and waved at him.

Liam had become a Late Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor.

Liam had a complex expression on his face.

Yet, in the end, he waved back.

All the things Gravis did were so far in the past that Liam wasn't even resentful anymore.

Stella was happy, and that was the only important thing.

Sadly, Liam still felt a bit awkward interacting with Gravis.

The old man beside the stone had noticed that two Core Elders had come to watch, and he became nervous.

Why were two Core Elders here!?

Did he do something wrong!?

The participants didn't notice anything peculiar.

Everyone they met in the Purist Sect had power beyond anything they could comprehend. So, in their eyes, Immortal Emperors didn't look any different from Immortals.

Gravis talked with Stella and Liam as he waited in the queue.

Meanwhile, in the castle in the east of the Purist Sect.

A silver-haired woman was watching the north of her Sect.

Her Sect?

Yes, this Sect belonged to her.

This was the current Sect Master of the Purist Sect.

Behind the silver-haired woman were two black-clothed men.

Everything about them was hidden, and no one could even feel their aura.

These were two Elders of the Underworld, who also were the two Vice-Sect Masters of the Purist Sect.

This room was the only room that had Formation Arrays on it.

After all, Underworld had to be kept hidden.

"He's queuing up for the Form Law Stone," the Sect Master said.

"How powerful do you think his Form Laws are?" one of the Vice-Sect Masters asked.

"It's, at the very least, an above-average level five Form Law," the Sect Master said.

The two Vice-Sect Masters were skeptical. "Are you sure? He's only a Peak Immortal King."

"Have you forgotten what our previous Keeper said?" the Sect Master asked.

"We didn't forget," a Vice-Sect Master said. "However, he couldn't have grown that much in just a couple ten thousand years. He still needs time to develop."

"I think you are not taking the words of our previous Keeper seriously," the Sect Master said with a frown. "He said that this Gravis lives in a completely different world from us. He told us that we can't even judge him by the standards of the Cultivators of legends. He told us that everything about him is filled with impossibility."

"He probably even knows a level six Law already," the Sect Master said.

The two Vice-Sect Masters weren't so sure if they should believe that.

Not even their Sect Master knew a level six Law.

How could an Immortal King know a level six Law?

"Never forget what our previous Keeper has warned us about," the Sect Master said.

"Never anger Gravis."

"Angering Gravis is worse than angering all the other four Peak Sects at once."

"Just let him do whatever he wants, and everything will be fine."

The Sect Master looked with a warning tone at her two Vice-Sect Masters.

"Never forget that."

Chapter 977: Vice-Sect Masters' Doubts

Gravis continued to wait in the queue, and the more Gravis waited in the queue, the more skeptical the two Vice-Sect Masters became.

Gravis was not acting like a person that could cause a great calamity.

He was sometimes making faces at Stella or poking a person in the queue on the shoulder with his Spirit and then looking away innocently.

He was acting like a kid.

When they had heard the words of the previous Keeper, they had imagined some cruel and bloodthirsty beast.

Yet, Gravis only appeared like a kid that took nothing seriously.

Of course, it was only natural that Gravis acted like this.

After all, he was currently having the best time of his life.

He was not chased by anything.

He was rapidly gaining new Laws.

He had found true love with Stella, and he would be spending the next couple of years with her.

And on top of that, Gravis was near the end of this higher world. Just a little bit more, and he would be able to return home and stay there forever.

He wouldn't have to leave for another world again.

Everything was going swimmingly for Gravis, which made him relax quite a bit.

So, he was simply having some fun by teasing Stella a bit, who also enjoyed it.

In essence, Gravis was simply having fun with Stella and acted like nobody else was around.

After all, the opinions of others didn't have anything to do with him. Gravis simply did whatever he wanted, and right now, he wanted to have some fun.

Of course, his entire demeanor could change in a heartbeat if someone tried to go against him or Stella.

"Are you sure that's the one the previous Keeper warned us about?" one of the Vice-Sect Masters asked the Sect Master.

The Sect Master's expression remained stalwart, but deep inside, she was also harboring some doubts.

"I'm pretty sure it's him," she said. "The previous Keeper told us of the three powerful, unaffiliated Immortal Kings. Additionally, I also remembered hearing about their shocking actions many years ago. Back then, I was only in the Mid Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor Realm."

"The tournament for Holy Maiden's hand in the Nine Elements Sect, right?" one of the Vice-Sect Masters asked.

The Sect Master nodded.

"As you are all aware, the previous Holy Maiden of the Nine Elements Sect is the Core Elder Stella. Gravis took her away back then, which shook the entire world. On top of that, this Gravis that is currently standing in the queue has a beast body. So, it must be him," the Sect Master explained.

One of the Vice-Sect Masters sighed. "It's actually impressive that not even we can see his true body," he said.

As long as someone's Will-Aura was at the same level or weaker than Gravis' Will-Aura, the Law of Perceived Reality couldn't be broken. Because of that, even though the two Vice-Sect Masters knew that Gravis had a beast body, they couldn't see it, no matter how hard they looked.

"He has a Will-Aura on the level of a Late Major Circulation Immortal Emperor," the Sect Master said. "Having such an insanely powerful Will-Aura at his level is actually surreal. It's eight levels of Battle-Strength above himself."

"In order to create such a powerful Will-Aura, he must have the ability to fight, at least, four levels above himself, which also seems like an impossibility," the Sect Master said.

"So, it has to be him," she added, "no matter how innocent or childish he's acting."

Silence.

The two Vice-Sect Masters only looked with uncertain expressions at each other.

After all, this was hard to believe without seeing it with one's own eyes.

Right now, they could only believe the words of the Sect Master.

To their eyes, Gravis appeared like a normal Peak Immortal King.

To their eyes, nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

The three of them only looked towards the north of the Sect, waiting for Gravis' turn.

Two days of waiting later, it was nearly Gravis' turn.

Standing in a queue for two days was something insane for mortals, but for Immortal Kings, two days was basically nothing. Just a single distracting thought about Laws would take weeks.

"Next!" the old man beside the stone ordered.

"Wish me luck, Senior," the young guy in front of Gravis said to him.

"You will pass," Gravis answered casually.

"Thank you, Senior," he said with a bow.

Then, he walked forward and stopped ten meters in front of the stone as he took out a gigantic hammer.

'Hammers are rare,' Gravis thought.

"You can begin. Unleash the full power of your Form Law," the old man said with practiced ease.

The young man took a deep breath and pulled his hammer back.

WHOOOOM!

Then, the hammer swung in a gigantic arc over the young man's head. However, it didn't strike down but pulled the young man with it.

The hammer passed over the young man and then passed the young man again below him.

The young man did a flip and put more power into the swing, making the hammer go even faster.

All of this had only taken an instant.

Then, he struck down.

WHOOOOM!

The stone vibrated, and a bit of dirt jumped up from the ground.

However, nothing was destroyed. After all, the stone also absorbed all the power of the attack. It would be a hassle if the Purist Sect had to repair their Sect after every swing.

The stone shone in a bright yellow light, signifying that the Form Law of the attacker was an above-average level three Form Law.

The stone gave its evaluation with the color and intensity of the light. From level one to level five laws, the colors were red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.

The brightness of the stone showed how good the Law was at its level.

The people in the queue nodded with praise.

Not only did that Law Comprehension Realm Cultivator know a level three Form Law, but his Law was also pretty good. He probably had a bright future ahead of him in the Purist Sect.

"Medium-High Grade level three Form Law of the Hammer," the old man said with a nod.

Then, he looked at the young man. "Do you want to join the Immortality-Preparation Disciples?" he asked.

The young man's eyes shone with exhilaration. "Yes! YES! I want to! Thank you so much!" he shouted.

Joining the Immortality-Preparation Disciples had been his highest goal, and he had achieved it!

What were the Immortality-Preparation Disciples?

They were the group of the most talented Law Comprehension Realm Cultivators. Just as the name implied, the Immortality-Preparation Disciples' jobs were to prepare for Immortality.

This meant that the Purist Sect would do its best to help the disciple condense a powerful Law for their future Avatar.

"Good," the old man said. "Go to the east and ask for Elder Capricorn. He will introduce the Sect to you."

The young man bowed and thanked the person in front of him.

Then, he bowed once more to Gravis and left.

"Next!" the old man shouted after the young man left.

Gravis stepped forward.

And when the old man noticed Gravis, his eyes widened in shock.

'A Peak Immortal King!'

'Why is a Peak Immortal King here!?'

Chapter 978: Boasting

"This stone is not for members of the Purist Sect," the old man said. "I think you made some mistake."

Gravis laughed a bit. "I'm not a member of the Purist Sect," he said.

The old man's eyes widened in shock.

This Peak Immortal King was not a member of the Purist Sect?

"You could have just asked one of our Elders if you wanted to join us," the old man said awkwardly. "Your power is more than enough to just be directly accepted without any tests."

"Well, the thing is," Gravis said slowly. "I don't really want to join the Purist Sect."

Silence.

The entire training area fell into silence.

Not wanting to join the Purist Sect?

Why?

Everyone in the training area checked Gravis out, and none of them could feel his power, which surprised them to no end.

In the beginning, they had thought that this was some arrogant youngster that didn't know the power of the Purist Sect. Yet, none of them could feel Gravis' power.

This couldn't be an arrogant youngster if he was that powerful.

The old man furrowed his brows in a displeased expression. "Then why are you here?" he asked.

"I want to put up a nice show for my honey over there," Gravis said, gesturing at Stella.

Everyone looked over, and they saw the stunning Core Elder Stella.

Honey?

Meanwhile, Stella became red in the face as Gravis openly called her his honey in front of so many people.

She felt like she was losing respect in the Sect.

However, Stella quickly realized that this thought was idiotic. After all, who was Gravis? Why should she feel ashamed by a public show of affection from him?

So, in the end, she winked at Gravis.

A lot of the surrounding members of the Purist Sect gritted their teeth.

Many of them had chased Stella, but they had all been turned down without exception. She told all of them that she already had a man.

Yet, they had never seen this man.

So, this was her man, yes?

A mere Peak Immortal King!?

Yes, Peak Immortal Kings were powerful, but Stella was a Core Elder. Many of her suitors had been Immortal Emperors themselves.

Yet, Stella had turned all of them down for a Peak Immortal King.

This was so unfair!

Gravis received a ton of derisive looks from the members of the Purist Sect because of their envy.

However, the old man's eyes shone a bit as he looked at the Form Law Stone.

In the middle of the stone was a cross-shaped mark.

The people that weren't from the Purist Sect didn't know that this mark wasn't supposed to be there.

What was this mark?

Well, many years ago, an unaffiliated Peak Immortal King wanted to join their Sect, and when he unleashed his Form Law, he left behind a sword-mark on the stone.

To achieve this, one needed to have an above-average level five Form Law.

This person had then directly become a Core Elder.

This had been Liam.

Then, many years later, Stella had appeared, and she had heard from Liam that he had left a mark on the stone.

So, Stella also left a mark with equal depth in the Form Law Stone, creating this cross-shaped mark.

If she had wanted, she could have left a far deeper one, but she wanted to complement the mark of her brother.

Now, a third unaffiliated Immortal King had appeared that knew the previous two.

'Seems like you're going to receive another mark,' the old man thought as he looked at the stone.

"Fine," the old man said, having calmed down quite a bit. "Unleash the full power of your Form Law."

Gravis nodded.

However, he didn't strike immediately.

Instead, he turned to the gathered people.

"Gathered Cultivators!" Gravis shouted. "Today, you are about to witness history!"

The gathered people blinked a couple of times in confusion.

"For over a hundred thousand years have I traveled the land, comprehending all sorts of Laws!" Gravis said with power. "Now, I have achieved the ultimate Form Law, and I will go down in history as the person with the most powerful Form Law!"

"Watch as history unfolds right before you! Watch as the stone, land, mountains, rivers, clouds, horizon, and even the entire world gets split in two!"

"My name is Gravis! Remember this name well! In the future, you can tell your grandchildren with pride that you have seen the legendary Gravis soaring to heights never seen before!"

Silence.

More Silence.

'What have I done?' Stella thought as she hid her face behind her hands in shame. Her face had become a deep crimson from shame.

Beside her, Liam looked at Gravis with a strained face, trying not to cringe.

'How is he so bad at boasting!?' Liam thought.

The Sect Master and Vice-Sect Masters also looked with uncomfortable expressions at Gravis.

It wasn't that his boasts were over the top. After all, he could probably achieve what he had just claimed.

However, the way he had phrased everything was just… bad.

He didn't seem cool, prideful, powerful, mysterious, or anything else.

He could have just walked up to the stone, unleash his Form Law, and then walk away. That would have appeared infinitely more impressive.

He could have just said "watch" and then unleash his Form law. That would have been just as impressive.

He could have done so many other things.

Yet, he said these over-the-top, awkward words.

Gravis didn't appear powerful.

He appeared like an arrogant youngster with a fragile ego. The boast felt like Gravis needed to prove his power to others in order to live with himself.

In short, the boast made him appear mentally weak.

This was why Stella, Liam, the Sect Master, and the Vice-Sect Masters looked with discomfort at his performance.

They knew that he was powerful.

Yet, he managed to appear impossibly weak with his words.

However, all of this was only natural.

When had Gravis boasted?

When had Gravis postured?

Gravis had tried posturing once before in the lower world, but he had noticed that he was horrible at it.

Since then, Gravis had never really tried to boast again.

A lifetime without experience in boasting and posturing meant that Gravis' ability of posturing was horrible beyond compare.

Gravis just couldn't boast.

Gravis could do a lot of things, but he couldn't do that.

Why had Gravis boasted, even though he hadn't done that before?

Well, he had promised his honey that he would put up an amazing show.

So, he tried to boast.

After a moment of shock, all the faces of the onlookers transformed into disgust and pity.

Was the guy mentally challenged?

However, instead of saving himself by directly unleashing his strike, Gravis only continued standing there, pointing towards the horizon.

'What are you doing!?' Liam thought in frustrated rage. He had a nearly irresistible urge to help Gravis get out of this mess. 'Just unleash your strike!'

Gravis wanted to leave a dramatic silence, but it was only dramatic in his mind.

Everyone else felt the silence to be awkward beyond compare.

"Just strike," the old man beside the stone said neutrally, wanting to help him.

'This poor guy.'

Gravis noticed that the old man looked uncomfortable.

Then, he inspected the gathered people and noticed that none of them were impressed.

Gravis immediately realized that his boast hadn't had the desired effect.

He tried his best to not become red with shame.

'I shouldn't have tried to posture.'

Gravis moved his hands forward and then pulled them apart.

WHOOOM!

All the living beings behind the stone for millions of kilometers were pushed a couple meters to the side.

Then, Gravis readied his saber.

He struck.

SHING!

Nothing.

Silence.

The onlookers were confused.

Nothing had happened.

Gravis put his saber away and lifted his right hand.

SNAP!

CRK!

The world fell into stunned silence.

The jaws of the onlookers fell to the floor.

What had they just witnessed!?

Even Stella and Liam had been stunned into silence.

In the palace, the Sect Master and Vice-Sect Masters had also stopped thinking.

The world had been split in two!

Everything for over a million kilometers in a straight line had been cut in two.

Even the Form Law Stone had cracked apart and now laid on the ground in two pieces.

It hadn't even managed to shine.

By now, the Vice-Sect Masters no longer doubted Gravis.

This Form Law…

They had never seen anything like it!

Not even their Ancestor or previous Keeper had ever shown such a powerful Form Law.

In the stunned silence, Gravis turned around with a smirk.

"I didn't lie, did I?" he said with a smirk.

'I hope that looked cool.'

Chapter 979: Sect Master

SHING! SHING! SHING!

Nearly a hundred people teleported to the training area of the Purist Sect.

All of them gathered in the sky as they looked at the cut that Gravis had created with shining eyes.

All of them were Immortal Emperors.

They looked at the cut like it had something of incredible worth inside of it.

Gravis only stood there with an awkward smile.

'I might have overdone it a little bit,' he thought.

The area was only filled with silence for several seconds.

"Please," one young woman from the new arrivals said with respect. "Please show us once again."

Gravis scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Okay," he said.

All the different Immortal Emperors made space for Gravis as they watched with concentration.

On the side, Stella looked with a warm smile at Gravis. Sure enough, nothing that Gravis did was simple.

Gravis took out his saber again.

Then, he swung towards the horizon once again.

However, this time, the power of Gravis' Form Law immediately showed itself. Back then, Gravis wanted to act cool, which was why he had suppressed the destructive effect of his slash until he snapped his fingers.

Now, he didn't need to do that anymore.

The wave of Gravis' saber traveled towards the horizon with incomparable speeds as it created another cut in the world. The sheer power of the Law demanded respect from everyone that watched.

The Immortal Emperors watched with spellbound expressions at the cut.

Then, they closed their eyes to analyze what they had just seen.

Yet, they only became more shocked when they analyzed the slash.

It was made out of level five Battle Laws!

Then, how was it a level six Form Law?

None of the Immortal Emperors recognized all the insights of Gravis' Form Law, but they recognized some of them.

The Immortal Emperors immediately talked to each other and shared their insights, and in the end, they managed to create a picture of Gravis' Form Law.

14 different level five Laws!

This was unreal!

Who would do something like that!?

Who had the time for something like that!?

Even their Ancestors and Ascenders didn't bother comprehending something like that. After all, these were only level five Laws. As soon as someone had created a level five Form Law, they would immediately look towards the level six Laws. Creating a level six Form Law was the next goal.

So, the Immortal Emperors focused on comprehending level six element-specific Battle Laws. With those, they would be one step closer to comprehending a level six Form Law. Even more, as soon as they understood just one component, they could directly ascend to the next world.

Because of that, level six Form Laws were nonexistent in this world.

Had Exar known a level six Form Law?

No.

Not even Exar had known one.

Why?

Because he had been fully focused on the Major Law of the Dead World. Exar was powerful, but he "only" had 350,000 years to comprehend Laws. The Major Law of the Dead World already demanded a ridiculous amount of level five Laws and five level six Laws. Condensing a level six Form Law would need another four level six Laws.

Exar barely managed to comprehend the Major Law of the Dead World before ascending. This meant that he simply hadn't had enough time to condense a level six Form Law.

So, if not even Exar had comprehended a level six Form Law, who had?

No one.

Even the best Ascender had only comprehended two level six Laws. They still needed one more to condense a level six Form Law.

The Immortal Emperors talked to each other with shock, and when they finally uncovered the number of level five Laws that went into Gravis' Form Law, they all looked at him with burning eyes.

Gravis lifted an eyebrow. 'They wouldn't do something stupid, right?' Gravis thought.

The Immortal Emperors all landed in front of Gravis and looked at him.

Then, something shocking happened.

They all kneeled down!

"Sect Master," they said deferentially in unison.

Gravis was taken aback.

Then, he looked around himself.

Yet, he didn't see the Sect Master anywhere.

Gravis turned back to the bowing Immortal Emperors and pointed at himself in confusion. "Do you mean me?" Gravis asked.

"Yes, Sect Master," the young lady from earlier said to Gravis. She had been the one that had requested another performance of Gravis' Form Law. Obviously, she held quite an important position in the Purist Sect since everyone else was behind her.

Gravis couldn't process what was happening.

"Pfft!"

Suddenly, the sound of someone suppressing a laugh could be heard, and Gravis looked over.

It was Stella.

Right now, Stella was suppressing her laughter as she looked at Gravis.

"What's going on?" Gravis asked Stella.

"You have the most powerful Form Law," Stella said with a grin. "Therefore, you have the highest position in the Purist Sect. This means that you are the Sect Master of the Purist Sect now."

Gravis' brain stopped working for a moment.

Sect Master?

He was supposed to be the Sect Master of the most powerful Peak Sect of this world?

"She's right."

A new voice appeared as three new people arrived between Gravis and the bowing Immortal Emperors.

The woman in the center had been the one that had just spoken. Her hair was silver, and she was exuding a sharp aura of a sword.

Two middle-aged men stood behind her.

The woman in the center was the Sect Master of the Purist Sect, while the other two were the Vice-Sect Masters.

Then, these three also bowed.

"I hereby abdicate my position as Sect Master," the woman in the center said. "May the new Sect Master show us the path to the future!"

Her voice sounded calm, but deep inside, she was shocked beyond belief.

She had looked at Gravis carefully the entire time, not knowing how she should approach him.

Yet, Gravis had unveiled the only level six Form Law in this world.

Just like the other people in her Sect, the Sect Master also followed the principles of the Purist Sect.

Gravis' Form Law was much more powerful than her own, which meant that Gravis had the right to become the Purist Sect's Sect Master.

His Realm didn't matter.

Only the Form Law was important.

While Gravis was still trying to get to terms with his new situation, the Sect Master shot a look at Stella and Liam. Usually, she would have already reprimanded them since they were not bowing, but she knew that these were Gravis' friends.

She didn't have the right to admonish the friends of the new Sect Master.

"Hey, I think you've got something wrong here," Gravis said quickly, waving his hands. "I don't want to be part of the Purist Sect."

The eyes of everyone widened in shock.

When Gravis had said that he didn't want to be part of the Purist Sect earlier, they all believed him to be some arrogant youngster.

However, his words had a very different meaning now.

Gravis really wasn't interested in joining, even as a Sect Master.

Why not!?

Who would decline to become the Sect Master of the most powerful Peak Sect!?

The Sect Master released a sigh of relief.

Why?

Surprisingly, it wasn't because of the fact that she got to keep her position, but because Gravis' refusal to accept the position of Sect Master had shown his personality.

Exar had told them that as long as they didn't offend Gravis, everything would be fine.

He never said that they had to become friends or allies.

He also never said that they had to bow before him out of fear.

He had only said that they shouldn't go against him.

This meant neutrality was an option.

And sure enough, Exar had been right. Gravis had simply politely declined the position of Sect Master.

He wasn't some kind of power-hungry overlord.

Even more, this proved that Gravis genuinely wasn't on the side of the beasts.

After all, as far as Gravis knew, no one in the Purist Sect knew that he had a beast body. If Gravis were part of the beast camp, he could have rightfully claimed the position of Sect Master and then slowly steer the Purist Sect towards destruction.

Yet, Gravis simply didn't care.

"May I ask why you are declining?" the Sect Master asked, still bowing. "Is the Purist Sect not up to your standards?"

"No! No!" Gravis quickly answered. "I just don't want to deal with organization, leadership, looking after a Sect, and all that stuff. I just want to comprehend my Laws, temper myself, and that's it. I'm not interested in any kind of respect or societal power."

Some of the Immortal Emperors frowned.

They had just seen the person with the most powerful Form Law in the world.

Sadly, he was not interested in becoming a Sect Master.

Unfortunately, this was not surprising.

After all, many Cultivators only wanted to become stronger themselves. Being a Sect Master put a lot of responsibility on a person, and it would also be harder for that person to cultivate since the Sect Master needed to make a call whenever something of relevance happened.

"Then, do you wish to become an Ascender?" the Sect Master asked, standing up. Gravis had declined the position of Sect Master, which meant that she no longer had to bow in front of him.

Gravis knew what the Purist Sect meant with Ascender.

When Peak Sects talked about Ascenders, they were talking about members of their Sect that already knew a level six Law.

They only had a single job.

Defend the Sect if something is threatening it, just like the Ancestor.

"Eh," Gravis uttered as he scratched the back of his head again.

That actually wasn't such a bad position.

Chapter 980 - 980 – Samantha

"As long as I am not bound by much, I wouldn't have anything against becoming an Ascender," Gravis said.

The Sect Master nodded with a rarely seen smile. "Then, welcome to the Purist Sect, Gravis."

Gravis raised an eyebrow. "You know my name?"

The Sect Master nodded. "Our previous Ancestor has informed us about you and your secrets. However, you do not need to fear us. We do not covet your secrets."

'Secrets?' Gravis thought.

Gravis had an inkling of what the Sect Master meant and decided to test it. After all, he already had a clone in a safe place in case something went wrong.

Gravis deactivated the Law of Perceived Reality for the Sect Master. He still kept it activated for everyone else.

The Sect Master didn't notice any difference. After all, the Law of Perceived Reality didn't work on her since she already knew the truth about Gravis. Therefore, she also didn't notice that it had been deactivated.

Because of that, the Sect Master didn't react at all. To her, nothing had changed.

And that was exactly what confirmed Gravis' suspicions.

If the Sect Master hadn't known about Gravis' beast body, she would have become shocked as Gravis would suddenly have the image of a Black Demon superimposed over himself.

Yet, she didn't react at all.

This meant that she knew that Gravis had a beast body.

'Interesting,' Gravis thought. 'Then, that means that she was willing to hand the position of Sect Master over to me, even though she already knew that I have a beast body. Sure enough, the Purist Sect is very different from the Nine Elements Sect. Probably mainly thanks to Exar.'

This relieved Gravis quite a bit.

Constantly keeping his true form hidden put a bit of pressure on him. Additionally, Gravis felt a slight bit bad for deceiving everyone. Sure, if they were enemies, he wouldn't care, but the Purist Sect had been rather accommodating.

'I can actually truly be myself here,' Gravis thought.

"You mean Exar with previous Ancestor, right?" Gravis asked.

Some of the present people felt a bit uncomfortable. Yes, Gravis was powerful, but he had also referred to their previous Ancestor by name, which was a bit disrespectful.

However, they didn't disagree. Who knew, maybe Gravis had known their previous Ancestor?

"Yes," the Sect Master answered. "As you are probably aware, he has already departed to the next world."

Gravis nodded. "Yes, I saw him leave back then."

Before the Sect Master continued speaking, she turned to the Immortal Emperors.

"You can all scatter," the Sect Master said. It was a bit awkward to talk to Gravis while all these Immortal Emperors were bowing around her.

The Immortal Emperors stood up and focused on Gravis.

Then, Gravis was assaulted.

Not with attacks but with voice transmissions.

Nearly all of the gathered Immortal Emperors introduced themselves and asked Gravis if he wanted to talk with them. All of them were interested in Gravis' Form Law and in his life. Someone that had managed to create such a powerful Form Law must have gone through incredible experiences.

What did Gravis do?

He basically accepted all the invitations.

Why not? Gravis was a social person, and he enjoyed getting to know new people, especially when they were all powerful Immortal Emperors. Additionally, Gravis would probably spend a lot of time with Stella again, and he needed something to do as a change of pace.

Why not meet new people and get to know them?

The Immortal Emperors were surprised that Gravis had agreed this readily.

Apparently, he wasn't as prideful as his previous boasts made him appear to be.

"The Ancestor would like to meet you, Gravis," the Sect Master said.

Gravis looked at the Sect Master and nodded. "Sure."

Then, the Sect Master turned to that one young woman that had spoken to Gravis before, the one with the seemingly high status. "Samantha, please lead our new Ascender to the Ancestor's residence."

'Samantha?' Gravis thought as he looked at the woman.

"Yes, please follow me," Samantha said as she gestured for Gravis to follow her.

Gravis simply followed her as they were making their way to the east of the Purist Sect.

Gravis waved to Stella and Liam, telling them that he would be back soon.

Gravis and Samantha walked for a couple of seconds in silence.

"Does this remind you of something?" Gravis suddenly asked Samantha.

Samantha's eyes widened in surprise. Then, she turned to Gravis and looked at him with a smirk. "Yes, it does. Around 170,000 years ago, I led a young Immortal to my teacher."

Gravis only smiled. "You think I forgot?" he asked.

"Honestly? Yes," Samantha answered with a smile. "We have only met once, and that was when you arrived at my teacher's clearing. I didn't expect you to still remember me."

Gravis only smiled.

Gravis had met two people with the name Samantha in his life. One had been killed by Gravis as tempering in the Sect Alliance's territory, while the other one had been an Immortal King in Arc's clearing.

Back when Gravis had just arrived in this world, Exar had given him Arc's emblem. When Gravis had crushed that emblem, he had been teleported to Arc's clearing. Back then, it was Samantha that had led Gravis to Arc.

It had been a short meeting, but Gravis had remembered her.

Well, he hadn't really consciously thought of her in forever, but he got reminded of her when he heard her name again just now.

Gravis had also inspected Samantha's Cultivation Realm just now, and it was quite impressive.

Early Major Circulation Immortal Emperor Realm.

Cultivators in that Realm counted as the most powerful Cultivators that could be deployed. After all, only Ascenders, Ancestors, Sect Masters, and Vice-Sect Masters were more powerful, and they couldn't be deployed easily.

No wonder her status was so high.

She was above Core Elders but below Vice-Sect Masters.

After some minutes, Gravis and Samantha arrived in a solitary, wooden hut at the eastern edge of the Purist Sect. This wooden hut was located even further east than the palace with the Purist Sect's leadership.

Gravis had already expected something like this.

'I wonder what person the Ancestor of the Purist Sect is.' Gravis thought. 'After all, they should also be the new Keeper for Underworld.'

Gravis and Samantha arrived before the door of the hut.

Then, Samantha simply opened the door without knocking and entered, making Gravis raise one of his eyebrows.

However, Gravis simply followed inside.

Inside the hut, Gravis could see a table with two cushions beside it and some very basic amenities.

Gravis looked around for the Ancestor but didn't find them.

And then Samantha sat down in one of the cushions and gestured for Gravis to also sit down.

Gravis blinked a couple of times in surprise.

"Surprised?" Samantha asked with a smirk.

WHOOOOOM!

And that's when Samantha released her power.

Her power climbed from the Early Major Circulation Immortal Emperor Realm to a level Gravis couldn't feel.

And there was only a single level Cultivators could reach in this world that Gravis couldn't feel.

Peak Immortal Emperor.

Gravis was beyond surprised.

He had inspected Samantha's Realm thoroughly, but he had only seen that she was an Early Major Circulation Immortal Emperor.

One had to know that it was very, very difficult to hide one's Realm in front of Gravis.

However, there was one way.

"Law of Humility, huh?" Gravis asked.

Samantha only smiled widely.