Lightning Is The Only Way

"That thing, huh?" Arc asked with an awkward smile.

Gravis nodded. "You know, when you unveiled me, I was a bit confused for a bit, but I quickly saw through the intentions of your actions."

"In a way, you were right. If I had remained hidden, sooner or later, one of the powerful Sects would notice me. At that point, I might not even know that I was already targeted. A Divine God might have appeared out of nowhere, and when that happened, they would have already sufficiently prepared themselves."

"They would have found out about my family and friends, and they would have made sure that I wouldn't be able to escape. Of course, I also knew that something like this could happen. Yet, I didn't do anything."

"Why? Because I grew complacent. I felt like, no matter what the world would throw at me, I could deal with it. After all, I have been able to deal with it every time it had occurred in the past."

"However, you were right," Gravis said. "Just because I was able to deal with it in the past didn't mean that I would be able to deal with it in the future. If I had continued like this, I might have been suppressed into nothingness."

Gravis released a sigh. "But that doesn't change the fact that you essentially threw me into one of the most dangerous situations of my entire life. Additionally, I have been forced away from my loved ones for three million years. Even my son died during that time."

Arc only looked at Gravis with an uncomfortable smile. "So, what're you going to do now?" he asked.

Gravis looked at Arc for a bit.

"Nothing," Gravis said. "Yes, I missed a huge chunk of my loved ones' lives, but they are still alive, and I can build new memories. Many of them have died, but if I had been noticed, none of them would be as powerful as they are now."

"They might even all be dead," Gravis said with a quiet voice. "If one of the Peak Sects took all my loved ones into custody, I didn't know what I would have done."

"I'm not only living for myself, but I'm also not only living for them. Yes, I would feel incredibly guilty, and this would have been the hardest decision in my life, but…"

"I think I would have still escaped, even if it meant the death of everyone I loved," Gravis said with a pained expression.

"If I gave myself up, I would never have the opportunity to gain true freedom and true power. In essence, I would have sacrificed my life so that everyone else could live for a little longer."

"However, none of them would have ever been allowed to become powerful Divine Gods."

"In essence, if any of that happened, the path of everyone I loved and my own would have been cut off."

"So, if you hadn't interfered, either all of my friends would have died, including my children and Stella, or everyone, including myself, would have died. After all, it's not certain that I could have escaped."

Gravis took a deep breath.

"I don't like to admit it. You went against my freedom, and you forced a decision upon me."

"Yet, you did the right thing," Gravis said. "Thanks to you, I still have Stella, Azure, Manuel, Meadow, Narcissus, Yersi, and Orpheus. Without you, I would be alone or dead."

Gravis looked with a complex expression at Arc. "It's hard to believe that I'm actually thanking someone that suppressed me in a way. Yet, the end result is a positive one, and you have also done this suppression with positive intentions."

"So, thanks, Arc," Gravis said with a smile.

Arc only smiled brightly.

"Does it feel familiar?" he asked.

Surprisingly, Gravis nodded. "I know what you're referring to, and I can tell the difference. I'm not naïve as you think, Arc."

Arc nodded. "Then, that's good. Seems like I worried over nothing."

Gravis also nodded.

"Oh, one more thing," Arc said. "Keep in mind that your friends are also my friends. So, I didn't only do this for you, but also because of them. I didn't want to see them die."

"Friends?" Gravis asked with a raised eyebrow. "You haven't even been around them until then."

"Haven't I?" Arc asked with a knowing smile. "I've been around them more than you think. They simply didn't know about it."

"You were?" Gravis asked in surprise.

Arc nodded. "I like disguising myself and interacting with people. Sure, I went from Sect to Sect, but when I got bored, I often came to the small group of your friends."

"Why?" Gravis asked. "Don't tell me it's just because they are my friends. I don't think you are such a person."

"Of course not," Arc said. "There are a couple of qualities that made it very interesting to me to watch them."

"First of all, they are around you, and everything around you tends to undergo overwhelming changes."

"Second, their talents were quite good. Not sure how you managed to do it, but many of them have impressive talents when it comes to Cultivation."

"Lastly, it's their personalities. I told you that I liked to go around and bait people into attacking me. That's mainly because I enjoy taking down hypocrites and arrogant idiots."

"Yet, in the group of your friends, I couldn't find anyone like that. Even more, since they were the leaders, the normal disciples also didn't reflect these qualities. I think all of that was mostly due to Manuel."

Gravis nodded. "Manuel is incredible as a leader."

"He really is," Arc said. "If he were a bit older and more experienced, he could very well rival me. In a way, I also feel a connection with him, but one that's different from our connection."

"We two share the same goal. We want freedom and happiness."

"With Manuel, it's more of a similarity in personalities. In a way, Manuel feels a bit like a younger version of myself. Because of that, I'm interested in seeing him become powerful," Arc explained.

Gravis could see the connection Arc was talking about. Manuel's and Arc's mannerisms were very similar. If they switched bodies, one wouldn't see a difference with only a short glance.

However, after looking closer, one would feel the difference in their auras.

Confidence.

Manuel was confident in a lot of things, but the Law of Freedom was worrying him. Additionally, Manuel was always worried about the people close to him, which made him constantly reevaluate his actions and decisions.

In comparison, Arc had no worries. It was like Arc was accepting everything that came his way. However, that confidence stemmed from the fact that everything that came his way also went his way.

No one but Orthar or the Opposer could rival Arc in terms of controlling the world.

Arc was over ten billion years old.

To put that into perspective, Arc was literally over a thousand times older than Gravis.

This was the same difference in magnitude as the current Gravis when compared to the Gravis that had just gone to the higher world for the first time.

Back then, Gravis had been a weak Immortal.

Now, Gravis was unrivaled below the Heaven's Magnate Realm.

This same difference also applied to Gravis and Arc when talking about their ages.

Arc controlled the world to an impressive degree due to his accumulated knowledge and experience.

Gravis could very well see Arc as a far older version of Manuel.

Arc essentially was what Manuel strived to be.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Gravis asked.

"Not much," Arc answered. "I still feel like I've just arrived in this world. It's like I haven't had the time to really settle in, but I think I will simply just do whatever I want until my longevity runs out."

"You know, due to me being a Heaven, my creator doesn't want me to undergo tribulations. I would just waste one of the Cultivators without gaining much. So, if I ever reach the time for my tribulation, I will essentially just die."

Gravis raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know that."

"It's fine," Arc said. "I already knew how everything would go when I accepted coming with you. Additionally, I am banking on you saving my life when it's time."

"I trust that you will be able to change how this Cosmos works. I still have about ten million years left in the Divine God Realm, and then I have another 50 million years in the Heaven's Magnate Realm."

"So, it would be real cool if you could change the world in the next 60 million years. Alright?" Arc said with a smile.

Gravis sighed, but then he chuckled a bit. "I'll try my best."

After that, the two of them only talked about random things. Even now, talking with Arc allowed Gravis to learn a lot of things.

Arc's insights were incredible, no matter what topic the two talked about.

Eventually, the two of them parted again.

After leaving Arc, Gravis went back to Stella.

He had talked to everyone except for Orpheus, but that was only because Gravis didn't have an easy way to contact Orpheus. Back then, Gravis had destroyed all his communication equipment, and Gravis also didn't know where Orpheus was currently.

Gravis could only wait for Orpheus to come to him first.

The entire world should know by now what had happened, and Orpheus should also soon hear about Gravis' whereabouts.

Gravis only hoped Orpheus was well.