Gravis waited for a couple of days until everything calmed down. The upper echelon of a High-Tier Sect had been killed, and this was something significant. Something like this happened very rarely in this world.
After a couple of days, Gravis went back to the Nine Elements Sect. It was impossible for the Nine Elements Sect to find out that he had been the one that attacked the High-Tier Sect.
Sure enough, even when Gravis came close to the area of the Nine Elements Sect, nothing happened.
After disguising himself with the Law of Perceived Reality, he entered the tavern of Underworld and ordered a drink.
"It seems like I have underestimated your background," the bartender transmitted to Gravis as he cheerfully served Gravis some wine.
Gravis drank the cup and did some superficial small talk with the bartender.
"Oh?" Gravis transmitted back.
"The Nine Elements Sect found traces of Divine Lightning in the Holy Judgment Sect," the bartender transmitted. "It seems like you have a powerful and mysterious person behind you. Cultivators that know a level six Law are rare and extremely powerful. Was this also the reason why you weren't afraid when you confronted me? Has your teacher always protected you in secret?"
Gravis only grinned. "I won't elaborate," he transmitted back.
"It doesn't matter," the bartender transmitted. "If your teacher were hostile to Underworld, this stronghold would have already ceased to exist. My guess is that they will soon ascend and want to help you gather resources for the future when they are no longer there. Quite thoughtful."
"As I've said, I won't elaborate," Gravis transmitted back.
"Fine, keep your secrets," the bartender transmitted with some amusement.
Gravis finished the wine, and before he knew it, 160 million Immortal Stones had already appeared inside his Spirit Space. Sure enough, the wine he had just drunk was worth a lot of money.
"I want three more of the emblems I bought recently," Gravis transmitted.
"You know where you can get them," the bartender transmitted.
"I do, but can I?" Gravis transmitted with a silent smirk.
"Quite sharp," the bartender answered. "Yes, these are high-quality goods, and you can't just buy them even if you have the money. I wanted to make you travel for nothing, but it seems like you have seen through my trick."
"Here's your egg salad!" the bartender shouted cheerfully as he put a plate filled with egg salad in front of Gravis.
"Thanks," Gravis said.
Then, he ate the egg salad, but it tasted very bland. It seemed like this was the bartender's way of taking revenge for Gravis ruining his fun.
After eating the egg salad, Gravis left the tavern and teleported away.
Inside his Spirit Space was another emblem. Obviously, this emblem was the authorization for purchasing the three other emblems.
Sadly, Gravis didn't get a discount this time. This meant that Gravis would have to pay a total of 150 million Immortal stones for the three emblems. That was the entire reward money for the mission.
However, Gravis also earned around 60 million from the remains of the Sect Master and the five elders of the Holy Judgment Sect. He also received quite a lot of Peak Immortal King ore.
This meant that Gravis now had over 100 million Immortal Stones again, which should be enough for his plans.
Gravis went to the restaurant again, but this time, he had to wait for two hours for his food. They probably had to run several security checks for such a high-value trade.
However, in the end, Gravis got his three emblems and left the restaurant again.
Why did Gravis buy three?
Because he wanted to elicit the least amount of suspicion as possible from the Nine Elements Sect.
If the Nine Elements Sect was fine with Gravis taking away their Holy Maiden the official way, everything would be fine. In that case, Gravis wouldn't need these emblems.
However, if the Nine Elements Sect tried to find a way to deny Gravis, he would need to flee with Stella.
Sure, Gravis could pull Stella into his Life Ring, but if he unveiled that he also had a Life Ring, the Life Sect would also begin searching for Gravis. Offending one Peak Sect was one thing. This would only be a personal enmity. However, if he offended two of them at once, four of the Peak Sects might become involved. The only Sect that would not involve itself would be the Purist Sect due to their xenophobic and arrogant personality.
Obviously, if Gravis retrieved Stella by force, Gravis couldn't stay in the northern continent anymore. Major Circulation Immortal Emperors would search for him, and Gravis wasn't powerful enough to hide from them if they really put their minds to finding him. As long as they didn't pay any attention to him, everything would be fine, but as soon as they actively searched for him, his Law of Perceived Reality would become useless.
The All-Matter Sect obviously had a very close relationship with the Nine Elements Sect since both of them were on the northern continent. The All-Matter Sect would help the Nine Elements Sect in searching for Gravis.
The Primordial Force Sect in the western continent wouldn't get involved, but if they accidentally found Gravis, they might still hand him over.
Gravis wouldn't even try to enter the eastern continent. The Purist Sect was, just as the name implied, very pure and didn't accept anyone else without a very good reason. Every person not of the Purist Sect would be put under intense scrutiny if they wanted to enter the eastern continent.
This only left Gravis with the southern continent, which was under the rule of the Life Sect. The Life Sect already knew that Gravis had a beast body, and they didn't mind. On top of that, they knew a little bit about his Battle-Strength. The Life Sect would keep Gravis' location a secret from the other Sects as long as he proved useful.
So, if Gravis used the Life Ring, his only safe place in the human world would be compromised. If he used it, Gravis would have no other choice but to retreat to the beast territory and stay there until he became nearly unrivaled in the world. Obviously, Gravis didn't like that. He was a human, and he liked to stay among humans.
Additionally, Stella would probably also want to live among humans.
But wait, then Gravis would only need two emblems. So, why did he buy three?
If one put themselves into the position of the Nine Elements Sect, what would one do in such a situation?
Imagine one wouldn't be able to find Gravis or the Holy Maiden anywhere. How would one get Gravis or the Holy Maiden to show themselves?
Use something to force them out of hiding, something that either one of them needed desperately.
What would one use?
Liam, Stella's brother.
The Nine Elements Sect knew that Stella and Liam were very close, so if they took Liam hostage, they would have a chance of pulling Stella out of hiding.
Gravis obviously had already anticipated something like that. Because of that, if the Nine Elements Sect didn't keep their word, Gravis would not only flee with Stella but also with Liam.
That's why Gravis needed three emblems.
'Everything's prepared. I'm now at the Late Major Circulation Immortal King Realm, and I have three emblems. I have a second body in Arc's clearing that's also in the Late Major Circulation Immortal King Realm. So, even if this body dies here, I won't die. All my valuables except for one saber and the three emblems are with my body in Arc's clearing.'
'However, I want to avoid that this body dies. Fleeing with the emblems from Underworld is still in the Realm of something normal, but if this body dies, I would be at immense risk. If the Nine Elements Sect has a way to check if my Spirit died, they would know that I am still alive, and this would throw up uncomfortable questions.'
'Additionally, even if they didn't have such a way, if I were spotted by anyone, they would still realize that I'm still alive. People are afraid of death, and if they think that I hide some secret about true immortality or something, all humans in the world will try to hunt me down.'
'Anyway, now that I have more ore, I can create a shield and create a defensive Weapon Technique for my shield by using the Law of Magma. I need to hide my insane Battle-Strength as much as possible, which means that I need to hide a lot of my powers behind powerful Weapon Techniques.'
After finishing his thought, Gravis broke Arc's emblem in a hidden location and waited for the tournament to begin.
350 years passed by in a flash.
