Now, it was Gravis' time to tell his story, and he started by telling everyone how he had started cultivating. He started this early because he had kept a lot of his life a secret from them.
Why?
Multiple reasons.
First of all, if his friends from the lower world heard that there were actually three levels of worlds above them, they might have become demotivated by the gigantic mountain they had to climb. Just hearing that Unity Realm Cultivators, legendary existences in the lower world, weren't even allowed to enter Gravis' home city, they would feel like trash.
Something similar was true for the beasts of the middle world. After all, if they heard that Immortals, people that could teleport, could only be beggars in the city, they might also get demotivated.
Another reason why Gravis kept a lot of his life secret was that he didn't want the beasts to feel horrible. After all, Orthar only cared about humans, not beasts.
Now, that dynamic had changed. Orthar gave every beast a Spirit when they became a Star God, effectively raising them to the same level as humans.
Gravis started telling them this story without keeping anything secret, except for the stuff that Orthar didn't allow him to say. Yet, Gravis quickly stopped his narration as he arrived at the spot where Orpheus had appeared.
"Right, father," Gravis said, looking at his father. "Where is Orpheus?"
The Opposer looked at Gravis with an unreadable expression.
No one was able to see the subtle emotional fluctuations in the Opposer's eyes, but Gravis had known him for long enough.
He noticed that his father was unsure how he should feel right now.
"Gravis, something happened," the Opposer said with a heavy voice.
Gravis felt like his heart had stopped.
Something happened?
Was his big brother dead?
"What happened?" Gravis asked.
"When you left for the higher world, Orpheus only had 20,000 years left before his next tribulation would take place, and his Battle-Strength wasn't strong enough to get through that tribulation," the Opposer said.
Gravis took a deep breath.
More than 20,000 years had passed since then.
"Orpheus wasn't exactly honest with you," the Opposer started.
"Let me tell him," a new voice said.
SHING!
A black-haired, middle-aged man appeared in the Opposer's room. Stars seemingly shone inside his eyes as his gaze told of incredible knowledge and experience.
It was Orpheus!
Gravis released a huge sigh of relief.
Orpheus was still alive!
For a second there, Gravis had been afraid that Orpheus had died.
"I was the one that lied to him, and I will be the one that will tell him," Orpheus said to his father.
The Opposer nodded.
Then, Orpheus looked at Gravis and sighed.
Gravis waited for Orpheus to explain with a complicated expression.
"Gravis," Orpheus said slowly. "Do you remember how I have told you about my family?"
Gravis nodded.
"Well, what I have told you isn't a lie, but things that have really happened. Yet, I wasn't honest with the time."
"In fact, my family had passed away a long time ago," Orpheus said.
Gravis felt pain inside his chest.
Orpheus had always been so happy when recounting the events with his family. Orpheus had truly shone with happiness whenever he told Gravis about things that his sons and daughters did.
"Was that even before I met you?" Gravis asked.
Orpheus nodded. "Long before that," he said. "I only had father and mother left, but that was it. Sadly, that wasn't enough to motivate me to continue living. So, I simply waited for the end of my life for around 300,000 years."
Orpheus sighed again. Talking about this topic wasn't easy for him. "I'm going to be honest with you here. The reason why I even met you back then was because I didn't care about my life anymore. Having one more person die wouldn't make a difference."
"I just didn't care."
Gravis also released a sigh.
"I didn't particularly care about you since I just expected you to die in the lower world. I just wanted to meet you and relive a part of my youth through you. That was also why I didn't see you off when you left. I simply didn't care," Orpheus said.
Gravis felt hurt.
When Gravis had met Orpheus for the first time, he had felt the unfamiliar feeling of brotherly love from him.
However, Gravis had been far too young back then. He hadn't been able to see through Orpheus' actual feelings.
In truth, Orpheus didn't care very much for Gravis.
Hearing that Orpheus hadn't really cared about him hurt Gravis quite a bit.
"Yet, you returned rather quickly," Orpheus said. "Your power surprised me a lot. I was especially shocked when I heard that you managed to attune your Spirit to lightning. On top of that, you managed to kill a lower Heaven while never having left the lower world. Something like this had never happened before."
Gravis nodded.
It was natural for Orpheus to be surprised.
How difficult was it to kill a lower Heaven?
In fact, it was impossible.
Why?
Because the lower Heaven knew a level three Law, the Law of Punishment Lightning.
It didn't matter how powerful the Ascender was. As long as they were in the lower world, they would be in the Initial Unity Realm.
No being in the Initial Unity Realm could be fast enough to evade the speed of Punishment Lightning, and no being in the Initial Unity Realm could resist a strike from Punishment Lightning.
Killing a lower Heaven was impossible.
The only reason why Gravis managed to accomplish this feat was due to his immunity towards lightning.
Gravis had become a perfect counter to Heavens.
"As soon as I heard of your accomplishments, I knew that your life wouldn't simply end," Orpheus said. "I realized that you were here to stay and that it was very likely that I would die before you."
"When I realized that, my feelings for you became genuine," Orpheus said. "Why? Because I knew that I wouldn't feel the pain of loss again since I would be the first one that died."
Orpheus sighed again. "However, I was too ashamed to tell you the truth about my life. When we spoke again, I was shocked that you remembered so many details about my family. This showed me how much you value me, making it more difficult for me to come out with the truth."
"I decided that I would tell you when you returned from the middle world since you would be more mature by then."
Orpheus sighed another time. "Yet, it became even more difficult to tell you the truth. You comprehended a Law that allowed you to easily sever emotional connections. I feared that the feeling of betrayal would make you sever our emotional connection."
Orpheus had referred to the Law of Freedom, but he didn't want to ruin the present people's chance of comprehending the Law by telling them the name. After all, it was easier to comprehend the Law of Freedom when one didn't know about its existence.
"So, in the end, I decided to run away from this pain," Orpheus said with difficulty. "I decided that I would die while you were away."
Gravis had no idea how he should feel right now.
The lies definitely stung.
Orpheus had essentially lied about everything.
At this point, Gravis also realized why his father held such complex emotions regarding Orpheus right now.
Did the Opposer care about Orpheus' lies towards Gravis?
No.
This was something between his two sons, and both of them weren't so fragile that something like this would break them apart.
No, the Opposer cared about something else.
How was Orpheus still alive?
How was someone that had nothing to live for still alive after being confronted with certain death?
Gravis had guessed why.
It was the same reason why Manuel was still alive.
Orthar.
Orthar was pushing Gravis' friends and family towards power.
Something like this seemed manipulative and horrible at first glance, but Orthar was doing these things perfectly.
Orthar wasn't forcing them to do anything.
He simply gave them a reason to live.
In essence, Orthar was giving them something that they valued so much that they would continue on their path to power.
One could even say that Orthar filled their life with happiness.
This was why the Opposer felt so conflicted.
The Opposer's feelings were no longer detached and cold, which made him care about his children. Yet, his greatest enemy was making the lives of his children far richer and more beautiful.
Even worse, the Opposer couldn't find anything bad about this.
Orthar essentially made them more powerful and happier.
What was there to complain about?
Fairness?
Who cared about fairness when one's family and friends were involved?
"However," Orpheus said. "I found someone new. I found someone that reminded me of my dead wife. It was love at first sight, but I was still unsure if I could enter the path of Cultivation again. After all, I had abandoned it for so long."
Orpheus looked at Gravis. "Yet, I remembered you. I remembered how you would feel when you heard about my betrayal and my death."
"You gave me the last push that I needed to enter the path of Cultivation again."
"At the same day I made my decision, I sought out my new wife, and we quickly fell in love with each other."
"When I fully let go of my emotions, I realized the worth of so many things. I realized what I had abandoned by giving up, and I regretted ever stopping on my path to power."
"I managed to comprehend two very powerful Laws, and these Laws allowed me to get over my tribulation and reach the Ancestral God Realm," Orpheus said.
Orpheus looked with a complex expression into Gravis' eyes.
"I don't deserve any forgiveness, but I still ask for it regardless. It's shameful of me to ask for something like that, but if it increases my chances of you forgiving me, I'm willing to be this shameless."
"Gravis, I'm sorry."
