"You can't turn it off?" Gravis asked in shock.
"No," Mortis answered with a grimace.
Silence.
Arc broke out into laughter.
Gravis looked with concern at Mortis.
But then, something shocking happened.
Mortis completely vanished!
He didn't teleport away or use any Laws.
He simply vanished from the world!
"Where did he- argh!"
BANG!
Mortis reappeared in front of Arc and punched him in the face!
"That's not funny!" Mortis shouted.
Arc looked with shock at Mortis after his face healed.
But then, Arc understood.
Immediately after, Arc's mind went through a ton of possibilities this ability would open.
"That's insanely useful!" Arc shouted.
What had Mortis done?
Avatars could reside in the weapons of a Cultivator or not exist at all.
However, Stars were different.
Stars always existed in the world. Stars always flew around the Star God, no matter when or where they were.
Yet, Stars could become intangible.
When Stars were intangible, they couldn't interact with the world. They would become invisible to everyone but the Cultivator that owned the Star. In that state, the Stars also couldn't unleash their powers.
It was like the Stars existed in a separate reality.
Not even a Divine God could destroy a Star that was intangible. They could only kill the Cultivator, which would then destroy the Star.
Destroying an intangible Star was only possible when someone knew the True Law of Perceived Reality.
Not many Cultivators knew that Law.
"What can you see while intangible?" Arc asked Mortis with intense eyes.
"I can see everything," Mortis said. "I simply can't interact with anything."
"Wait, then, does this mean that you can theoretically enter Law Comprehension Areas without anyone noticing it and comprehend the Laws?" Arc asked.
Mortis' eyes widened in realization.
Then, Mortis scratched his chin in thought.
Lastly, Mortis smirked.
"Yes, I think I can," Mortis said. Then, Mortis looked at Gravis. "Seems like I no longer need to rely on your money to comprehend Laws."
Gravis scratched the back of his head. "Are you fine with just stealing comprehension of Law Comprehension Areas that are not your own?"
"Yes," Mortis said directly. "Law Comprehension Areas are made by nature. The organizations only own them because they have a big fist and say that these are theirs. Additionally, my comprehension won't impact them regardless."
"I'll simply stay there and not do anything."
Gravis had to agree with Mortis. The Sects didn't create these Law Comprehension Areas. They simply said that they belonged to them.
"Fine," Gravis said. "Seems like my boy no longer needs the support of his father."
Mortis looked at the smirking Gravis.
Then, Mortis vanished again.
Silence.
Nothing happened.
Gravis only laughed loudly, which confused Arc.
"You are my Star, Mortis," Gravis shouted. "If you can make yourself intangible, I can also make you intangible!"
Then, Arc understood.
Mortis was probably trying to punch Gravis right now, but he couldn't touch him due to his intangible status.
Whoosh!
Gravis unleashed a punch that touched nothing.
While intangible, Mortis only laughed.
"If I want to stay intangible, you can't summon me into reality!" Mortis said.
Gravis grimaced, but he fell into thought again as he scratched his chin.
BANG!
Mortis managed to land a hit on Gravis' face, and Gravis glared at Mortis.
"I was distracted!" he shouted in anger.
"So? That's not my fault," Mortis answered with a smirk.
Gravis huffed but went back to thinking.
"So, does it mean that the intangible status has a higher priority?" Gravis asked. "As soon as one of us two wants you to be intangible, you become intangible. Or is it a priority based on what status you currently have?"
Mortis also started scratching his chin. "Let's try. I'm concentrating on staying in this reality, and you try to make me intangible."
Gravis nodded.
Whoop!
And Mortis was gone again.
Whoop!
Mortis reappeared again while scratching his chin.
"So, the intangible status has a higher priority," Mortis said, his body still shining brightly. "Well, at least I have a method to hide this annoying glow."
Gravis had to chuckle a bit. "Could you imagine being with Joyce while continually shining like this?" he asked.
Gravis imagined himself shining like this while being with Stella. The two of them would simply lay at each other's side, but one of them would illuminate the entire room with a bright yellow light.
Stella would probably get annoyed and look away after a while, asking Gravis to turn down the light.
Then, Gravis would solemnly say, "no, I must shine!"
When Gravis thought of that, he had to laugh.
Arc looked at Gravis in confusion.
Why was he laughing?
Meanwhile, Mortis cringed when he heard the name, Joyce.
"Please don't talk about Joyce in front of me," Mortis said with an even voice.
Gravis immediately stopped laughing.
Mortis said please!
This meant that this was important to him!
Gravis' good mood vanished as he looked into Mortis' eyes. "Okay, what is going on between you and Joyce? I know that something's going on, and I also know that it's not something good!"
Mortis looked away from Gravis' eyes. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Mortis!" Gravis shouted strictly. "I don't want to make the same mistake again! Back then, I wasn't able to help you, and you died as a result. Mortis, you are important to me, and I don't want you to be unhappy."
"Accept some help for once and confide in others with your worries. Don't try to do everything alone. Remember how we cried in our mother's arms back then? It has helped us. Don't become someone that's too prideful to ask others for help!" Gravis said.
Mortis became nervous.
He wanted to deal with all of this himself, but he also knew that Gravis had a point.
"Mortis," Arc said with a smile. "You need others for happiness."
"Why do you think I had so many disciples in my world?"
Mortis took a deep breath as he wrung with himself on this issue.
But after some seconds, he released a sigh.
"Fine," Mortis said. "I hadn't thought that our breakthrough to the Star God Realm would end in an intervention for me, but sure, so what?"
Gravis nodded with a supportive smile. "Thank you. Your trust means a lot to me."
"Want me to leave?" Arc asked. "It's fine."
"No, no, it's fine," Mortis said with a weak voice. "Maybe you can also give me some valuable input."
Arc nodded and remained silent.
When Mortis saw how Gravis and Arc only looked silently and expectantly at him, he became more nervous.
However, he had to abandon his pride.
So what if they thought of him as idiotic or weak?
"It all started when I intercepted Joyce after she left our father's room…"
Mortis began to narrate the entire thing.
When Mortis came to the intense sessions with Joyce, Arc and Gravis cringed and took several breaths through their teeth.
That was literal insanity!
They could understand some rough playing, but literally trying to kill one's partner was definitely going too far!
Arc and Gravis felt bad for Mortis after he finished the retelling of his story.
That was not healthy!
That was not a relationship!
Arc and Gravis looked at each other after Mortis was done.
Then, they looked at Mortis and said the same thing.
"You need to break up with her."
