The world fell into silence after Heavenly Senior had invited the Opposer.
Gravis and the Black Magnate felt a bit uncomfortable. Sure, Heavenly Senior appeared like a nice guy, but he felt incredibly incompatible with the Opposer.
The others were nervous. The Opposer had always been incredibly mysterious and intimidating. Just his presence alone pushed everyone away. His aura told everyone that they should keep away from him.
It was similar to when someone saw a stranger walking down the street with an enraged expression.
One immediately realized that this person was not interested in conversation right now.
It was better to just let them be.
When the Opposer had said no, the others still didn't move, but they were relieved to some degree. After all, the Opposer hadn't killed Heavenly Senior for talking to him.
Gravis had already expected that the Opposer would say no. Being friends with the Black Magnate was one thing but being friends with Heavenly Senior was something entirely different.
The Black Magnate didn't talk with very many people, and he only joked with the ones he knew. In front of everyone else, he was similar to the Opposer. He just wasn't interested.
On top of that, the only goal the Black Magnate had had while contacting the Opposer had been to gain a new friend.
He hadn't been interested in the status of being his friend.
He hadn't been interested in the Opposer's power.
He had only wanted to find some company.
As for Heavenly Senior?
Gravis was not so sure.
Heaven's Magnates were beyond normal Cultivators, and Gravis couldn't even see part of their Law fragments, which meant that Gravis could only make a rough guess.
What was Gravis' guess?
Gravis guessed that Heavenly Senior was interested in being friends with basically everyone. That in and of itself wasn't a bad thing.
However, problems could appear when one looked at why Heavenly Senior wanted to be friends with everyone.
Gravis guessed that Heavenly Senior probably liked being in the center of attention.
Now, if he could get the Opposer to be his friend, wouldn't that be a great feeling?
He would have been the one that managed to coerce the Opposer out of his castle. On top of that, Heavenly Senior would have one of the two most powerful beings as a friend.
In a sense, being his friend was not a loss. After all, the feeling of friendship was genuine. Yet, the underlying reason for that desire could sour the relationship a bit. Most people probably wouldn't care, but some people definitely cared.
Gravis guessed that, in the Opposer's mind, such a mindset was akin to weakness. One could even call this mindset a kind of dependability.
The Opposer obviously wasn't interested in such a person.
However, Gravis still couldn't be sure. All of these things were only a guess.
When Heavenly Senior heard the refusal, his smile didn't vanish.
"Oh, come on," he said. "I know that you feel like-"
BANG!
Suddenly, a gigantic and unfathomably powerful bolt of lightning exploded from the skies and hit Heavenly Senior.
None of the Heaven's Magnates had even been able to react to the bolt of lightning.
The Opposer didn't react.
For an instant, Gravis had felt the power of the bolt of lightning, and his eyes widened in shock.
It was incomprehensibly powerful!
The bolt of lightning had been instant, but the bright image had been burned into Gravis' mind.
The bolt had been pure black, and it had demonstrated a complexity in terms of Laws Gravis had never seen before.
It was ridiculously complex and powerful!
Of course, this wasn't Heavenly Lightning. Gravis knew Heavenly Lightning, and that definitely wasn't Heavenly Lightning!
That only left one thing.
It was Orthar's lightning!
Everyone looked with absolute shock at the bolt of lightning, except for a few exceptions.
End of Light looked with horror at the place where Heavenly Senior had just been.
Peaceful Serenity looked at the same place with burning eyes.
Child of Heaven looked with narrowed eyes at that place.
Crk!
The silent sound of some breaking rocks could be heard, and everyone turned to the origin of that sound.
Inside the city, in an empty street, Heavenly Senior slowly sat up again.
Over half his body was gone, and his Spirit gave off chaotic fluctuations.
Obviously, he was very close to death.
Heavenly Senior took a shaky breath with a shocked expression as his body slowly healed.
Heavenly Senior wasn't stupid, and he immediately realized what had happened and why it had happened.
Heaven had gotten involved.
Why?
Because it didn't want to lose him.
Heaven had interrupted Heavenly Senior's speech before he could even finish it, which gave Heavenly Senior a terrifying realization.
If he had continued talking, the Opposer would have most likely killed him.
There wouldn't have been any other reason that would have moved Heaven to get involved.
Heavenly Senior began to sweat in terror as realization struck.
He had nearly died!
He had nearly committed suicide!
How could he have been so stupid!?
Trying to talk to the Opposer like this!?
That was ridiculous!
Heavenly Senior wanted to kick his past self. He had gotten too used to being in control and being so powerful!
He had completely forgotten that there were still beings he couldn't even attempt to fight against!
Heavenly Senior slowly floated upward again.
Then, he looked at the Opposer with a nervous and scared expression.
"I'm sorry," he said silently. "I don't know you, and I shouldn't have attempted to guess your thoughts."
"It is completely up to you if you want to come or not."
The Opposer only looked at Heavenly Senior for some seconds with an emotionless expression.
Heavenly Senior felt like these seconds dragged on for an eternity.
Then, the Opposer simply looked away again.
When that happened, it was like the entire world had released a sigh of relief.
The tension vanished, only leaving a bit of awkwardness behind.
At this moment, Master Linus coughed a bit. "I'm sorry, but I have to decline the invitation for now," he said. "I will come later, but for now, I have a promise I have to keep. It won't take too long, and I will come to find you after I'm done."
"Oh, sure, that's fine," Heavenly Senior said as his smile slowly returned. "Take all the time you want. It shouldn't be difficult for you to find me with your newfound power. We have a long time ahead of us, and a couple of years don't mean much."
"Thank you," Master Linus said with a polite smile.
After that, Heavenly Senior surprisingly turned to Gravis. "Gravis, you were one of the biggest reasons for our new friend, and we have planned quite a surprise for you."
Gravis blinked a couple of times in surprise.
Heavenly Senior only winked. "We won't get involved in your Cultivation and your path to power, but we can do something else. Usually, we don't get involved in the stuff we have planned, but this time, I think you have given us quite an amazing opportunity."
"We only need to tweak the way the world works by a bit, and it will end in something incredible."
"Give us a bit less than a million years, and you will see the result. Hope you're excited!"
Then, Heavenly Senior teleported away with a smirk, leaving Gravis confused.
"Join us soon! We've been waiting for you for quite a while. I also want to talk to Mortis at some point. That guy is such an entertaining tease."
Gravis looked over and saw the sweet and playful smile of Happy Springs.
SHING!
She also teleported away.
SHING!
End of Light teleported away without saying anything. However, she had thrown one last evaluating glance at Gravis.
The three old foggies teleported away without saying anything. Just as the Black Magnate had said, they appeared to not be interested in anything, and they pulled down the entire mood.
Peaceful Serenity threw an unrecognizable glance at Gravis as she scratched her chin in thought.
Then, she also disappeared without saying anything.
Now, only Master Linus was left flying in the air.
Master Linus closed his eyes again to feel his newfound power, but some seconds later, he opened them with a smile.
Then, he turned to the Opposer's castle and performed a slight, polite bow.
"I would like to repay Gravis for what he has done for me."
