"Oh, you didn't know about that one, did you?" Gravis said smugly. Finally, something this old shit didn't know.
Old Man Lightning kept his eyes focused on him. "Please explain."
Gravis leaned back on his chair. He might as well let everything out now. The Heaven Sect had spies everywhere, and they were probably also inside the Lightning Sect. Of course, it was dangerous staying here, but Gravis was sure that it would take some days for the news to reach the Heaven Sect. He still had time to leave.
On top of that, Gravis had a suspicion about this lower Heaven. Ever since his breakthrough into the Spirit Forming Realm, this lower Heaven kept quiet. Gravis was sure that it didn't do that voluntarily. He suspected that the arrival of the highest Heaven, after his breakthrough, changed everything. It probably forced this lower Heaven to follow the rules.
"Anyway," Gravis started explaining with a bored tone. "Due to my background, Heaven hates me, and I hate Heaven. We are basically like water and fire, and only one of us can survive. Since the Heaven Sect is under this shitty lower Heaven, they are my mortal enemies. So yeah, I expect a priest will be visiting the Lightning Sect in the next couple of days, demanding my death. Of course, I'll be gone by then."
The eyes of Lasar and Old Man Lightning opened widely in shock as Gravis referred to Heaven as "shitty lower Heaven". They felt fear and anxiety as they waited for something to happen. Yet, nothing did. Gravis was still there and still as relaxed as before.
Old Man Lightning released a nervous sigh. "You really have guts. No one would dare to refer to Heaven like that."
Gravis snorted. "Fuck this shitty lower Heaven. There are rules that it is supposed to follow. All Heavens follow these rules, yet this petty shit is basically breaking every one of them. Of course, I can't tell you exactly in what sense it's breaking them since that would put you in danger. Heaven doesn't like its workings being exposed."
The breathing of the two people became faster as Gravis continued speaking. To them, it felt like Gravis was poking an impossibly powerful tiger. Even Old Man Lightning was helpless before Heaven, and they were afraid of being pulled into this mess by association.
"How are you so confident in telling us that you are the mortal enemy of a power way stronger than us? Aren't you afraid of us handing you over?" Lasar asked.
Gravis smirked. "Because I have the whole Lightning Sect as a hostage."
Lasar's eyes narrowed as he exuded killing intent. "You are too weak for that."
Gravis continued smirking. "I just have to transmit the workings of Heaven to everyone in the Lightning Sect. What then? I will die, and after that, the Lightning Sect will die with me. As I said, Heaven doesn't like its secrets being exposed."
Lasar took a deep breath. For the first time in a long while, he was feeling genuine fear. If Gravis was telling the truth, he really had the whole Lightning Sect in his hands. Yet, Lasar knew that Gravis wouldn't abuse his power. After all, Gravis was a lightning cultivator, just like them. Something like this would go against lightning's temperament. Only when the Lightning Sect crossed him would he have a reason to unload.
"Relax," Gravis said casually. "I'm not some homicidal maniac. My goal is tempering myself and killing this shitty lower Heaven. As long as you don't do something, on purpose, that would endanger my life without my consent, nothing will happen. After all, I let that old man beat me several times by now," Gravis said while throwing a dirty side-eye to Old Man Lightning.
Old Man Lightning only snorted. "It's alright. You are not part of the Lightning Sect. You are only involved with us, so the Heaven Sect won't take its anger out on us. And if it does," killing intent appeared in Old Man Lightning's eyes, "I won't stand for it!"
Gravis nodded with respect. "That's exactly what I would do. Lightning destroys everything that crosses its bottom line. That is also one of the reasons why I am telling you this. As a fellow lightning cultivator, I know that you won't use this knowledge in some scheme to kill me. The Heaven's secret thing is only a contingency plan."
Old Man Lightning smiled slightly. This was the first time that Gravis saw him smile. "This attitude is exactly why I took a liking to you. You remind me of myself when I was younger," Old Man Lightning said while looking in revery at the ceiling.
"Speaking of," Gravis said like he remembered something, "what happened with Byron? How did I end up in your house?"
Old Man Lightning combed his beard in satisfaction. "That's, obviously, because of me. The Guild Master of the Lightning Guild in the southern Middle-Continent told him," he pointed at Lasar, "about you and your history. You should know how noteworthy it is that someone could fool the Heaven Sect."
Old Man Lightning laughed slightly. "Did you know that the Guild Master knew that you are not a Heavenborn ever since you left the Lightning Guild after your visit?"
Now, it was Gravis' turn to be surprised. "How?" he only asked.
Now, it was Old Man Lightning's turn to smirk. "He is smart. He knows how Heavenborn are, and he noticed that you were completely different. Together with some other clues, he knew that you were no Heavenborn. After that, he informed us. I also heard about it, and I immediately got interested in you. Even though you have accidentally killed your Proxy-Guild Master, he still spoke highly of you."
Gravis thought about this for a while and noticed some of the clues that could have tipped the Guild Master off. "So, how did I end up here?" Gravis asked.
"Unload your lightning," Old Man Lightning said, and Gravis shot up in his chair.
Gravis gritted his teeth since he was frustrated with the fact that he didn't remember his current situation. He was too used to his lightning always regenerating to 90%. Gravis guessed that this conversation would take longer, so he unloaded around 40% of his lightning into his mind. Like this, he wouldn't need to pay attention for around an hour.
Lasar's eyes widened in surprise as Gravis' lightning simply vanished. There was no unloading, yet his lightning had reduced. How was that possible?
Meanwhile, Old Man Lightning nodded. "After I heard that you killed an aspiring elder and multiple stronger disciples from the Wind Sect, I knew that something wasn't right. The Guild Master spoke in detail about your attitude and your relationship with the other Guilds. You, suddenly killing people from the Wind Sect, basically made no sense. So, since I had an interest in you anyway, I went out to search for you. I found you, together with that guy from the Darkness Sect, around a week later. Ever since then, I've watched you in secret."
Gravis was a little surprised about this fact, but it actually made sense. Though there was one issue. "Then why didn't you stop the death of the Sect Master of the Wind Sect?" Gravis asked.
Old Man Lightning had expected this question. "Two reasons. First of all, I don't care about him. His survival doesn't concern me. Second, you wouldn't have learned anything from it. I saw how Bryan-"
"Byron," Lasar interjected.
"Byron had you dancing on his palm. I also wanted to see what would happen when that ring got destroyed. You can only judge someone's true personality when they are backed into a corner. I let Byron live since I don't involve myself in politics. So, you don't have to worry. You can still take your revenge," Old Man Lightning explained.
Gravis remained silent for a while and then released a sigh. "Thank you," he said genuinely. Not only had Old Man Lightning saved his life, but he also taught him a lesson while doing so. Gravis' arrogance of thinking that he knew everything better had been an unknown weakness.
Gravis laughed bitterly. "I always looked down upon my opponents since they always underestimate me, yet, look at me now. I have done the same thing," Gravis said with self-deprecation.
Then, Gravis' eyes narrowed as motivation shone in them. "I won't take others lightly anymore. After all, intelligence is also a form of power."
Old Man Lightning nodded. "Good mindset. Now, tell us about your journey through our world."
Gravis nodded. "I appeared above an active volcano that was about to erupt and fell into the lava…"
Like this, Gravis started telling his story.
