The eyes of the High Priest narrowed.
"Father, should I go personally?"
WHOOSH!
The High Priest didn't feel anything, but Heaven felt an apocalyptical pressure. It couldn't move under this pressure.
"You have bent the rules enough. You will answer no and send Aion," an imposing voice spoke to Heaven. To Heaven, it felt like a giant was standing before it, while it was only a small, insignificant ant. Heaven answered the High Priest.
That is not necessary.
The High Priest got his answer and sighed. So, the danger of Gravis was not so severe that he had to move personally. He seemed to have overestimated Gravis' danger.
"Father, whom should I send?" asked the High Priest.
Aion.
Heaven felt awful when it said that. Its parent Heaven from the middle-world, was constantly telling it to finally kill Gravis. Its parent Heaven had gotten orders from its parent, which has gotten orders from the highest Heaven. Heaven could sacrifice itself to tell the High Priest that he should kill Gravis personally, but Heaven wasn't willing to sacrifice itself.
The High Priest sighed. "That should be good enough. As long as Gravis hasn't reached the Spirit Forming Realm, that will be enough," he muttered to himself. Then, the High Priest walked back to his throne and looked at the still kneeling Aion. Aion hadn't said anything in several minutes, just waiting for further instructions.
"Aion, tell me about the strength of this Gravis."
"Gravis can kill safely two levels above himself," he said, and the High Priest's eyes widened again.
"That's really impressive. Only a select few geniuses in the Core-Continent can do that. How strong is his Will-Aura? When have you last felt it?"
Aion wanted to say that Gravis' will had been impressive, but nothing incredibly special. He had felt it before, after all. But then, he realized that the last time he had felt Gravis' Will-Aura had been when Gravis had still been in the Body Tempering Realm. Slowly, Aion's heart started beating faster. "I ask for permission to do some calculations," he asked.
"Go ahead," said the High Priest.
Slowly, different numbers made of ice condensed on the floor. Aion had a lot of experience with Will-Auras, and he could judge the power of one when he felt it. He remembered how Gravis' Will-Aura was more potent than any Heavenborn's Heavenly Pressure when he had been in the Body Tempering Realm.
He realized that Gravis' Will-Aura had had the strength to already condense into smaller areas. When he realized that, his heart beat faster. Slowly, he started adding several will-tempering experiences.
Near-death to some disciple in the Proxy-Lightning Guild.
Madly cultivating his body in the Lightning Tower.
The accidental killing of the closest person in this world. That was immense tempering for the will!
Fight with Lightning and Fire Guild.
Aion's heart started beating faster as he added more and more will-tempering experiences. Only now did he realize how heavily Gravis' Will-Aura had been tempered since that time in the Proxy-Lightning Guild.
The High Priest also saw those numbers, and his eyebrows lowered. That was a lot of tempering.
Second fight with the Lightning Guild.
Near death-experience when reaching the Heaven Sect.
Fight with Wendy of the Wind Guild.
Severe Body Tempering with Aion's help.
"Wait," shouted Aion involuntarily as he remembered something. "High Priest, do you remember the Pre-Forming Technique?"
The High Priest narrowed his eyes. "Yes, I know all techniques from our Heaven Sect. Did he exchange for that?"
Aion nodded and furrowed his brows. "High Priest, is it possible that someone would use that technique to infuse their mind with Magic in order to temper their will?"
The eyes of the High Priest shone. "Definitely!"
Aion added that tempering experience too, and started calculating. As the numbers increased, his heart started beating even faster. These numbers were terrifying! After a while, Aion calculated the result. Both Aion and the High Priest breathed heavily.
"So," started the High Priest slowly. "You are telling me that this Gravis is at the threshold of condensing a Unity-Will while still being in the Magic Gathering Realm?"
Aion couldn't believe it himself, but he could only nod.
"When was the last time you saw him?" asked the High Priest.
"About four days ago," answered Aion.
"What was his cultivation at that time?" the High Priest asked.
"His Magic was at the sixth level and his body at the seventh," answered Aion.
The High Priest took a breath of relief. Since Gravis came from a higher world, it was a definite fact that he had a strengthened dantian. To fight Aion, Gravis would need to jump from the sixth level of Magic Gathering to the tenth and then form his Spirit in just these four days. This was impossible, even for Heavenborn. He would need to fight a war with a guild to achieve something like that, but Gravis wasn't strong enough to fight a whole guild. Aion should be enough.
"Even if Gravis had the power to kill three levels above him, condense a Unity Will, reach the tenth level of Magic Gathering, and reach the tenth level of the body, Aion should still be able to walk all over him. He might be able to fight normal Spirit Forming Realm cultivators with all of these added together, but we are Heavenborn," muttered the High Priest to himself.
"Aion!"
"Yes, High Priest?" asked Aion as he lowered his head again.
"You will leave immediately and kill this Gravis. Ignore your Heavenborn from your branch. I will send someone else to bring them back to the branch. Make haste and kill Gravis as quickly as possible. You should only take a single day to return like this."
"Yes, High Priest!" shouted Aion as he stood up.
WHOOSH PACK!
A jade token was thrown to Aion, and he caught it. "If, for some reason, you require help, crush this jade token. I will immediately send a priest to help you."
Aion looked at the token with fear and nervousness. The priests were only below the High Priest in status and strength. Every single one of them was at the Self-Stage in the Spirit Forming Realm. A single priest could decimate a whole Elemental Sect alone. Someone with that power could kill Aion with a wave of their hand. He must not offend such a person!
Aion bowed again. "I will do Heaven's bidding, High Priest."
The High Priest nodded. "Go!"
Like this, Aion charged towards the Middle-Continent with his full speed.
Gravis had anticipated that it would take six to seven days for the Heaven Sect to return to the branch.
Yet, with this new turn of event, Aion would return only four and a half days after setting off.
Aion was coming for Gravis!
