Gravis sighed and readied himself. He hadn't expected for one of his friends to die that quickly, but that had always been a possibility. "Who was it?"
"The one called Lasar," his father said.
Gravis took a deep breath. "How did he die?" he asked.
"Normal tempering," his father answered, "he underestimated the power of the weaker of his two opponents. After killing the stronger one, he had thought that the weaker one was easier to kill. The weaker opponent self-destructed, taking your friend with him."
Gravis looked to the side, at the windows, into the outside. "That was in the middle world, right?" he asked.
"Yes," his father answered, "he met up with that old man that you also consider your friend. That's something, at least."
Gravis took another deep breath. He was no longer running away from his pain. He felt the shock and grief inside him. He also remembered how he had met Lasar and how he had accepted Gravis back into the Lightning Sect.
They both stayed silent for a couple of minutes. Gravis was lost in thought, and the Opposer simply waited for him. Gravis had to deal with these things by himself.
"The others have also already reached the middle world?" Gravis asked after some minutes.
The Opposer nodded. "Every person you consider as a friend is in the middle world now."
Gravis had expected that already. He had been back home for nearly three weeks. With the time dilation, that would be over 50 years for the lower world.
"The lower world is still about the same?" Gravis asked.
"Nothing much changed except that there are many more people going through the tenth Stage of Energy Gathering," his father said.
Gravis had also anticipated that. The changes to the world would be very slow, except for the greater power of the Elemental Sects. With Heaven no longer killing people with a Will-Aura in the Body Tempering Realm, more powerful people would emerge.
Gravis remained silent for some more minutes, just thinking about his friends and the lower world. Over 50 years had passed in the lower world, giving Gravis a feeling of disconnect. The lower world was quickly changing while he had only talked to some people. The worlds were really different.
"So, about that surprise that Orpheus said," Gravis asked.
"What surprise?" his father asked.
"You didn't listen to our conversation?" Gravis asked back.
"No, why should I?" his father said. "That's your thing, and you're not in danger inside the city."
Gravis nodded. It made sense that his father didn't always listen in on his conversation or watch over him. He mostly did these things to protect him, and when it wasn't necessary, he wouldn't care. After all, listening to others talking for a long while would get boring eventually.
"Orpheus assumed that I would go to a Natural World next, but I said that I was more interested in a Battle World. Then, he referred me to you regarding that," Gravis said.
His father nodded and then looked Gravis in the eye. "If you want to continue cultivating, you have to go to a Natural World. There is no other way," he said.
Gravis lifted an eyebrow. "How come?"
"Your body," his father said as he pointed to Gravis. "It's too weak and not in sync with your lightning and Spirit. You've noticed that by now."
Gravis furrowed his brows. "Yes, I did. It feels like I am wasting my potential by having such a weak body, but what does it have to do with going to a Natural World? I'm sure there are some resources that I can get to let my body reach the same level as my other centers of power."
"No," his father said, surprising Gravis. "The difference is too vast, and you're already in the Unity Realm. All your centers of power are connected. By strengthening one, you involuntarily strengthen the other ones too, increasing your Realm in the process."
"Either you have to completely cut off the connection between your body and your other centers of power, losing your strongest weapon, or you will need to reach the peak of the Nascent Nourishing Realm. At that point, you could increase your physical power exclusively, but there is another problem."
Gravis still had furrowed brows. "Which is?"
"The higher your cultivation, the more synchronized your whole being becomes. Your whole being would have already gotten used to the current ratio of power. Increasing your physical strength at that point would be very challenging, costly, and time-consuming. There is a very high chance that you wouldn't be able to achieve it before your longevity runs out."
Gravis' eyes widened. "It would take that long?" he asked in shock.
The Opposer nodded. "I've taken your personality into account. Due to your drive, you have a slight possibility to achieve it before you die. Everyone else wouldn't even have that. On top of that, with the uneven ratio, you wouldn't be able to make use of the greatest weapon of the Nascent Nourishing Realm. That would decrease your fighting strength tremendously."
"What is this weapon?" Gravis asked.
His father smirked. "I can't take away all the surprises. You'll naturally know when you reach that Realm or fight someone in it."
Gravis sighed. "Okay," he simply said, "and what does all of this have to do with going to a Natural World? I don't see how that would fix my situation."
"A Natural World doesn't have humans. It's simply a breeding ground for beasts that will function as tempering for humans later. Therefore, when you enter a Natural World, you won't be able to enter as a human."
Gravis raised an eyebrow. "Then how do I get there?" he asked.
"Your Spirit and lightning can go there, but your body can't," his father answered. "As soon as you enter, in order to accommodate the rules of the world, your body will dissolve while your Spirit and lightning will enter a fitting body."
Gravis scratched his chin in thought. "And since the bodies of beasts are way more powerful than humans, I would be able to deal with my issue?"
The Opposer nodded. "Exactly. Humans have the most powerful Energy and Spirit out of all living beings. Before you have reached the Unity Realm, you have tempered your Spirit and lightning to the strongest possible level. Therefore, you need a body that is equally the most powerful in its category."
Gravis sighed again. "That sounds like it would break the balance. Humans have the most powerful Energy and Spirit, while beasts have the most powerful bodies. Having both the advantages without the drawback sounds too good to be true. Heaven probably won't like it when I break its balance," Gravis said as he looked out of the window.
"What balance?" his father asked evenly.
"What do you mean with what balance?" Gravis asked back. "Heaven has created living beings like this, so it probably wanted to create some balance. Wouldn't breaking it make it act directly against me? I've killed a Heaven before, but I'm not so stupid that I would think that I would be able to survive against the highest Heaven."
The Opposer looked calmly at his son. "I think you have the whole concept of balance backwards," he said.
"What do you mean?" Gravis asked.
"The old bastard wants as many walking Energy attractors as possible. He could create only humans that attract the most Energy and no beasts, but then the humans would have to fight each other."
"He created the humans with weak bodies so that he could make fitting enemies that actually have a chance against humans. If the beasts were too weak, they wouldn't be able to function as tempering. Also, beasts require way less Energy than humans, so it's easier to produce them in massive numbers."
"The old bastard doesn't care about you having a stronger body. He might even want that. After all, his goal is to create as many powerful humans as possible. Additionally, by going to a Natural World, you won't kill any other humans during that time."
The Opposer looked at his son. "So, there is no such thing as an intended balance. There is no such thing as justice and equal chances for everyone. The more powerful you become, the better. The fewer humans you kill along the way, the better. The old bastard doesn't care that you have an advantage over beasts and humans. He only cares about you becoming powerful."
Gravis listened to his father and changed his thinking. Initially, he had believed that Heaven had created the current situation so that everyone was equal, but, apparently, he had been naïve. It was merely the most Energy efficient way to create powerful humans. Having a human abuse the system would only be a net-gain for Heaven, as long as the human didn't slaughter too many other humans.
By now, Gravis had accepted that he would go to a Natural World. His path was the most important thing, and he would keep advancing.
Yet, it felt kind of weird and melancholic to give up the body that had followed him all his life.
"You don't care that I won't share any blood with you anymore?" Gravis asked.
"No, why would I?" his father said. "Your Spirit is you. The body, Energy, lightning, and whatever else is just a weapon. As long as your Spirit remains, you are alive, and you are my son. Your Spirit is also what makes you a human, so, even if you have a beast body, you are still human."
Gravis closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt himself resonate with these words. Hadn't he always seen his body as a weapon?
"Also, you've only been in this body for a couple of months. Might as well change it again," his father said.
Gravis furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"
"Remember the fifth trial in the Heaven's Trial? This is the body of your copy. Your old one has been left behind."
