Chapter 206: Sears Ambition (1/2)

Gravis wasn't quite sure what Sear meant with Cultivation Discussion. ”What's this Cultivation Discussion that you're referring to?” he asked with a lifted eyebrow.

Sear laughed slightly. ”It's actually pretty simple,” Sear said while gesturing towards the others. ”Have you wondered why we are talking like this even though our guilds should be at war?”

Gravis nodded. ”That would've been my next question. Logically, you should be at each others' throats.”

Sear looked at the others who were all busy doing their own things. ”We are actually all old friends.”

Gravis furrowed his brows. ”How would you find friends with your guilds constantly warring with each other?”

Sear smiled slyly. ”You see, we were already friends before we joined our respective Guilds.”

Now Gravis looked at them with surprise. ”Before you joined your guilds? Wouldn't that mean that you have all known each other before you even left the Body Tempering Realm?” he asked incredulously.

Having friends was nothing surprising, but five people that had met as Body Tempering cultivators and all managed to reach the Spirit Forming Realm seemed a little unreal. What were the chances of that happening?

When Sear saw the surprised expression of Gravis, he started laughing. ”I know, right? We were just as surprised as time progressed and our power increased. Who would've expected five people from the Outer Continent, from the same city, to all manage to reach the Spirit Forming Realm? I sure didn't!”

Gravis could only nod in confirmation. This was basically a miracle.

Sear laughed slightly and scratched the back of his neck. ”We didn't want to let our guilds destroy our friendship, so we all met and created this Cultivation Discussion. Every couple of months, we leave our guilds and meet up. When we meet, we just casually talk and tell each other what had happened recently.”

Gravis looked to the ground in thought. ”Aren't your Guild Masters suspicious about you all vanishing at the same time?” he asked.

Sear smiled. ”They know what we're doing,” he said with confidence.

Gravis lifted his head and looked into Sear's eyes. ”They do? And they're fine with it?” he asked.

Sear nodded. ”Sure. As long as we don't discuss anything sensitive about our guilds, everything goes,” Sear then turned towards his friends with a smile. ”Right now, we are not Vice-Guild Masters but just some friends.” Then, Sear turned back to Gravis. ”So, you in?”

Gravis rubbed the back of his neck in awkwardness. ”Wouldn't that destroy the whole point of your get-togethers? I don't come from the same city as you guys, and I am kind of an outsider here.”

Sear turned away and looked at the green Core-Continent with a smile. They were currently on a green meadow with lots of different animals running around. ”Well,” Sear started saying, ”that would be true, but as our strength progressed, our goals also started shifting.”

”What do you mean?” asked Gravis.

Sear then turned back to Gravis. ”Say, what do you think is the point of cultivation, Gravis?” he asked.

Gravis was surprised by the question. Others might think of it as a question as profound as the question about why they were alive, but to Gravis, the answer seemed too obvious. ”To gain power,” he said.

The answer didn't face Sear. ”And why do you want power?” he asked.

”For freedom. I don't want to be under anyone's rule or suppression. I want to grasp my own destiny,” Gravis said with conviction.

Sear laughed slyly. ”It seems like you know what you want, but why do you require this freedom in the first place? What is making you not free right now?” he asked.

Gravis had an answer to this question as well. ”Other people,” he said, not wanting to say Heaven since this would open a whole new can of worms. ”Humans are greedy, and people kill for resources and wealth. The saying 'a beggar carrying gold is a crime' exists for a reason. If you have something that others desire and not the ability to protect it, you will lose this thing and also probably die,” Gravis explained.

Sear winked and lifted his right index finger. ”Exactly!” he said. ”To protect yourself, you need power, and for power, you cultivate, but what if the other people never attack you, no matter how powerful you are?”

Gravis' eyebrows flew up in surprise. It wasn't that he had never thought about that, but that this answer seemed too naïve in his eyes. ”This is impossible,” he said with a deep voice.

Sear just continued smiling. ”Says who?” he asked.