Chapter 290: More Freedom (1/2)
Gravis had regained his calm by now. ”You know what?” Gravis asked. ”You're right.”
Joyce was taken aback by the sudden surrender. Wasn't Gravis supposed to defend his point some more?
Gravis looked away and started scratching his chin in thought. ”Though, not completely. I have to concede that you are right in the sense that my distant coldness is a choice, but that hasn't always been the case. Before I reached the Spirit Forming Realm, my coldness wasn't a choice but a necessity. Yet, you are right that it is wrong when I say that I have no control over my coldness in my current situation.”
Joyce furrowed her brows. ”What do you mean?”
Gravis turned back to her. ”Do you remember how I told you that it was important that you gave me the Formation Array in an equal trade?”
Joyce nodded.
”That was because Heaven is my enemy, and it tried to force me into isolation. It killed everyone I came close to. In comparison to your way of tempering, this wasn't something like a chance of dying or tempering. In my case, it was a definite death sentence.”
Joyce looked with skepticism at Gravis. ”Quite a bold claim, but how are you still alive if Heaven was your enemy? After all, it could just strike you down.”
Gravis sighed because he knew that this would take a while to explain. ”I'm not from this world.”
Joyce's eyes widened. ”What do you mean?”
After that, Gravis told Joyce about how he came from a higher world and that his father had a huge enmity with Heaven. This had implicated him, and the Heaven of this lower world had tried everything to kill him or stop him from cultivating. He didn't describe the concept of Karmic Luck and only said that Heaven would kill everyone he came close to. After all, that wasn't a lie. He also told her that it was his father that stopped Heaven from directly annihilating him.
”So, back then, I didn't have a choice but to become cruel and cold. If anyone liked me and decided to help me, it would just end with their death on Heaven's hand. Something like this isn't tempering. My only chance was to make others hate me,” Gravis said.
By now, Joyce had also calmed down. She had shown that Gravis' opinion of her being a spoiled brat was wrong, and now Gravis showed her that his situation also wasn't simple. All in all, both had realized that they had judged the other without knowing all the details.
”So,” Gravis continued. ”You are right in the sense that my coldness is a choice, but it hasn't been an active choice from my part until I realized that nothing happened to Lasar or Old Man Lightning. I only realized the reason why nothing had happened to them after I left for the Freya Clan.”
When Joyce heard that, she released a sigh. ”I'm sorry for judging you without knowing all the details.”
Gravis looked at her and smiled for the first time since entering the room. ”The same holds true for me. I shouldn't have assumed that your life has been easy.” Then, Gravis looked out of the window. ”The still progressing cultivators in the Freya Clan are very powerful in their own right.”
”Still progressing?” Joyce asked unamused. ”Only them?”
Gravis turned to her again. ”As soon as someone gives up on their cultivation path, they will never become stronger. In comparison to the higher worlds, every single person in this lower world could be considered weak. Yet, every person has the potential to become truly powerful as long as they continue on their way. But the people who have already given up will never get this chance.”
”So, in the end, you only care about strength,” Joyce commented dryly.
Gravis nodded. ”This might only be my opinion and not the objective truth, but I believe that everyone desires freedom. This is my ultimate goal. I want to become so powerful that no one can hurt my close ones or me ever again. Yet, that goal is very far away. Until then, I have to live with the knowledge that anyone I am close to can die at any moment.”
For the first time, Joyce also smiled a little. ”So, in the end, your goal of freedom is not only for yourself but also for your close ones.”