Chapter 294: Big Family Argument (1/2)

After several hours of conversation, Gravis finally managed to steer the conversation back to its original topic. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the conversation, but after several hours, he started growing bored.

”Oh yeah, the specifics,” Joyce said with surprise. ”I totally forgot about that! Sorry!”

Gravis closed his eyes and shook his head gently. ”Don't worry about it. The conversation was pleasant while it lasted.”

Joyce smiled genuinely. ”That's good to hear! Anyway, the specifics. There are one hundred open spots for the inheritance, and every spot covers a group of five. So, theoretically, 500 cultivators could enter at a time. Of course, those spots are never fully used up. There just aren't enough powerful cultivators willing to risk their lives like this. After all, the maximum number of groups that survived at one point was two, and some people in their groups had also died. That's a pretty terrifying ratio of deaths.”

Gravis nodded.

Joyce lifted a finger. ”On top of that, there are different options for every trial. Every trial takes the cultivation of the most powerful person into account and adjusts the difficulty.”

Gravis frowned. ”Then, wouldn't you be forced to partake in a trial for the Sapling Stage? After all, I will directly break into the Sapling Stage as soon as I enter, while you will remain in the initial Stage.”

Joyce's eyes widened. ”You are already ready to reach the Sapling Stage? That's incredible! You're really fast in your cultivation!”

Gravis waved his hand dismissively. ”Yeah, but what about the difficulty of the trials?”

Joyce smiled. ”You don't have to worry about that. The trial also takes the number of cultivators into account. You can go solo while our group will go together. Like this, you have a solo trial for the Sapling Stage, while we have a four-man trial for the initial Stage.”

When Gravis heard that, he released a sigh of relief. With this option, his enmity with Heaven wouldn't involve the other group. The highest Heaven didn't like it when the lives of cultivators were wasted. This lower Heaven would be forced to make it fair for the group, while it would do everything to kill Gravis. Though, just to be sure, Gravis had to do one more thing. If he wanted to give Joyce a better chance of finishing the trial, he would need to increase her worth to the highest Heaven.

”There is something important that I need to tell you. This thing might secure your survival in the inheritance,” Gravis said.

Joyce was surprised and intrigued by Gravis' claim. ”Oh? Do tell!”

Like this, Gravis started explaining the situation in the middle worlds and how Heaven only cared about people that could continue ascending. Everyone that didn't reach the Unity Realm via the Self Stage would only become fertilizer. He didn't tell Joyce about Heaven's need for Energy or similar stuff. After all, Heaven wasn't the biggest fan of having its ways exposed.

When Gravis finished explaining, Joyce looked with devastation at the ground. ”I… didn't go through the tenth Stage of Magic Gathering,” she said. ”Does that mean that I will never achieve my goal?” she asked.

”Destroy your Spirit,” Gravis said, making Joyce look at him with shock. ”You are only at the initial Stage of Spirit Forming. At most, you will lose three years of progress in exchange for actually having a chance of reaching your goal. Your will will remain just as powerful, so your tempering will not go to waste. Destroy your Spirit, get to the tenth Stage, and condense your Spirit again.”

”Are you mad!?” came an aggressive shout as Marvin, the Patriarch, and also Joyce's father, broke through the door. ”Destroy my daughter's Spirit? I won't let that happen!”

Gravis wasn't surprised by that since he had felt Marvin's Spirit for a long time. Meanwhile, Joyce grew angry at her father again. ”Stop listening in on my private conversation! This has nothing to do with you!”

”This has everything to do with me!” Marvin shouted angrily. ”You are my daughter, and your well-being is the most important thing to me! Do you even know how hard it is to ascend while going through the Self Stage?”

”Shut up!” Joyce shouted as she stood up aggressively. Her chair and table got destroyed while Gravis' cup of tea hovered before him. He had already expected something like that.

”Shut up?” Marvin asked with shock like he couldn't believe that words like this came out of her mouth. ”I'm your father! I only want the best for you, so how dare you to talk to me like that!?”

Gravis kept drinking his tea. This thing had nothing to do with him. Joyce needed to fight for her own future. It was her life, and she needed to show and have an independent cultivator's power and conviction. If he involved himself, Joyce would maybe start relying on others.

”But you don't know what's best for me!” Joyce shouted in anger. ”You have heard Gravis and what he said! It makes perfect sense! My goal isn't ascension, but becoming genuinely powerful! If he hadn't told me about the ongoings of the higher world, I would've run into a dead-end! At that point, I would need to fall two majors realms instead of only one Stage! Not even that, I will regain my old cultivation in just a couple of days!”

Marvin gnashed his teeth. ”And you believe everything he says!? He said he came from a higher world but is that even true? What if everything he says is a lie.”

”I don't lie,” Gravis said nonchalantly, not even looking at Marvin.