Chapter 466: The Devastating Truth (1/2)

The Empress furrowed her brows in confusion. ”You want to reach supreme power without having any offspring?” she asked in confusion.

Gravis nodded. ”If I have children, I will love them with all my heart. They would be like another life of mine, and I can't rest and cultivate easily as long as I don't know if they're safe or not. Right now, I don't have the power to protect them from danger.”

”Yet, I also don't want my path to end in this world. As soon as I have enough power to protect them, I would be at the peak of the world, which means that I can ascend into the next world. Because of that, I can't have children in this world. I'm sure that I can help you some other way. If you want, I will also just join the Empire as a normal beast,” Gravis explained.

The Empress had a very complex look on her face. She wasn't really angry or frustrated about the fact that Gravis just said that he didn't want to do the one thing that his position required of him.

Her face looked more like complex pity.

”Gravis,” she said slowly. ”Do you know why everyone wants to become my mate?” she asked.

Gravis narrowed his eyes as he heard that question. This question seemingly came out of nowhere. Was the Empress trying to entice him to reconsider?

”Isn't it because of the feeling of power that they might feel after bedding an Emperor and the associated status?” Gravis asked.

The Empress shook her head. ”This might motivate some of the Lords, but not so many of them. Additionally, why do you think I give out so many rewards to the Kings for a good mate?”

Gravis also thought about that. ”You probably also get something out of this, right?” he asked.

The Empress nodded. ”Yes. I am searching for powerful beasts so that I can learn about the Laws of Life,” she said.

”Laws of Life?” Gravis asked, taken aback.

”Yes. Gaining insights into the Laws of Life is difficult. Yet, by watching the creation of a new life, I receive a lot of insights about the Law of Life. As soon as my children are born, I don't care about them anymore. I am simply using this process to further my understanding of Laws,” she explained.

If any human heard these words, they would be shocked and appalled. Yet, Gravis understood that beasts really didn't care about their offspring. Mortal animals might care about them, but it was completely different for beasts on the cultivation path.

The beasts were walking a path to power, and an incredibly vast majority would die on that path. Artificially increasing the offspring's power with the parents' help would make it only more challenging for the offspring to become powerful themselves. That's why beasts in the cultivation world didn't care about their offspring.

Heaven probably also had a hand in that. If beasts also cared about their offspring like humans, they might not reproduce as crazily as they did now. After all, a child one cared about could be considered a burden if love was involved.

Of course, humans would never consider their children a burden. Children brought light and happiness to their lives, and Gravis wasn't different in that regard. If he ever had children, he would love them with all his heart.

”And what do your mates get out of this process?” Gravis asked. ”You said there is more than just my earlier stated reason.”

The Empress still retained her look of complex pity. Surprisingly, she remained silent for a couple of seconds, making Gravis nervous. He had expected her to scoff at him or grow enraged by his disrespect. Yet, the Empress only looked at him with pity. What was going on with that?

After these seconds of silence, the Empress sighed again. ”You are really unlucky,” she said.

Gravis lifted an eyebrow. ”I'm unlucky? How come? Is it because I don't get that reward the other mates get due to not mating with you? I'm fine with that. Not getting the reward might seem like a loss, but having children might stop my path entirely. I'll accept that trade any day,” Gravis said.

The Empress looked to the side. ”That's exactly it. If you want to reach supreme power, you must accept the current circumstance,” she said.

Gravis was shocked when he heard that. ”Wait, what? Are you saying that you will kill me if I don't accept?” he asked.

The Empress shook her head. ”No, I won't,” she said. Then, she sighed again. Right now, she actually felt some real pity for Gravis.