Chapter 467: Bargaining (1/2)

The Empress sighed, something she had done a couple of times in the last five minutes. For these last five minutes, Gravis had just stared into space. In the beginning, the Empress thought that Gravis was looking at her, but his eyes were unfocused, which made her realize that he was just looking aimlessly into space.

The Empress wasn't stupid, and even though she hadn't felt this feeling called love before, she could still empathize with it. She thought that, for Gravis, accepting this situation probably felt akin to having heard that he had to stop his path to power. Because of that, the Empress could empathize with Gravis.

”I'm sorry, Empress,” Gravis said after these five minutes. Surprisingly, his voice sounded stalwart. ”I need some time for myself. I will talk to you later, okay?”

The Empress nodded. ”It's alright. You're now part of my Empire. Take all the time you need. My breeders are allowed to visit my Mountain of Pride whenever they want,” she explained.

Gravis nodded. ”Thank you.”

Then, he left the Mountain of Pride as he flew in a random direction. After a couple of kilometers, Gravis stopped. When he stopped, he just frowned as he looked at the floor with clenched fists. Then, he looked at the sky with burning eyes.

Who had decided this rule?

Obviously, it was Heaven, and Heaven was a sentient being. It had a goal in achieving all of these things, and rules allowed it to reach these things. Yet, if there were a better way to reach its goal, then changing its own rules wouldn't be a problem. Heaven had decided the rules, and it could also change them.

What, just because everyone else also had to follow these rules made all of this fair? That's not how the world worked! Rules were always decided by a more powerful party and were used to achieve some goal.

For mortals, these rules mostly existed to allow them to live together, but that wasn't the case for cultivators. Heaven had its goal in making these rules, and just because it was more powerful right now, Gravis was supposed to just accept these rules? Hell no!

Rules could be inherently unjust and unfair, even if everyone had to follow them. Saying that a rule was fair just because everyone was in the same boat only showed the person's weak will.

Gravis wasn't a beast. He was a human! Humans had a completely different relationship with their children than beasts. If Gravis weren't a human, he wouldn't have any issues with this rule. After all, his whole personality would be different.

Yet, since Gravis was a human, this rule became a major problem. The fact that this rule was a problem in the first place already showed that something wasn't quite right here.

So, even though every other beast had to follow this rule didn't mean that it was fair to put Gravis through this rule too! Gravis was sure that he could convince Heaven to change this rule in regards to him.

Gravis had a bargaining chip. His bargaining chip was his potential and his inherent advantage against Heaven. Heaven might ignore all these other beasts since they would never be able to kill it, but Gravis was different. He had the power to kill Heaven! After all, he had done it once already.

Gravis would never accept this rule! He was a human, not a beast! He didn't care that every other beast had to follow these rules!

”Heaven,” Gravis said with fiery eyes, ”I'm a human, not a beast. You know that. The highest Heaven also watches, and it also knows that I'm a human. This rule shouldn't apply to me,” Gravis said.

”Of course,” Gravis continued, ”I won't be hypocritical and demand the rewards while ignoring the repercussions. I'm fine with you not granting me this extra Law or giving me any other advantage that beasts have over humans. Humans have their own rules, and I'm fine with following those.”

”You can take the control over my body size away. This is also something that I can only do because I am inside a beast's body. I'm fine with you taking away all of these things.”