Chapter 492: Striders (1/2)
Gravis told the Empress and the Grand Elder as much as he was allowed to share. Stuff like the concept of Karmic Luck or the fact that beasts were only there as fodder for cultivators, he kept to himself.
During his tale, the Empress and the Grand Elder interrupted him a couple of times with questions. A lot of the concepts Gravis was speaking of sounded foreign to them. They also doubted the existence of Heaven for a long time.
One had to remember that Heaven had never shown itself in this world until recently. Telling someone that there was some super-powerful being, hidden from everything in the world, was not really convincing. Some being was keeping watch over the entire world? Please!
Extraordinary claims required extraordinary proof, and luckily for Gravis, his brief run-in with Heaven in the Law Comprehension Area for Punishment Lightning acted at this sort of proof. The Grand Elder had been the only beast present who had paid attention to Gravis' words before Heaven showed itself.
Back then, the Grand Elder had no idea whom Gravis was talking to, but with the revelation of Heaven's existence, he finally knew. This occurrence that had stumped the entire world for years now finally made sense.
Without this occurrence, the two wouldn't have believed Gravis' ridiculous tale at all. Yet, the Grand Elder had seen the proof, and the entire world had felt the proof when everything shook and stormed. The Empress trusted the Grand Elder, and when the Grand Elder told her about what had transpired, she also believed Gravis.
Gravis' tale ended after his fight with the Golden Dragon. The Empress and Grand Elder already knew everything that happened after that.
After Gravis was done talking, over half a day had passed. Usually, Gravis would only need a couple of hours to tell his life story, but the ensuing discussions about the foreign concepts took up a lot of time. Yet, Gravis didn't mind since he wasn't under any time pressure.
”Your resistance towards the mandatory procreation makes a lot more sense now,” the Empress said. ”Additionally, you also had a realistic shot at escaping this requirement, but it seems like you are required to perform it now either way.”
Gravis sighed. ”Sadly, yes. Nothing against you, Empress, but I simply have no attraction towards any kind of beast. It has nothing to do with the body but with the different mindsets that you have. Also, family is commonly incredibly important to humans.”
”I still don't quite understand that,” the Empress commented. ”After all, we beasts also all look different from each other, but I think I can empathize with your feelings.”
”Empress, now that you know about humans, I have a question,” Gravis said.
”Ask,” the Empress answered curtly.
”Your upper body is very similar to humans,” Gravis said. ”You could have chosen any other upper body with a greater combat potential, but you have chosen to look similar to a human. Why is that?”
Such a question was a bit personal, but since Gravis had shared his secrets just now, she didn't mind reciprocating. ”Funnily enough, before you have told me your story, I wasn't quite sure about the reason why I chose this body.”
Gravis lifted an eyebrow. He hadn't expected such an answer.
”When I became an Emperor,” the Empress said as she looked at the horizon in thought, ”I let the Laws guide my evolution. I didn't think about what kind of body I wanted but just trusted my instinct and feelings on this. I wasn't quite sure why I chose this kind of body back then until just now.”
”Ever since I have become an Emperor, I have felt closer to the Laws than ever before. Originally, I believed that this was just the inherent feeling that every Emperor shared, but now, I don't think so anymore.”
”I think the Laws have chosen this body for me because it creates a stronger connection with them. You, humans, have bodies that are many times weaker than ours, at least, that was what you have said. So, there must be other powers that let you close the gap.”
”I think that one of these powers is a stronger connection with the Laws. I'm not sure, but humans having a closer connection to the Laws might be one of the things that allow them to fight beasts. You're a good example of that,” the Empress said.
”Me?” Gravis asked with a lifted eyebrow.
The Empress nodded. ”You have already comprehended three Laws while you're still a Lord. Of course, we can only count two of them since you have basically absorbed your Law of Punishment Lightning. For us beasts, understanding two Laws while still being a Lord is extremely outstanding. Yet, that might not be true for humans.”
Gravis scratched his chin in thought. ”I think that's a possibility,” he said after some seconds. The Empress didn't know this, but this explanation also fit the circumstance that humans were supposed to become as powerful as possible, not beasts.
Gravis was pretty sure that the further one progressed along the path of cultivation, the more important Laws became. Giving humans a stronger connection towards the Laws would also create a lot more powerful humans, which was what the highest Heaven wanted in the first place.
Though, one could also see it from the other side. Weakening the connection towards Laws for beasts might give humans the edge they need to actually triumph over beasts in the later Realms.
When there were only two sides, it was basically impossible to find the ”normal” state. It could be that the connection towards the Laws for beasts was weakened or that the connection for humans was strengthened. Gravis didn't know.