Lightning Is the Only Way

Aion started narrating. "Gravis first appeared in public when he completed several missions for a Hunting Hall in some town in the Outer-Continent. According to several sources, he had killed low-grade Demonic Beasts when he only had tempered organs and blood. Apparently, he had killed several of those one-on-one."

"Oh?" uttered the High Priest in interest. "That is very impressive. I guess he already had his Will-Aura at that point. You did say that you experienced his Will-Aura, yes?"

Aion nodded.

"So, it is not wrong to assume that he already had his Will-Aura ever since appearing in that Hunting Hall. That seems nearly impossible," the High Priest narrowed his eyes in thought. "How could someone condense a Will-Aura while only having two tempered parts of his body? He would have needed to kill so many strong enemies. Normally, you gain your enemy's wealth when you kill them, so how would he need to earn money in a Hunting Hall if he had already killed so many enemies?"

Aion continued narrating. "Apparently, he had needed a lot of money. He wanted to take part in the Proxy-Elemental Guilds entrance exams, so he needed to temper his skin. Yet, the amount of money he made in that Hunting Hall was incredible, relatively speaking. He made enough money to buy about 30 Skin Pills before he left the town."

"That's a lot of money for someone at that level," commented the High Priest.

"Yes, though the biggest part of the money came in one particular mission, where he had to kill a middle-grade Demonic Beast. If we take everything into account, we can come to the conclusion that Gravis needed anything from 15 to 20 Skin Pills to temper his skin."

Now, the eyes of the High Priest widened. "Wait," he said. "How old is this Gravis?"

Aion thought for a bit. He had never asked about Gravis' age. "He should be between 17 and 19."

When the High Priest heard that, he did some calculations in his head and came to a terrifying conclusion. "He would have needed to remain in the tempered organ and blood stage for over 15 years to require so many pills. How is that possible if he isn't a Heavenborn?"

Aion's eyes widened too. He had still subconsciously thought about Gravis as a Heavenborn, so he had ignored that aspect. Heavenborn were born with tempered organs and blood, so it was nothing unusual to need so many pills to temper their bodies. Yet, if Gravis weren't a Heavenborn, how was that possible? One more riddle was added to the pile.

"Continue," commanded the High Priest.

"In the entrance exams, it came to light that Gravis had a Will-Aura. Of course, everyone knows that we would execute someone with a Will-Aura in the Body Tempering Realm, so they thought he was a Heavenborn. Then came the incident in the Basin of Nature."

Aion paused after saying that. In his head, he went through the incident. When he had thought that Gravis was a Heavenborn, this incident only looked like Heaven had tempered Gravis, but with Aion's new knowledge, he started coming to several terrifying conclusions.

"What incident? Speak!" said the High Priest with narrowed eyes. He was really invested in this situation.

"Apologies, High Priest. The last exam was held in a basin in some forest. The Guild Leaders put several treasures on low-grade- and middle-grade Demonic Beasts. The participants only had to get one treasure to succeed. On the second or third day, Gravis had tempered his bones. He charged through the whole basin with his newfound power, searching for some middle-grade Demonic Beast spider."

The High Priest nodded. If someone had tempered their bones and skin after remaining in the organ and blood tempering realm for so long, their strength would be incredibly powerful. It was understandable that Gravis wanted some supreme treasure.

Aion took a deep breath. "Apparently," he said slowly and carefully, "Gravis shouted and insulted Heaven while doing that."

BANG!

A part of the throne cracked as the High Priest stood up. His smile was long gone, and only rage remained. "Preposterous! If he did that, he would already be dead!"

Aion sweated like crazy. "Every source said the same thing. He was shouting about Heaven owing him one of the middle-grade Demonic Beasts. After he insulted Heaven, dark clouds and lightning appeared in the sky. Yet, however unbelievable it is, the lightning never directly struck him. Instead, all beasts in the basin charged at him madly. They all wanted to kill him. Some other witnesses report that lightning continually struck beasts and the terrain, but it never touched Gravis."

The interest of the High Priest had long been replaced by sheer confusion and frustration. What was happening? This all made no sense! If anyone dared insult Heaven, the person would die. There was no way that they would be spared! Nothing was stopping Heaven from eradicating Gravis.

"Silence," said the High Priest as he walked to the window again. "I must think."

Aion didn't say anything and continued kneeling while the High Priest thought about several things.

"Father," muttered the High Priest after some seconds, "how strong is this Gravis?"

The seconds passed in silence, and the eyes of the High Priest shifted from rage to shock. After nearly half a minute, his face turned white. What was happening?

"High Priest?" asked Aion carefully.

The High Priest recovered his state of mind somewhat after that. "Father," he said and remained silent for several seconds. "Father hasn't answered."

Aion took a deep breath in shock. Why wouldn't Heaven answer?

"This has never happened before," muttered the High Priest. His amusing interest had vanished, and only seriousness remained. He remained silent for some more seconds.

"Father," he started again. "Where is this Gravis right now?"

There came no answer.

"Father, what color are the robes that Gravis is wearing?"

No answer.

"Father, does Gravis exist?"

No answer.

"Father, how many members does the south-eastern branch have?"

Eleven.

"Father, where is the eleventh member of the south-eastern branch, who is not here right now."

No answer.

"Father, does the eleventh member of the south-eastern branch exist?"

No answer.

"Father, is there a person in this world that you do not speak about?"

No answer.

The High Priest came to several conclusions due to these questions. Every question that directly involved Gravis wouldn't be answered. Then, he only had to make his questions vaguer.

"Father, hypothetically, would it be possible that there could be a person that you do not speak about in this world?"

Yes.

The High-Priest's eyes narrowed.

"Father, hypothetically speaking, what would stop you from speaking about such a person?"

Their background.

The High Priest's eyes widened. Background? Was there a background that could stop Heaven from acting? After thinking for some seconds, the High Priest came to an unbelievable conclusion.

"Father, is it possible for people of higher worlds to appear in ours?"

Yes.

The answer came immediately. Normally, Heaven waited for some seconds to answer, but this time, the answer came immediately. Slowly, sweat started appearing on the High Priest's body. Someone from a higher world would be many times stronger than him and even Heaven. Slowly, things started making sense.

Someone from a higher world had sent their progeny to temper themselves in this world. This person was obviously Gravis, even if Heaven hadn't said it explicitly. Gravis had been sent here to temper himself in a lower world by his background, so Heaven didn't have the power to interfere directly. The High Priest was closer to Heaven than anyone else, and that was why he knew that Heaven was not omnipotent.

Yet, another thought appeared in his mind. Was it bad that someone from a higher world appeared? They would just cultivate and leave this world. Basically, there was no difference between such a person or someone born in this world. Gravis would just cultivate to the Unity Realm and leave. Was there actually an issue or a need to attack Gravis? They could also let him just cultivate in peace, and he would either die or leave.

If the High Priest could see Heaven right now, he would be shocked. Heaven's emotions were going haywire with frustration and anticipation. Its child was so close to figuring things out! He would only need to ask one more question, and Gravis would die! Yet, it couldn't tell the High Priest about Gravis directly. It just wanted to shout to the High Priest to go kill him personally, but it didn't dare to.

The High Priest thought some more, and Heaven grew more nervous. It had seen how Gravis was growing, and it knew that they were enemies. If Gravis continued going like this, then forget about the High Priest, even Heaven itself might come into danger. Its life was on the line right here!

ASK THE QUESTION!

Heaven shouted that continually to itself, but the High Priest heard nothing. After a minute, the High Priest sighed. Gravis wouldn't be a problem. Yet, he had to be sure.

"Father, do you have enemies in-"

YES!

The High Priest shot back in shock and surprise. For the first time in his life, he could hear emotion behind Heaven's words. The emotions he felt were anxiety, frustration, and even fear. He couldn't believe what was happening right now. His father felt fear? How was this possible?

The High Priest started sweating more in nervousness and a little fear. "Father, do you have two or more enemies in this world?"

No.

"So only one enemy then. Father, can you talk about this enemy of yours?"

No answer.

The High Priest's eyes narrowed, and Heaven grew ecstatic!

"Father, if you had an enemy, should we kill that person?"

YES!