He decided to distract himself while he waited for the trial to start with the memories of the time he hunted fire elementals on the plane Phalate. That plane is one of the numerous fire elemental planes of the High Heaven realm.
The inhabitants of that plane are pure fire elementals. No other organism can bear the heat and survive. The temperature was so hot it birthed fire elementals. That's how the fire elementals were born.
That's how elementals in general are born. When the purity of an element concentrated at a place is high, the likelihood of creating elementals is high. That place will become the birthplace of elementals.
There are elementals for every elemental law, water, fire, earth, air, light, darkness, and the fiercely contested time element. Fiercely contested because the other elementals have been observed while nothing has been recorded of time elementals even though they should exist.
The life trees of Gehald's homeworld are considered elementals of the supreme law of life. It is just that they are full of so much life essence that they formed a physical body.
Elementals don't have souls. Their existence is based on an elemental core. Because of this core, they have the highest affinity to their elements in the entire realm. This makes it very easy to become a sovereign, even easier than dragons, it will just take time.
But this high affinity prevents them from mastering the tiniest amount of any other law. So most of them are stuck with only the laws of fire until they become Origin gods.
He had gone to the plane back then to sense the intense and violent flames to complete his mastery over the law of fire. After he was done with the law of fire, he was better able to kill the elementals. He wanted the core of an elemental that has become a sovereign of flames, just like the one he saw in the ice trial.
That elemental was just strolling through the trial because of his powerful flames while he had opted to use the law of water to soothe the cold, he didn't dare use fire because it will use too much energy.
He had hunted several unique species for his grand plan that he would soon put into action. Elementals are part of them. The ones he couldn't kill he bought their core. He had to kill the owner of the core of a void beast because the owner refused to sell it.
Void beasts like world beasts are space elementals. They are incredibly rare and difficult to kill. At the very least Gehald couldn't restrain them long enough to kill them, they were best at running.
As he was lost in his thoughts for the future, the will of the realm descended after another 3 years. Then the fire trial began. He spent another 9 years getting from the edge of the world into the portal at the center and gaining another mark.
It was a more bitter experience for him and the thought of that fire elemental did not ease his bitterness. So when he met some more people along the way he decided to keep to himself.
Even though one only needs a mark to pass through the first section of the trial of heaven, the more marks you have the better. Each mark you have indicates that you are part of the best 30% in a particular trial. Since the best is to be nurtured, each mark will guarantee your life once during the second section of the trial of heaven.
He rested after the flame trial which was followed by the strength trial. In the strength trial, you have to push a round and heavy rock up the slope of a mountain. It is a more difficult task because you have to balance work and rest, power and recovery, the entire trip uphill.
You mustn't let the ball roll down to the very start. While fire and water elementals and those with high elemental affinities of those elements have an easier time with the first trial, it will be difficult to ace this test without a very strong body or mastery of the earth law.
Those who concentrate on the body during the origin core passage creation will have immensely strong bodies. Earth elementals and sovereigns of Earth will also have an advantage during this trial. Grand gods are only as strong as their domain specialty.
Just like the two previous trials Gehald was able to just get by with the incredible vitality and recovery of his body. The law of life isn't a supreme law for nothing, it might not excel in physical prowess, but it is the top in recovery. He was able to push that rock to the top of the mountain by stimulating his life force using the law of earth and maintaining the power it granted through his superb recovery. He gained his third mark.
After the strength test came the gravity test. All the participants were transported to a world with immense gravity, and as time passed the gravity increased.
This is the first time he is seeing all the sovereigns and grand gods since he entered with them. Some of them are anxious. This was going to be the fourth trial out of seven and they probably haven't gotten a single mark yet.
So these people are extra determined to be the last 30% remaining. But there are some who are at ease enough to check on the competition. Even though people couldn't kill each other yet, they could keep an eye out for the remarkable ones.
Gehald didn't bother with other people, he was nervous for the first time. His body recovery is high, probably among the few highest, but he isn't sure it can withstand the high gravity to come or recover fast enough to last.
There won't be any death in the first section of the trial because you will be teleported to the next trial the moment before you can die unless you've broken a rule. Those who break any rule will be turned to ashes, and their seed of power/ godhead will be taken and given as a reward.
He tried to keep his mind somber, there was no use fretting about it. A few years later when the last of the 30% of the strength trial was done came the start of the gravity trial. The barrier around Gehald was removed so his body felt the intense press of gravity. Even as the trial started someone was teleported out.
"How is that possible?" Gehald asked in astonishment.
He was shocked by the fact that someone that weak would even dare to come to the trial. But more and more were sent out in the first minute. The rate of expulsion reduced after some days.
Gehald was paying attention at first because the more people left early the less time he had to spend experiencing the downward press. But later the strain on his body was too much for him to do anything but try to keep his body together.
The expulsion rate that had reduced over the past two years increased with the sudden spike in the pressure. People continued to be expelled over the next year at a faster rate until after almost 4 years, the gravity trial ended and he gained his 4th mark.