Chapter 117 - 117 – Heavenly Pressure
Gravis followed Aion as they walked through the Heaven Sect. All the decorations that Gravis saw were lavish. Nearly every decoration was made out of gold or Energy Stones, and an expensive, bright-red carpet went through the whole building. Expensive chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and lots of well-drawn paintings adorned the wall. Gravis guessed that not even a king would have that much money.
Aion saw how Gravis was looking around and laughed. "We are Heavenborn and therefore blessed by karmic luck. The money is just rolling in, and we don’t even know what to do with it," he explained. "Even though we invested so much into our decorations, our storages are still fully packed with more wealth. We have no idea what to do with it. It’s even crazier in our headquarters in the Core-Continent."
Gravis looked around and felt utterly disconnected from reality. He never had wealth at his disposal, and Heaven always stopped him from gaining more. The only exception was the time back in the Proxy-Lightning Guild. Normally, He had just enough to increase his strength, and he only got those resources by risking his life.
Gravis couldn’t empathize with the luck and all the wealth that the Heaven Sect had. They were lacking nothing and had everything, and he had never felt anything like that. When he was younger, he lacked strength and the permission to cultivate. When he started cultivating, he lacked resources to increase his strength. He had always lacked something that stopped him in his way forward. He couldn’t emotionally process that he now "belonged" to such a tycoon sect.
Of course, Gravis had to play it cool not to awaken suspicion, and outwardly showed a sense of pride. He was acting like everything here was thanks to him. Gravis felt disgusted with himself since that contradicted his core beliefs, but there was nothing he could do against that right now. He needed strength. Beggars couldn’t be choosers.
Aion smiled at Gravis as they continued walking. "We can have everything, but we also have to do our work," he continued. "Do you first want to relax for a while or go straight to work?" he asked as he looked at Gravis.
When one was continually lying, even an innocent question reeked of danger, and Gravis was unsure how to answer right now. "I am unused to something like this," Gravis said. "Heaven has always granted me lots of enemies and opportunities. That’s how I managed to become so strong, so quickly. I heard that will is very important from others, and maybe Heaven has helped me with that?" Gravis asked with an unsure tone. He had decided to mix truth with lies.
Aion just laughed. "No, that’s not what Heaven was doing, but I can’t fault you for not knowing. It’s your first time here, after all," Aion said with a smile. "Will is important for normal cultivators."
Aion turned around to Gravis and smirked at him. "But, it is useless to us."
Gravis was surprised. "How so? Everyone stronger than me always said that the will was one of the most important things for cultivators," Gravis asked innocently. "How is it different for us?"
Aion just continued smiling as he walked. "Have you ever heard of the concept behind a Will-Aura?" Aion asked.
"Will-Aura?" Gravis asked confusedly and then thought about his answer.
"One of the disciples of the Lightning Guild, who have hunted me, had shown something similar to my Heavenly Pressure. Is that a Will-Aura?" Gravis asked as he remembered the leader of the hit-squad from the Lightning Guild. Gravis had immediately felt his strong will when he had looked at him.
Aion nodded. "That’s right! A Will-Aura is something similar to our Heavenly Pressure, yet it can never reach our power. When a normal cultivator goes through enough life and death calamities, their will becomes so strong that it can manifest as a domain around them. Everything inside of that will be suppressed, similar to our Heavenly Pressure," Aion explained.
"But for us, it is impossible to have a Will-Aura," Aion continued with a smile. "Our Heavenly Pressure is a Will-Aura conferred by Heaven, and we receive it when we step into the Body Tempering Realm. When your cultivation increased, you have probably also noticed your Heavenly Pressure growing stronger, right?"
Gravis nodded.
"Heaven always gives us a Will-Aura according to our cultivation realm. That is what we call Heavenly Pressure. It is a Will-Aura, but it is not ours," Aion explained and then started laughing with pride. "And whose will can compare with the will of Heaven? No one! Our Heavenly Pressure is always the strongest!" Aion said with pride.
Gravis looked surprised and ecstatic. "Heaven is so powerful that our Heavenly Pressure is always the strongest? So, no one can have a stronger Will-Aura than me?" he asked in acted excitement.
Aion smiled, but still rubbed his chin in thought. "Practically, yes, but theoretically, no," he said, and Gravis looked at him in shock. "Heaven grants us the strongest Will-Aura that our bodies and mind can manage. The reason why it is not stronger is that, as you know, keeping up our Heavenly Pressure uses up our concentration."
Aion turned to Gravis with a smile, as they continued walking, side by side. "Heaven could, theoretically, give you a Will-Aura as strong as the strongest person in this world, but you couldn’t keep it up for even a split-second, before your concentration runs out," Aion continued explaining.
"Heaven is, of course, the wisest and thus always grants us the perfect mix of intensity and concentration usage. A Will-Aura, on the other hand, does not require any concentration. So, theoretically, someone could have the strongest Will-Aura in the world in the Body Tempering Realm."
Aion laughed disdainfully. "But how hard is it to create such a Will-Aura? You have to know that creating a Will-Aura requires many genuine life and death calamities. The word, genuine, is the most important word in that sentence. You can’t create a Will-Aura artificially."
Gravis looked confused. "But couldn’t guilds, sects, and big families groom people with a strong Will-Aura?" he asked.
Aion nodded. "Theoretically, yes, but think about the cost," he patiently explained. "They would need to get enemies for their heirs that are not too weak or too strong. Then, the heirs would need to win continually. Some big sects have tried it in the past, and about 99% of their heirs died before they could manifest their Will-Aura. Can you imagine the amount of resources they had to pump into that endeavor?"
Gravis was now genuinely interested. "That sounds astronomical," Gravis remarked. "But what about the ones who managed to form their Will-Aura?" he asked.
Aion smiled disdainfully. "They have the weakest, newly-created Will-Aura, and in comparison to ours, their Will-Aura doesn’t increase by itself. So, of those who have managed to create one, most died while training their will further, while the remainder didn’t increase it. Up until the middle of Magic Gathering, they reigned supreme, but then they started meeting others who had established their Will-Aura by themselves. Just like that, they fell from the top to slightly above average."
Aion laughed again. "Of course, none of that includes us. As soon as we reach Magic Gathering, our Heavenly Pressure is just as strong as their Will-Aura, and it only grows stronger. We are always at the top because we are Heaven’s children."
Gravis showed a proud expression. "So, there are no people with stronger Will-Auras than ours, right?" he asked, excitedly.
Aion continued smirking. "Of course, and if someone appears with a supremely strong Will-Aura, Heaven tells us, and we go kill them. No one is allowed to be stronger than us!" Aion proclaimed with pride.
Gravis mimicked Aion’s expression and posture, but inside, he felt a shiver of fear. If Heaven could completely act as it pleased, Gravis would have already been killed. Only the constant pressure from his father forced Heaven to abide by its own rules, which it normally, regularly broke without a care. If Gravis didn’t have his father behind him, Heaven would have already told the Heaven Sect about him. Gravis might not have any karmic luck, but he felt lucky that he had such a strong father!
"So, why did Heaven send me so many strong enemies, then?" asked Gravis innocently.
"We might not need to temper our will, but we still need battle experience. Without battle experience, we can’t show our full power, and if we can’t show our full power, we would be a disgrace to Heaven."
Aion smiled warmly as he looked into Gravis’ eyes. "It seems like Heaven spoils you, especially. It has always granted you so many strong enemies. Just look at that guy from the Lightning Sect, who came here. But Heaven knows your strength and will never send something that you would die to."
Gravis was surprised. "You know about all my enemies?" he asked.
Aion nodded. "We have our eyes and ears everywhere. Our Heaven Sect has the biggest information network in the world, and nothing escapes our sight. I know everything that happened to you after you left the Lightning Guild. I was happy when I heard about you because I saw Heaven’s hand behind everything in your life."
Aion laughed loudly. "It is actually funny. Think about it! If Heaven hadn’t wanted you to survive, then how could you have survived a hit-squad with multiple people at the eighth level of Magic Gathering? Without karmic luck, how could you have ever reached your home, our Heaven Sect? Heaven has granted all your opportunities because it knew that you would survive!" Aion proclaimed with pride and happiness. Gravis was a Heavenborn, and his glory was also Aion’s glory.
Outside, Gravis smiled, but inside, he felt terrified. He didn’t feel disdain for Aion’s false believes but felt terrified about his argumentation. What Aion had said sounded very convincing, and everyone who didn’t know the truth would completely believe him. It sounded very logical and very natural, yet it was the complete opposite of what had actually happened.
Everyone that read about Gravis’ fights and enemies would say that Gravis would die. Gravis was always the weaker party in an actual fight and that he "coincidentally" always survived, would make people believe that there was something behind that. It all seemed too coincidental. If Gravis didn’t know the truth, even he would believe Aion.
’No wonder everyone believes in Heaven’s fairness. If someone rises, Heaven wants them to rise. If someone dies, Heaven wants them to die. That explanation basically attributes everything that happens to be under Heaven’s will,’ Gravis thought.
’Probably nearly everyone in this lower world shares this belief. If I continue down my path, I will probably become the enemy of everyone,’ Gravis continued thinking in severity.
’Then let the whole world be my enemy!’