Chapter 699 - 699 – Power Of Honesty
PLOP!
The Immortal was surprised as he suddenly lost hold of Gravis. He still felt that his Space Constriction was active, but Gravis suddenly simply popped out of it. It was like a slippery eel had glided out of his hands.
"Huh?" he uttered as he looked at Gravis again.
WHOOOM!
He reactivated his Space Confinement and pulled Gravis.
PLOP!
But Gravis wasn’t even moved a little bit. It was like the space around him was a liquid, and he was a heavy stone. It pressed into him, but in the end, it only managed to flow around him.
The Immortal blinked several times in surprise as he couldn’t comprehend this situation. Why didn’t his Space Confinement work? It had always worked, and even if it didn’t, his Space Confinement would have needed to be broken first, either by a powerful Law or by the Space Law of someone else.
But something else quickly gained the attention of the Immortal.
Gravis’ Avatar.
He had never seen an Avatar that looked like this, but that wasn’t what grabbed his attention. What grabbed his attention was the fact that Gravis had an Avatar in the first place.
"You’re not supposed to condense your Avatar yet!" The Immortal shouted. "You were supposed to wait until we found the correct Law for you! Now I have to contact my manager and inform him about your decision!"
Gravis only looked into the Immortal’s eyes. Obviously, this was a misunderstanding.
"I’m not one of your students," Gravis said.
The Immortal was taken aback. "You’re not?" he asked.
"No, I’m the forger that is supposed to make the weapons for two teams," Gravis said.
"Oh," the Immortal said. "Then, please excuse my rude behavior. I thought that you were one of my students."
Gravis nodded but didn’t smile. "No problem."
What was going on?
This person believed Gravis just like this?
Not only had the Immortal not doubted Gravis words, but he had immediately accepted them as the absolute truth. One had to remember that there were probably fewer than ten Early Minor Circulation Immortals that had comprehended the Law of the Dead World. On top of that, none of those would want to forge some weapons. These Immortals didn’t need money since they were the Core Disciples of the Peak Sects.
Additionally, this Immortal was supposed to have the ability to create a World Weapon in just some hours?
No sane person would believe any of that.
Yet, the Immortal didn’t even doubt Gravis.
Why was that?
Simple, the Law of Honesty.
Powers could be used with peaceful intentions in mind and with malicious intentions. Darkness could protect and shroud its allies, but it could also poison them. The Law of Honesty was not different in this sense.
The Law of Honesty could show the honest mindset of the Cultivator, but it could also overpower the mind of someone else.
When Gravis said that he was the forger, the Law of Honesty directly told the Immortal that Gravis had spoken the absolute truth, no matter how unbelievable it was. One had to remember that the chances of running across an Immortal with the Law of the Dead World were far lower than running across a random, nine-headed chicken.
The thing that defined the power of the Law of Honesty was the Will-Aura, surprisingly. Nearly no Laws used the Will-Aura as a medium. Nearly all Laws used the Energy inside the Cultivator to fuel their power. Only the Emotional and Situational Laws used the Will-Aura as a medium.
If Gravis told the truth to someone with a more powerful Will-Aura than him, after level suppression, this person would realize that Gravis believed that he was telling the truth. Their critical thinking was still active. They would also recognize the Law of Honesty.
If the Will-Auras had about equal strength, after level suppression, the person would not be able to tell if Gravis was using the Law of Honesty or the Laws of Deceit or Lies. Ironically, this meant that the Law of Honesty was at its weakest against someone just as powerful while being more effective against someone more powerful.
Yet, if the person had a weaker Will-Aura, after level suppression, they would take Gravis’ words at face value without any critical thinking. Of course, that was only true when Gravis really said the truth. After all, the Law of Honesty only worked with honest claims. Misdirection and half-truths belonged to the Law of Deceit.
This Immortal had a Will-Aura more powerful than their Realm. In actuality, his Will-Aura had reached the power of the Early Major Circulation Realm, one level higher than themselves. Yet, due to him only being two levels above Gravis, his level couldn’t counteract the overwhelming power of a Will-Aura on the level of an Immortal King.
Because of that, the Immortal believed absolutely everything Gravis just said without questioning his words.
Did Gravis have any kind of reservations about using his power like this?
No.
Why would he? He was simply stating the truth. It didn’t matter if someone was forced into believing in his words. They were the truth anyway.
Sadly, this situation was not so clear-cut. One could argue that taking away the ability of someone to evaluate claims, even if they were the truth, bordered on brainwashing or slavery. Yet, others might say that it didn’t matter as long as the claims were true.
But shouldn’t everyone have the freedom to deny the truth?
But wouldn’t denying the truth mean running away from life?
But was the truth really the truth? What if someone wholeheartedly believed something to be true when it wasn’t? The Law of Honesty would still work then.
This situation was not simple.
Yet, Gravis didn’t care. His opinion was that there was no issue with forcing someone to believe the truth. He was simply stating what he thought to be the truth. Was there anything wrong with simply saying what one thought to be the truth?
"Please follow me. The team is already waiting for you," the Immortal said.
Yet, Gravis only looked at the Immortal. "Do you know that I have just used the Law of Honesty on you?" Gravis asked.
The Immortal nodded. "I know, but I’m not one to run away from the truth," he said politely. "If you hadn’t used the Law, I would not have believed you. In the worst-case scenario, I might have even offended you, ruining a great trade between our companies."
"How are you so sure that I used the Law of Honesty and not one of the other two?" Gravis asked.
The Immortal scratched the side of his head in thought. "By myself, I couldn’t be sure. Obviously, your Will-Aura is far stronger than mine, which makes it impossible for me to discern truth from falsehood."
Then, he extended his right index finger. "But the place gives me assurance!" he said with a smile. "No Immortal would dare to lie to an employee of the Research Company inside their very building over something that involves so many Immortal Stones. Several Immortal Emperors keep watch over everything in the building, and if you had lied, you wouldn’t be here anymore."
"Therefore, even if I wouldn’t have believed you, I would still be certain that what you have said is the truth. After all, we are talking about around 100 million Immortal Stones here. I know my worth, and I know that I am not powerful enough to be trusted with such an insane amount of wealth."
Gravis scratched his chin but nodded in the end. "Makes sense," he said. "Alright, could you please bring me to the ten people that require my weapons? Also, I need three more Middle World Cores for all ten weapons. I only have enough for seven."
"That won’t be a problem," the Immortal said with a smile. "Follow me."
Then, the two of them teleported to a location inside the room, which had ten Immortals standing around, just talking.
As the two of them appeared, the ten Immortals bowed politely in greeting. "Greetings, teacher," they said in unison.
The teacher nodded once and gestured to Gravis. "This is the person that will be forging your World Weapons."
The ten of them looked at Gravis but quickly furrowed their brows when they felt his power.
Gravis was only an Early Minor Circulation Immortal, the same level as them. This Immortal was supposed to be able to forge World Weapons in such a short amount of time?
"Hmph," a burly-looking young man harrumphed with disdain.
And Gravis lifted an eyebrow.