"You do realize that six of the seven Peak Sects are currently out for your head, right?" Zero's Essence asked.
Gravis sighed. "I know, but it's necessary. I already told you how I had been unmasked. Sure, it feels a bit shitty that Arc was basically unveiling my existence without my consent, but I get where he's coming from."
"By remaining unknown to the world, I run the risk of being found out. Of course, I was also found out recently, but there is a difference between everyone finding out at once and only one power finding out."
"If only a single power found me, I might not even notice that they found me. Then, they would gather an irresistible net of powerful Cultivators while analyzing my background. Without me noticing, they would watch me and gather all the relevant information about my friends and family."
"And then, when they feel like they have prepared enough, they will catch all my loved ones and pressure me into joining their Sect."
"That's when my life would be over."
"On top of that, they wouldn't even be under any stress for time or anything similar to that. No one else knew about my existence, and they would have all the time to plan for my eventual capture."
"Yet, by being unveiled in public, all seven Sects start at the same position, and they have to compete with each other. In a sense, resisting seven rudimentary, hastily planned attempts at capturing me is easier than resisting one thoroughly planned out attempt."
"Even more, the Sects wouldn't want to directly anger me just yet. After all, I could join a different Sect out of spite, and that Sect would be in a lot of trouble in the future."
"Arc used the equilibrium of the Peak Sects against each other, and I would be the one benefitting from it."
Gravis smiled bitterly. "Sadly, he probably didn't realize that I would anger six out of the seven Peak Sects at once."
"However, even that isn't as bad as being found out secretly. After all, I know that everyone found out, which allowed me to hide my tracks and background."
Gravis took a deep breath. "I still feel guilty about doing it, but I had to eradicate the Eternal Fire Sect. They were the only ones that knew about me, and with them gone, the Peak Sects have no lead."
"Right now, as long as I don't contact my loved ones, the Peak Sects won't know where or who I am."
"That's already the best I can ask for. I just have to stay low and stay hidden. Additionally, I have plenty of tempering opportunities now. I don't need to search for my opponents since nearly all the Peak Sects are my opponents now. All these people looking for me are my enemies."
"I'm the one in the shadow while they are in the light. I can choose whoever I want."
Then, Gravis remembered something.
"Right, if you want to help me, could you check if the Eternal Fire Sect still exists and if the Sects found any of my friends and family?" Gravis asked.
Zero's Essence remained silent for some seconds.
"They didn't find out that you came with the people of the Eternal Fire Sect. They also have no idea about your background."
"As for the Eternal Fire Sect, the closest Sect found the territory of the Eternal Fire Sect completely destroyed, and they quickly entered to claim the Law Comprehension Areas."
"As far as everyone is aware, the Eternal Fire Sect's enemies had used the opportunity that the Vice-Sect Master was absent to stage a surprise attack against the Eternal Fire Sect. No one connected the death of the Vice-Sect Master with your actions since Silver Seer killed every Ancestral God that had been present anyway."
"The remaining members of the tournament joined the different Peak Sects. Exar joined the Lightning Peak Sect while your son joined the Mortal Sect. No one believes that these two know each other."
Gravis released a sigh of relief. "What about Cera?"
"She joined the Lost Wind Sect."
Gravis thought back to his daughter.
She had been the weakest amongst everyone around Gravis, but now, she was in a Peak Sect and an Ancestral God.
Gravis was glad that she managed to go that far.
He also wanted to meet her again, but that wasn't an option right now.
Gravis couldn't even see Stella or any of his other friends.
Several Divine Gods were probably overlooking all the different Sects and Teleportation Formation Arrays. They were probably constantly questioning their own perception while flying around and looking at every Sect.
Sure, to check all the Sects would take thousands of years, but that wasn't actually that long.
The entire world was searching for Gravis at this moment, and the only way for Gravis to protect his loved ones was to not come into contact with them.
This was probably the longest time Gravis would be apart from his loved ones.
However, this was still the best-case scenario.
Arc had given Gravis the best opportunity for his last push towards power.
"You know," Gravis said after a while. "I don't really like to target an entire organization just because their leaders decided to do something I don't like, but I think that Ancestral Gods should be smart enough to make their own opinions."
Zero's Essence looked at Gravis.
Gravis seemed rather calm.
"I think genocide isn't that bad of an option right now," Gravis said.
"Why are you acting like this is a special occasion?" Zero's Essence asked. "Destroying an entire Clan or Sect is standard practice. We can only allow the most unimportant members of a Sect to join us after winning in a war."
"It's normal to eradicate an entire Sect. It's not really anything special," she explained.
Gravis scratched the side of his head. "I mean, I get it. It feels so normal for all of you, but it's still something I'm not completely used to."
Zero's Essence blinked once without amusement.
"Do you have a selective memory?" she asked.
Gravis looked at Zero's Essence with confusion.
"Remember the incident with your Sin Aura? That was also a genocide," she said.
"Oh, right," Gravis said with embarrassment. "Okay, I forgot about that incident."
Then Gravis looked to the side. "Maybe I shouldn't act like some innocent person. After all, I had a Sin Aura once."
Then, Gravis put on a shining smile and gave Zero's Essence a thumbs-up with a wink.
"I'm going to eradicate six of the Peak Sects!" Gravis said with an encouraging voice.
Zero's Essence looked at Gravis for a bit in stunned silence.
And then, she actually chuckled a bit.
She had never seen someone talk about genocide with such a positive and encouraging tone and expression.
Gravis smiled with pride when he saw Zero's Essence chuckle.
They talked for a while longer, but Zero's Essence left rather quickly.
She was bored of talking, and she went back to think about the concept of control.
She had learned a lot about control from Gravis, and she felt like she had finally made some progress on that front.
When Zero's Essence left, Gravis turned to Mortis.
"We should test how useful Elemental Synchronicity is for comprehending Laws."