"Senior brother," Surem said. "I'll show you around the Sect."
Gravis nodded. "Thanks," he said.
Gravis had already inspected his surroundings with his Spirit, and what he saw surprised him quite a bit. Right now, Gravis was floating high up in the sky, but below him, he could see a ton of buildings.
Yet, surprisingly enough, most of the buildings were wooden huts with mortals tending to rice. This didn't look like a Sect at all. However, Gravis was sure that this was the Sect since he saw several huge buildings scattered among the wooden huts. These buildings had different art styles and were made out of different materials. Additionally, Gravis felt several Cultivators living in these buildings.
What surprised Gravis was the strength of these Cultivators. The vast majority were Immortals with about half the amount of Law Comprehension Cultivators and just very few Nascent Nourishing Cultivators. In these buildings, Gravis couldn't see anyone below the Nascent Nourishing Realm.
Everything radiated an aura of freedom. The different art styles that didn't follow a common rule, the different distances between the buildings, the fact that so many mortals were here, all of this created an atmosphere of freedom. Seemingly everyone could do whatever they wanted.
Yet, all of this changed if one looked into the distance. Around 50,000 kilometers away from this land of freedom, darkness and pressure existed.
50,000 kilometers away, Gravis saw a mountain range hidden in perpetual darkness. This was part of the Sect, but the aura from this area was the polar opposite of this land of freedom.
All the buildings looked uniform and were made out of the same materials. Everything was grey and hidden in darkness as seemingly no happiness and freedom entered this place. At that place, Gravis could see even more Cultivators than in the other parts of the Sect. Additionally, the Realm distribution was the opposite.
There were no Immortals, some Law Comprehension Cultivators, a lot of Nascent Nourishing Cultivators, and an incredible amount of Unity Realm Cultivators. All of them wore the same clothing, had the same haircut, did the same thing, and learned the same Laws.
Gravis already had a suspicion, but he wanted to wait for Surem's explanation.
"Below us, you can see the Unrestrained Lands," Surem explained. "This is the area where the Unrestrained Ones live. They can do whatever they want, but of course, everyone else is also free to do what they want. So, if one of them annoys another one, the other one can strike back. We don't discourage killing among the Sect. Everyone is free to do what they want."
Gravis nodded. "I presume that the Unrestrained Ones you are referring to are Cultivators that managed to comprehend the Minor Law of Suppression, correct?"
Surem was a bit surprised that Gravis came to that conclusion so quickly but nodded. "Yes. When you know the Minor Law of Suppression, you will formally join the Unrestrained Ones. Then, you are a true part of the Sect."
Gravis nodded. "What about that other area in the distance?" Gravis asked.
Surem shuddered. Obviously, he had been reminded of some horrible memories. "These are the Restrained Lands," he said with a sigh. "I was once part of these lands, and I absolutely hate and despise them."
"Yet, they are a necessity," he said. "To appreciate and know freedom, one must first learn suppression. Freedom is the absence of suppression, and only when you know something very intimately can you evade it perfectly."
"How do the Restrained Lands work exactly?" Gravis asked.
"Our Sect is popular among Cultivators," Surem explained. "Many Cultivators want to join us. Living inside a Sect without any duties and being allowed to do what you want? Who wouldn't want to be part of such a Sect?"
"However, first, you need to earn your place in the Sect by comprehending Suppression. So, before someone joins the Sect, we will inform them about what will happen. If they are willing to join, they will sign their freedom and individuality away. They will join the Restrained Lands and will go through the most extreme suppression imaginable."
"Over 90% of applicants don't agree to join as soon as they are told what would happen, and that's their choice. If they don't want to join, that's fine. The remaining 10% believe that they can take the Suppression and join anyway."
"Yet," Surem said with a sigh. "I have never met a single person in this Sect that doesn't regret their decision. The pains of the Restrained Lands are things that no common person can imagine. After just several days, basically everyone already tries to flee. They say that they don't want to be part of the Sect anymore and want to formally leave."
"Sadly, true suppression can only be taught when you are under true suppression. They are held prisoner and will be forced to do everything we tell them to. We force them into fights we want. We deliberately create unfair fights to demonstrate our power over them. If they win a fight, we will confiscate all the spoils."
"The Cultivators reach new Realms when we want them to. The Cultivators fight when we want them to. The Cultivators say what we want them to. The only thing we don't touch is their mind since they still need to be their own person inside their mind to comprehend suppression. If we even touch their minds, they would become lifeless husks."
"And all of this will continue until they either learn the Minor Law of Suppression or die. There is no in-between," Surem said. "95% of Cultivators never learn the Minor Law of Suppression, and they will live the rest of their lives in the most extreme suppression possible until they eventually die."
Surem looked at the Restrained Lands with a forlorn expression.
"I have been part of the Restrained Lands for 567 years," he said.
Gravis sighed. 567 years of living like this was something Gravis almost couldn't imagine. Sure, Gravis had fought the middle Heaven for around 700 years, which could be described as a similarly weighty suppression, but it felt different.
If one had to associate a color to Gravis' time with the middle Heaven, it would be black and red. There was death around every corner, and Gravis basically only had to survive the entire time. Meanwhile, the Restrained Lands would be grey. There was not much life and death pressure. There was not much action. There was not much fighting. It was simply a grey life of monotone routine.
If it were up to Gravis, he would prefer fighting the middle Heaven any day over being part of the Restrained Lands. However, one would have to remember that not everyone thought like that. Most people would probably prefer the Restrained Lands. After all, at least their lives were relatively safe during that. Being under the constant threat of death for hundreds of years was terrifying to most people.
"It's their choice," Gravis said. "They knew what would happen, and they decided to take the chance. Was it a mistake to make this decision? In their minds, certainly. Yet, this is also part of freedom. Freedom means you can also make mistakes."
"That's something I learned thoroughly," Gravis said with narrowed eyes.
Gravis remembered how he had decided to fight the middle Heaven even though he was wholly underprepared. Even now, Gravis was still weaker than the middle Heaven! This had been a mistake, but Gravis had committed it. Then, Gravis had decided to use his Law of Freedom as his Avatar. Was this a mistake? Gravis wasn't sure yet. Only the future would show if it was a mistake or not.
Surem sighed. "I'm uncertain," he said. "When you are young, and you think you know something, but you don't, is it okay to destroy their lives because of one decision?"
Gravis looked over at Surem. "Freedom is not kind," Gravis said.
Surem frowned. "What?" he asked.
"Freedom, like everything else, is neither good nor bad," Gravis said. "You can do what you want and live life to the fullest, but you are also free to make as many mistakes as you want. When you make a mistake while you are free, nobody will be there to protect you."
"When you are suppressed, you can't live life to the fullest. Yet, being suppressed means that someone more powerful than you is suppressing you, and this more powerful person is able to keep danger away that you can't deal with."
"Of course, almost everyone would still prefer freedom, me included," Gravis said.
"Yet, living according to total freedom is something nearly no one is willing to do, me included," Gravis said.
"What do you mean?" Surem asked.
"Freedom and suppression is a gradient, Surem," Gravis said. "Freedom doesn't mean that you must live completely free, but it means that you can choose where you want to live on the gradient."
Surem wasn't sure what Gravis meant. All of this sounded a bit complicated.
"If you live with 100 freedom and 0 Suppression, it means you are free of suppression, but one part of suppression is responsibility. Responsibility is also a form of suppression."
"So, living in true freedom means not caring for the ones you love. You are not under any responsibility for them. If they die, they die. It has nothing to do with you," Gravis said.
"When you have a family or weaker loved ones that you want to protect, you can feel the pressure sometimes. If something happens to you, your loved ones might die. If you commit a mistake, you might not only ruin your life but also all the lives of your close ones."
"Responsibility is a weight that stops you from doing what you want," Gravis said. "Responsibility is part of Suppression."
Gravis looked at the sky. "My goal is not to live in total freedom but to have the freedom of choice. I want to decide if I want a family or not. I want to decide what can suppress me and what can't."
"Being free doesn't mean living free," Gravis said.
"Remember that, Surem."