Gravis' mind was going wild as he saw the "teacher".
What teacher?
This was definitely the higher Heaven!
He looked far too much like the middle Heaven, except for the two differences that he definitely looked like a he and not a "they", and that he had five eyes instead of seven.
However, the more Gravis thought about this, the less sure he became. Orthar had also looked like a Heaven, and he certainly was an octopus, not a Heaven. Additionally, if this were the higher Heaven, he would be breaking so many rules by being here.
First of all, he directly came into contact with the beings in this world and even taught them things personally. Second of all, he was directly communicating with them.
Would the highest Heaven allow something like this?
Gravis listened in on the lesson the teacher taught and realized that it was only about how to perceive Laws. He explained that there were many ways one could use to understand Laws. They could try to resonate with a Law, which was how the people in the Unrestrained Sect cultivated. However, he also explained that they could understand Laws by understanding and looking at them.
He didn't teach them any specifics about Laws and only showed them how they could concentrate on comprehending Laws. Something like this wasn't damaging to one's path, and Gravis sure would have benefited from such a lecture back when he entered the middle world.
The teacher wrapped the session up in about ten more minutes, and the Cultivators left. The relatively younger Cultivators shot off like they were finally free from some boring lecture, while the older ones had fallen into thought.
The beasts and humans passed Gravis, throwing curious glances at him.
The teacher straightened his back like he felt stiff. Then, he looked at Gravis and smiled in a friendly manner.
"Hello, Gravis," he said.
All of Gravis' doubts vanished as he heard the teacher directly address him. To normal Cultivators, he would sound just like a normal guy, but Gravis had talked with the middle Heaven for a long while.
This was definitely the higher Heaven!
Gravis hadn't noticed before since he hadn't directly addressed Gravis, but he had the same kind of resonance with the world that the middle Heaven had.
Gravis narrowed his eyes. "I'm pretty sure what you're doing is against the rules," he said.
The higher Heaven's smile widened in amusement as the Immortal King beside Gravis got confused. Rules? What kind of rules?
"Samantha, would you be so kind as to go back to the others?" the higher Heaven said. "I want to talk to him alone."
Samantha nodded. "Sure," she said with a slight bow. Then, she threw one last glance at Gravis and left.
Silence returned to the clearing as only Gravis and the higher Heaven remained.
"What do you want?" Gravis asked with an apparent distaste in his voice.
The higher Heaven only laughed in a friendly manner.
"Hasn't Matthew told you?" he asked as he walked over to a big lake. The lake wasn't really huge for Immortal standards, but it was a couple of kilometers long.
"He said you wanted to talk to me," Gravis said, obviously realizing that Matthew referred to that one Eldest Brother.
"And that's exactly what I want. I just want to talk," the higher Heaven said. After arriving at the lake, he sat down and put his feet in the water in relaxation.
"And what do you want to talk about?" Gravis asked, not closing the distance.
"Anything," he said.
"Anything?" Gravis asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, anything," the higher Heaven confirmed. "It's rare that I get to talk to someone not from my world. Additionally, we have an entwined destiny."
"Our fight, yes?" Gravis asked.
The higher Heaven nodded. "Yes, sadly."
"Sadly?" Gravis asked in skepticism. "This would be a first for me. Every other Heaven I met almost couldn't wait to smash my face in."
"Well, us Heavens are just as diverse as people," he said. "We all search for our purpose in life, and when we can't find an external purpose in life, we desperately search for another one."
"I have seen your past, Gravis, and I have to say that you really met the most extreme examples of my so-called siblings," he said, the word siblings sounding very distasteful.
"That lower Heaven you met realized that they could never become more powerful again. Therefore, they decided to find a purpose in their life by feeling superior. Like a child that has been handed supreme power, they have suppressed everyone and wanted everyone to worship them."
"That middle Heaven realized the same thing. Yet, instead of searching for a purpose in superiority, they made my creator their purpose. In short, they were living for someone else," he explained.
Gravis was surprised by several things. First of all, the higher Heaven said the word siblings like he hated that word. However, his distaste for the word creator was manifold greater.
Every other Heaven had called the highest Heaven father or ancestor, but this one referred to the highest Heaven as creator, a term that was much more distant and sterile than ancestor.
"And what is your purpose?" Gravis asked, less distant now. He had automatically judged this Heaven based on his interactions with the other two, which might have been a mistake.
"Can't you see?" he said, raising his right arm as his back was still turned to Gravis. "I like conserving talent and having beings around me."
"And I should believe that?" Gravis asked skeptically.
"Why not?" the higher Heaven said with a smile. "I dislike it when talented beings with a great mindset for cultivation get destroyed because of circumstances outside their control. So, I take them to me and give them a family and a teacher."
"And why would you do that?" Gravis asked again.
"Gravis," the higher Heaven said with a slight chuckle. "You and I both know freedom. You should know why I would do this."
"Because you want to," Gravis said.
"Exactly," the higher Heaven said as he leaned back, his feet still dangling in the water.
"And that's also why you want to talk to me," Gravis added.
"Yes," the higher Heaven confirmed. "I just want to talk to you, talk to someone from the highest world and hear their thoughts."
"You know how the world works. You have met a lot of other Heavens. You know about my creator. You know about the Brand."
Suddenly, the higher Heaven looked at the sky with an arrogant smirk. "Oh, you didn't like that, did you?" he asked. "Don't like me talking about your cowardly control scheme, do you?"
Gravis was taken aback as he looked at this higher Heaven. Talking about the Brand was no joke! The higher Heaven was directly defying the highest Heaven right in front of him. In actuality, as Gravis watched the higher Heaven speak to the highest Heaven like this, he got reminded of himself.
Was this how Gravis looked to everyone else when he seemingly spoke into empty space, addressing some kind of supreme power?
Gravis actually got interested in this higher Heaven. This one definitely seemed way different than he had anticipated.
When Gravis heard about the insane power of the highest Heaven's firstborn, he had imagined some aloof being that saw everything beneath it.
Yet, here he was, speaking to Gravis casually, teaching some homeless children, and even touching the highest Heaven's greatest taboo, the Brand.
For the first time, Gravis knew how others felt when he addressed Heaven in a disrespectful manner. Ironically, doing it himself felt not as scary as seeing someone else do it.
"How are you still alive?" Gravis asked.
"Because I'm doing a great job," the higher Heaven said. "I'm not promoting tempering or anything, but a lucky set of circumstances and a lot of time has resulted in this world becoming very powerful. The Unrestrained Sect is in a relatively weaker area of my world. As soon as you exit this area, you will realize how powerful the average Cultivator is."
Gravis had already suspected something like this. This was probably one of or the most powerful higher world. Yet, the Cultivators Gravis had seen were only a bit above average, if even that.
"Why are you so openly antagonistic against your father," Gravis said.
WHOOOM!
For a short moment, Gravis felt the world freeze, but the world regained its normal state as the higher Heaven released a sigh. "Please refrain from calling him my father," the higher Heaven said.
Gravis nodded. "Sorry about that," he said.
"As for your question," the higher Heaven continued, "because I am stuck in a prison of my own design. I have been given a world of my own, but I can never leave this world. I want to see more worlds, become more powerful, be free. However, my creator doesn't want that and forces me to stay here, imprisoned for all eternity."
"I guess he realized that I'm not following his grand plan, which is why he doesn't want me to become even more powerful. It's his irrational desire for total control over everything that makes him do all these things."
The higher Heaven turned around to Gravis with a smile. "And I don't like being controlled, so I break as many rules as I want just to spite him."
"Why?" the higher Heaven asked with a smirk. "Because I want to."
"According to your vocabulary, I think it would be appropriate to say: Fuck him!" the higher Heaven said with a laugh.
Gravis also had to chuckle a bit. Gravis doubted that this was some kind of elaborate scheme to make him sympathize with this higher Heaven. Such a powerful being had confidence in his power.
So, this meant that this was probably the higher Heaven's true personality.
Gravis walked closer and stopped beside the higher Heaven as he looked at the lake.
"How should I refer to you?" Gravis asked.
"A name is only relevant when you are in contact with other beings, which is why all other Heavens don't have names," the higher Heaven said.
"But I'm not like the usual Heaven, so I also gave myself a name."
"My name is Arcerius, but you can call me Arc."