Gravis returned to the Sect to check up on things. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, which meant that the enemy hadn't shown their hand yet.
After talking to Surem for a little bit, Gravis told him that he knew what Surem had meant previously and that Gravis would be concentrating on comprehending Weapon Laws in the meantime. Surem only smiled and wished Gravis luck.
However, Gravis also told Surem that he should inform Gravis if something happened. Gravis wanted some real tempering. Surem confirmed that he would inform Gravis later.
With that done, Gravis went into a forest and stopped beside a lake. Gravis enjoyed comprehending Laws beside lakes since this scenery reminded him of the middle world. Gravis was a social person, but he didn't want to comprehend Weapon Laws with the other members of the Unrestrained Sect. If they saw how he comprehended his Laws, they might ask annoying questions.
About three days passed until something happened. Gravis still hadn't made any headway in creating his own Focus, but he hadn't expected that he would be able to make any kind of progress before the enemy arrived anyway.
"Junior brother," the voice of a woman appeared near Gravis. Her voice sounded very careful and probing, which was normal in the Unrestrained Sect. If they directly broke someone's Weapon Cultivation, the person might get their connection with their weapon destroyed. By talking carefully and quietly, it would be more akin to a knock than an interruption.
"What is it?" Gravis asked as he opened his eyes. Gravis didn't follow the Synchronization Comprehension method, which meant that he could get interrupted whenever. It would just be annoying to fall back into the rhythm of comprehension.
The woman was a bit surprised that Gravis immediately answered. Normally, Cultivators finished their comprehension first before answering to not anger their weapons.
However, Gravis didn't appear annoyed or angered at all. It seemed like this was nothing but a minor inconvenience to him.
"Excuse me, junior brother," she said, "but our Sect Master has an offer for you. It is regarding a challenge to several of our mines."
Gravis narrowed his eyes. 'So, they have arrived.'
"Alright," Gravis said as he stood up. "I'll go there right away."
"Thank you, junior brother," she said. "I wish you luck."
Gravis nodded and teleported away.
SHING!
Gravis directly arrived in the middle of the central hall where the upper echelon of the Unrestrained Sect usually gathered.
Gravis looked around and noticed that the atmosphere was very different from the last time he had been here.
Frustration and rage filled the atmosphere.
"Yes?" Gravis immediately asked Liran, who sat in one of the chairs with furrowed brows.
Liran looked at Gravis and sighed in relief. With Gravis' Battle-Strength, they could get a ton of resource points.
"Gravis, as expected, Arthur has become active," Liran said.
"I know. What's the plan?" Gravis asked.
Liran looked at Gravis. "Do you know how we decide which Sect gets which valuable resource point?" Liran asked.
Gravis shrugged. "Probably money or strength," Gravis answered.
Liran nodded. "That's the general gist of it. I'll give you a more detailed one," Liran said. "According to the potential wealth of an area, Realms are assigned. Resource points that are wealthy enough to serve as the basis for an entire Sect will be defended by Immortal Kings."
"Meanwhile, valuable but not as important places are assigned to the individual Circulations of the Immortal Realm. Therefore, we have four distinctions between resource spots, Minor Circulation, Major Circulation, Peak, and Immortal King. Do you know why that is?" Liran asked.
Gravis nodded. "To leave the other Sects some breathing room. If there were one vastly more powerful Cultivator, they would only be able to take over the resource points of one of the four categories. The others would still be untouchable."
Liran nodded. "Exactly. One incredibly powerful Early Circulation Immortal could theoretically take over all the Early Circulation resource points in our area. This would obviously still be an incredible amount of wealth, far more than one Sect can handle. Because of that, there is one additional restriction."
"One Immortal King can only be responsible for one resource point," Liran explained. "If one Sect Master would be vastly more powerful than the others, they could theoretically steal all the belonging of all the other Sects while keeping to the rules."
"We are allies, not enemies. Because of that, one Immortal King can only attack one resource point if they don't have one yet, and if they get it, they can only defend this one and not attack another one."
"The same thing is true for the other Realms, but in a less restrictive form. Peak Immortals can get three resource points, Major Circulation Immortals get six, and Minor Circulation Immortals get twelve," Liran explained.
Gravis nodded. "And I'm guessing that Arthur paid someone to take out as many resource points as possible?" Gravis asked.
Liran nodded. "That's exactly what they are doing," he said. "Several Sects just so happen to decide to challenge us on the same day. This is not a coincidence. However, it's also not against the rules."
"Even worse, several petitions to lower the Realm of some of our resource points have been submitted. Our Peak Immortals are pretty powerful in comparison to other Sects, but our Major Circulation Immortals are only a slight bit above average. Right now, a lot of Sects are deciding if some of our Peak Immortal resource points should be lowered to Major Circulation points."
"With that, they would be able to get them easier. Additionally, getting a new resource point is also far more difficult than defending one. The most powerful Cultivators in each Realm defend the most important resource points. This means that only the B-Team can attack while the A-Team is on the defense."
"So, even though our Peak Immortals get a new open spot, it would be very difficult for them to claim a new one for their Realm. Lastly, claiming the resource point of another Sect might enrage them and draw further retaliation."
Gravis nodded. "Makes sense. So, what would you have me do?" he asked.
"Show of strength and deterrence," Liran said.
"Aggressive or defensive?" Gravis asked.
"Changing the spot of a defender is difficult if the previous defender is still alive," Liran said. "I can't just kill one of our members to let you take their place. Therefore, I would like you to claim three very valuable resource points of the three main aggressors. After that, you would still have nine left. The enemy will realize your power and will know that the most aggressive party would get your next claim."
Gravis waited for more, but Liran was apparently done.
"Seriously? That's it?" Gravis asked.
Liran nodded. "What else would you have me do?" he asked.
"How about I claim all twelve directly, and you threaten them with giving me enough Immortal Stones to make me a Major Circulation Immortal? At that point, I would be threatening six vastly more valuable spots," Gravis said.
Liran sighed. "I would, but we don't have the liquid funds right now. In order to make you an Early Major Circulation Immortal, we would need to spend 600,000 Immortal Stones. Theoretically, we have the money, but it's all been assigned already to the different defenders. I won't break my word."
Gravis scratched his chin.
"Can I kill the defenders?" Gravis asked.
Liran nodded. "This also serves as tempering. Without the chance of death, it wouldn't be tempering."
"Can I keep their stuff?" Gravis asked.
Liran nodded.
Gravis thought some more.
"Do you have 300,000 Immortal Stones of liquid funds?" Gravis asked.
Liran frowned. "The Sect only has so much, but I can make up for it with my private wealth."
"Alright, then give them to me. In a day, I will return as a Late Minor Circulation Immortal and will attack the Major Circulation Areas," Gravis said.
Liran's eyes opened widely. "Wait, does that mean that you want to jump four levels against the most talented individuals? You should know that these Cultivators are far more powerful than normal Cultivators! All of them can jump an entire level."
Gravis looked evenly at Liran. "My Will-Aura is the main thing that allows me to jump so many levels, and the level suppression is my bane. A Mid Major Circulation Immortal that can jump two levels is weaker than a Late Major Circulation Immortal that has average Battle-Strength to me."
"A Late Major Circulation Immortal would be four power levels higher than me. If they can jump one level, it would be more like 4.2 levels instead of five for me since the level suppression is the biggest factor."
"4.2 levels is dangerous, but I've had far worse odds before."