It felt like Gravis hadn't been away for long, but for the others, thousands of years had passed.
Gravis had to release a heavy sigh when he heard that about 20% of all his students had died by now. Unity Realm Cultivators and beasts could only live for a single millennium, but nearly none of them would die of old age. They would either reach the next Realm or die in battle.
However, the 80% that were still alive had all reached the Law Comprehension Realm at least. There were even some that had already become Immortal.
80% was an incredible ratio. Apparently, Gravis' and Arc's teachings had a great effect on the students.
These little kids that Gravis had taught back then had all either grown up or had died. Maybe to them, Gravis had been a nice substitute teacher an eternity ago. They had met him back then but hadn't seen him again for their entire life.
Some of Gravis' old students were visiting, but nearly none of them recognized him. Only after Gravis informed them of who he was would some of them remember him and talk about old times.
Fortunately, Gravis hadn't been an important person in their life. Not seeing him for their entire life wasn't much of a loss to them.
However, this showed Gravis again how difficult it was for someone to have a family while still cultivating. According to his own perception, Gravis had only been away for a little bit, but everyone else thought that it had been an eternity.
Luckily, Gravis' three children had also entered the path of Cultivation. Otherwise, all of them would have died of old age a long time ago. Sadly, it was still difficult to think about Aris and Cera. Both of them were in different higher worlds right now, and they had left immediately. In fact, since Gravis had spent over a thousand years in his homeworld, his two children were now much older than him.
It pained Gravis to think about it, but Aris and Cera had probably already fully dissociated from him. Time was cruel. It made everything fade.
'I shouldn't be so selfish,' Gravis thought with a sigh. 'They are happy even without me, so I should be happy for them. It's their life, not mine.'
Gravis wasn't really worried about Yersi. Gravis had spent a really long time with Yersi, and she was also in the highest world, which meant that time was progressing ten times slower. Yersi would still care about him.
'If she's still alive,' Gravis thought with worry.
Gravis spent some hours in melancholy but had to stop when a new class arrived. All the old students were either adults or dead now, which meant that Gravis got to know a lot of new people and beasts.
By now, Gravis was pretty good at teaching students, and the students also had a ton of fun. Gravis mainly just talked and joked with them as he only explained the things that the students were interested in.
Gravis also met a lot of new Immortals and Immortal Kings. After all, there were a lot of them, and they only came here for a couple of years every ten-thousand years or so.
Gravis even met someone from the Purist Sect. However, that person was very taciturn. It was like he only answered Gravis when he asked a question, and then also only in the least amount of words as possible.
Gravis wasn't sure if that guy wanted to talk to him, but he didn't want to assume.
So, Gravis asked him.
Surprisingly enough, after Gravis asked the guy about these short answers, the guy became surprised. After that, he apologized and said that it hadn't been his intention to be this curt. It was simply how he was used to talking.
Apparently, the disciples of the Purist Sect disliked empty words. Their mindset was more akin to beasts, and they believed that words were empty. Only actions would truly show someone's personality.
Gravis thought that this Sect sounded quite similar to him, but the guy told Gravis that he wouldn't fit in.
The Purist Sect was brutal, arrogant, and direct. They had the most powerful disciples, and in comparison to all the other Sects, they didn't rely on any kind of fancy and worldly Laws. They only concentrated on these element-neutral weapon-like Laws.
This created a feeling of superiority in the members of the Purist Sect. They believed that they were the only ones that didn't need to rely on outside help, the Laws of the Elements and so on. They didn't need the help of the world to win their fights.
No matter who opposed them, one single slash would kill them.
Gravis found that mindset idiotic. Weren't these element-neutral Laws also just Laws? All Laws were basically the same in Gravis' mind. It didn't matter if they were element-neutral or not.
In Gravis' mind, this was just some kind of arbitrary, subjective standard. Their power was the purest, which made them supreme.
This reminded Gravis of his past delusion of having a pure path. He had thought just like this in the past. Gravis had always told himself that he had achieved everything by himself and that accepting help from someone else would only damage his own path.
However, that was not the case at all. Just like the Black Magnate had said, power was everything. It didn't matter what kind of power it was. In the end, the more powerful one would survive while the weaker one died.
Could the Black Magnate be wrong?
There was a possibility, but it was minuscule.
Who was the Black Magnate?
He was one of the most powerful beings in existence, a Heaven's Magnate. He had reached the peak of normally achievable power. One could say that the Black Magnate had a lot of authority when talking about power.
Also, the Opposer hadn't contradicted the Black Magnate's words about power either.
One side was a Sect in a higher world with not a single God, while the other side were two of the most powerful beings in existence.
There was no comparison.
After talking with the guy for a while, Gravis decided that the Purist Sect really wasn't for him. They reminded him too much of his past self.
However, the guy had been quite nice, and he had also talked a lot more after Gravis highlighted his curt answers. Of course, something like that wasn't a surprise. All Sects were filled with different people, and even when there was a general mindset for a greater collective, not every individual would perfectly reflect it.
Gravis' pause felt much longer than his last Law Comprehension Session, which felt bizarre to him. One was only a hundred years long, while the other had been multiple thousand years long.
No matter how often Gravis noticed it, his perception of time just felt so surreal.
After the century was up, Gravis left Arc's clearing again and went back to comprehending more Laws.
Five sets were left.
'I think I should comprehend two sets, take another break, comprehend the last three sets, take another break, and then concentrate on the Laws I can comprehend on my own. After all, I should also take care of my primary Laws.'
Gravis found this plan pretty good and left for the next Law Comprehension Area.
Next stop: Frost!