Lightning Is the Only Way

The three of them arrived in a tranquil clearing.

Stella and Liam immediately noticed the powerful concentration of Energy in the atmosphere. It was far denser than the density of Energy in the human territory. Only the headquarters of the Peak Sects could compare thanks to all their Formation Arrays that gathered Energy.

Stella and Liam also noticed several beasts and humans talking to each other just a couple of kilometers away. 

In this clearing, there was no difference between humans and beasts.

Everyone was just getting along as friends.

After fighting beasts for their entire lives, Stella and Liam found this surreal and strange.

The perception of having a mortal enemy didn't exist in this clearing.

However, their Spirit Senses immediately locked onto a single person.

He was bigger than average, and he had five eyes. His hair was blonde, and the world seemed to revolve around him.

Yet, one thing was different.

Gravis had told them that Arc was very friendly and kind.

So, how come they couldn't see anything of that on him?

Right now, Arc looked with narrowed eyes at Gravis.

Gravis looked back with a raised eyebrow.

"Mortal, doth thou have any idea about the number of lives that had been ended by the hands of thine actions!?" Arc's powerful voice reverberated in the small part of the clearing.

Liam and Stella felt the sheer power of the world gathering around Arc, and they felt that the world was angry.

Gravis had to chuckle a bit. "Why do you talk so weird?"

Arc only glared at Gravis as the atmosphere intensified.

Then, he lifted a hand and pointed at Gravis.

"Mortal, thine actions have gone against the holy decree of Heaven, and thou must pay the just price!"

Stella and Liam became confused and fearful.

Heaven was angry!

Gravis chuckled a bit.

"Daddy! Arc's breaking his promise!" Gravis shouted like an aggrieved child.

The world immediately calmed down as the apocalyptic forces vanished into thin air.

"Dude, chill out!" Arc suddenly shouted in his normal voice as he took a step back. "It was just a prank! No need to involve your father!"

Gravis immediately broke out into loud laughter.

"Oh man, you should have seen your face," he shouted in hysterics. 

Arc released a sigh but then also started to laugh loudly.

They were just messing around.

Stella and Liam were still taken aback. They hadn't truly met Arc yet, which still made them nervous.

After all, this was Heaven!

This was the very God of this world!

Yet, right now, he appeared just like a normal teenager as he laughed with Gravis.

At that time, Stella and Liam also noticed someone else near Arc.

He also had blonde hair, and he was rather tall. However, he only had two eyes in comparison to Arc.

What was surprising was that neither Stella nor Liam could feel his power. 

This meant that he was either a mortal or a powerful Immortal Emperor, and based on the aura of immortality around him, he was probably the latter.

That guy also noticed Stella and Liam, and his eyes focused on Stella.

"The Holy Maiden of the Nine Elements Sect," he commented dryly. "Who would have thought that you would ever appear here."

He shot a glance at the laughing Gravis. "Ever since he appeared, more unrelated beings have arrived in teacher's clearing."

"The world is changing."

"If it is for the better or for worse remains to be seen."

Stella and Liam felt that the words of this man were deeply profound.

"The fuck are you talking about?" Gravis asked as he turned to him.

This was the oldest brother in the clearing.

"Don't correlate some minor actions with a change in the world," Gravis said. "What, did you want to impress Stella with your words? Is that why you said that bullshit?"

The man looked with neutral eyes at Gravis. 

"Okay, then how about the fact that your actions have resulted in the deaths of around 15 Major Circulation Immortal Emperors?" he asked.

Stella and Liam took a deep breath through their teeth.

How many!?

What had happened in the world!?

"Hey, that's not my fault, alright?" Gravis answered with furrowed brows. "I'm only responsible for the death of one of them, which is the Ascender from the Nine Elements Sect."

The man blinked, unimpressed. "That might be true, but your presence has exacerbated the polluted mind of the Sect Master of the Nine Elements Sect."

Gravis groaned and rolled his eyes. 

"Excuse me," Stella said as she approached the man. "What has happened outside?"

The man looked at Stella, and Stella felt like he was able to see through all her secrets.

At that moment, she felt his power.

Sky!

It was like the sky!

His power encompassed everything as he looked down on the world!

Stella became shocked.

That person felt just as powerful as that root network!

Yet, she didn't know this person!

She had met nearly all of the Ancestors and Ascenders of the other Peak Sects, but she didn't recognize this man. 

However, he also felt distinctly human, which meant that he probably also was human. 

"After you left," the man said, "the Sect Master killed a Vice-Sect Master for being a spy of Underworld."

Stella and Liam became shocked yet again.

It couldn't have been Herius, which meant that it was the older Vice-Sect Master.

He was a spy!?

"After second brother killed that Ascender, the Sect Master of the Nine Elements Sect became enraged and gathered the entire Holy Guard to go to war with Underworld."

Stella gulped deeply.

That was bad!

"However, Underworld had already been warned, and eleven Holy Guards died before the Ancestor of the Nine Elements Sect became involved."

"The war ended, and with the glib tongue of the Ancestor, a cooperation between Underworld and the Nine Elements Sect had been achieved."

The man looked at Stella again. "By the way, that person that made your life so difficult in the Nine Elements Sect, the Sect Master, has been put under the effects of a Slave Ring. She will stay at the frontlines of the war against the beasts for the remainder of her natural life."

Stella looked towards the ground.

She wasn't sure how she should feel right now.

"She deserved it!" Liam interjected with some anger. "I would have wished for her death, but I guess this is the next best option."

Stella sighed. 

Liam was right, but there was also a certain feeling of loss in Stella's heart. Of course, she didn't mourn the loss of her cruel "aunt", but maybe the loss of the aunt she had known in the past.

In her heart, Stella still had held some hope that the kind aunt of her memories would return.

Sadly, she never did, and she never would in the future.

"All in all," the man said as he looked at Gravis. "I would say that's a job well done."

Gravis lifted an eyebrow. "I didn't hear any sarcasm."

"There wasn't any," the man said. "The loss of so many talented and powerful Cultivators is bad in the short run, but good in the long run."

"The humans have become too powerful recently, making it harder for the beasts to survive. This short war weakened the humans, which should give the beasts some time to recover."

"It also means that I don't have to get involved again," the man said.

Stella and Liam furrowed their brows. 

This man was talking like he wanted the beasts to win the war. 

Yet, wasn't he human?

Shouldn't the beasts be his enemies?

"I see your questioning gaze," the man said to Stella and Liam. 

"I do not want the beasts to win the war," he said.

"I want the war to continue."

"Why?" Stella asked.

Gravis already knew the answer. 

The fiercer the war, the better the Cultivators. 

"Because that's my job," he said.

"Your job?" Stella asked. "Who could give you a jo-"

And then, she looked at Arc.

Arc smiled and slightly waved at her.

"Hello~," he sang.

By now, Arc no longer appeared intimidating. 

In fact, he appeared very approachable, kind, and friendly.

"Why?" Stella asked. "Why would you want the war to continue? So many more people and beasts will die."

Stella realized that she had just asked an important and powerful question.

No one alive knew why the beasts and humans even fought. 

It had been like this for eons. 

Now, she had asked about the origin and reason for this war.

What was the answer?

What would Heaven say?

"Because I want to help people become powerful," Arc said directly. 

Silence.

"That's it?" Stella asked.

She had thought that there would be a deeper reason.

"Well, that's not everything," Arc said.

"It also brings some excitement into this world."

"And it's fun to watch."