Lightning Is the Only Way

Stella thought about Arc's answer.

Fun to watch?

That obviously wasn't enough reason to keep this war going, but his first reason was already a pretty good one.

The war truly helped Cultivators to become more powerful.

Yet, Stella had expected more.

This reason felt a bit... simple.

Some seconds of silence passed.

"Gravis," the man said suddenly.

Gravis was a bit surprised that this illustrious senior brother wanted something from him.

"Yes?"

"Everyone in the world thinks that you are a beast, and you have been declared an enemy of humanity," the man said.

Stella felt like a heavy punch had hit her.

This was all because of her.

She knew what it meant to be the enemy of all of humanity.

Gravis could never show himself in the human territories again.

And why?

It was all because of her!

If she had been stronger, Gravis wouldn't have needed to save her!

"Okay," Gravis said without surprise. "So?"

Stella and Liam were surprised that Gravis was taking this development so well.

However, after thinking about what they have heard from Gravis' past, this really didn't seem to be that bad in comparison.

"Didn't you have some grand plan?" the man asked.

"Yes, but it seems like I can't go through with it now," Gravis said. "It requires the cooperation of at least one Peak Sect."

"If that's all, then you can still proceed with your plan," the man said.

Stella, Liam, and Gravis were all confused.

Didn't this man just say that Gravis was the enemy of humanity? How would any Peak Sect dare to cooperate with him?

"And which Sect would cooperate with me now?" Gravis asked.

"My Sect," the man said.

The three of them looked with surprise at this person.

His Sect?

So, this mysterious person was part of a Peak Sect!

Stella quickly went through all the different Ancestors and Ascenders she had met in the past.

None of them fit this person.

However, there was one Peak Sect that Stella had never gone to.

"The Purist Sect," Stella said.

The man nodded. 

"I'm the Ancestor of the Purist Sect," he said.

The Purist Sect.

The Purist Sect was always very isolated and xenophobic. They didn't allow anyone to enter their territory, and they rarely talked with the other Peak Sects.

The Purist Sect nearly never involved itself with human affairs.

The other four Peak Sects wanted to get the cooperation of the Purist Sect. After all, the other four were working together very closely, while the Purist Sect only did their own thing.

Sadly, no matter what they did, the Purist Sect wouldn't talk or cooperate with the other Peak Sects as long as it didn't involve something of massive importance.

It even went so far that the Highest Commander of humanity didn't control the eastern front.

The only thing that the Purist Sect did was to take care of the eastern front and both of their adjacent rivers. 

Even the strategic maps in the important command centers of humanity just had the eastern quarter of the world blackened out. 

There was no point in looking at the eastern front.

The Purist Sect was easily dealing with the beasts, and from what humanity was able to extrapolate by several clues regarding the beasts' movements, the Purist Sect was doing an outstanding job.

From what humanity saw, the eastern front was basically the most stable front out of all of them.

The Purist Sect even had enough leftover forces to completely control their adjacent rivers.

Even the Primordial Force Sect to the west couldn't deal with both of their rivers. 

Yet, the Purist Sect did it easily.

The Purist Sect almost seemed mysterious and otherworldly.

One had to remember that it definitely wasn't easy to deal with the beasts.

After all, a Peak Sect wasn't enough.

60% of the human forces fighting at the frontline directly belonged to the Human Alliance. Only the remaining 40% were made up of the various Sects.

Yet, the eastern front was handled entirely by the Purist Sect.

This was also the main reason why the Human Alliance didn't force their cooperation on the Purist Sect.

They didn't want to provoke a sleeping giant.

Just let it sleep and do its job.

"Wait," Gravis said. "So, the Purist Sect would be willing to support my plan?"

"Yes," the man said.

"But wouldn't my location be leaked? Even if the Purist Sect is very isolated, some people are bound to have heard of me and might report it to the other Peak Sects. At that point, they will demand the Purist Sect to hand me over."

"I don't think that you would be willing to offend four Peak Sects just so that my plan works," Gravis said.

"You're right," the Ancestor of the Purist Sect said. "I wouldn't."

Gravis blinked a couple of times.

"Then, why do you offer to help?"

"Because no one will notice you," the man said.

Gravis' brows furrowed in skepticism. "And how's that supposed to work? I need to be in contact with humans constantly."

"Yes, but I can choose which humans you come into contact with," the man said. 

Gravis' eyes shone. "So, the Purist Sect is willing to be an intermediary for me?"

"No," the man said.

Gravis blinked a couple of times in surprise.

"Could you maybe talk in full sentences? Do you always need me to ask for clarification before you explain more?" Gravis asked with annoyance.

The man looked evenly at Gravis.

"Underworld will act as an intermediary," he said.

"Wait, what?" Gravis asked. "Can you even speak for Underworld in this matter?"

"Yes, because I'm also the leader of Underworld."

Silence.

Stella and Liam felt like their reality was crumbling.

The disease of humanity, Underworld, was actually being led by the Purist Sect!?

A Peak Sect was Underworld!?

"That's not possible," Stella interjected. "If Underworld is part of the Purist Sect, this secret would have long since been exposed."

"No," the man said.

"Underworld is mainly a mercenary organization and trading hub. It is spread over the entirety of the world. Only the headquarters are in the Purist Sect."

"The leadership of Underworld is the leadership of the Purist Sect."

"The elders and disciples don't know about the connection."

Stella and Liam had long gotten used to becoming shocked today.

One of the most hidden secrets of the world, the location of Underworld's headquarters, had just been exposed in front of them.

Underworld's headquarters was actually at the very center of the Purist Sect.

No wonder no one had ever been able to release the secret of Underworld's location!

If someone powerful wanted to hurt Underworld, they would immediately be teleported into the very center of the Purist Sect.

Not only would an entire Peak Sect surround them, but even the entire eastern continent would become their enemy!

This also explained why Underworld had never been eradicated before.

If the humans wanted to eradicate Underworld, they would need to eradicate the Purist Sect!

Could they even survive such a loss?

The beasts would immediately overwhelm humanity after such an insane conflict!

"Why are you telling us this?" Liam asked. "Aren't you afraid that we might leak this secret?"

"No," the man said.

"What makes you so sure?" Liam asked.

"Because Underworld's job is to weaken humanity so that they don't overwhelm the beasts."

Liam and Stella took a deep breath.

"Without Underworld, humanity will eventually overwhelm the beasts, and that will weaken the future potential of this world severely."

"This concerns the very future and purpose of this world, and its creator won't just look on as his world is being destroyed," the man finished.

Liam looked over at Arc.

Arc winked at him.

Liam's body shivered.

"So, do you accept?" the man asked Gravis.

Gravis scratched his chin.

"Yes, I think I will," he said.

"Good," the man said with a nod. "Your actions will help the Purist Sect and Underworld to become stronger, which, in turn, will help us to keep the war going."

Gravis nodded. "Yep."

"Do you want to talk about the details right now?" the man asked.

Gravis looked at Stella.

"No, not right now," Gravis said.

"I have time now, and I want to talk to someone else first."

"Fine," the man said. "You can ask teacher to contact me when you're ready."

SHING!

And the man was gone.

Gravis also hadn't known about these things, and he looked at Arc.

"So, you have Quasi-Heavenborn," Gravis said.

Arc chuckled a bit. "Kind of."

"How many know of your real identity?" Gravis asked.

"Everyone that's currently present, Exar, and Narcissus," Arc said.

"I guess Exar was that guy just now?" Gravis asked.

Arc nodded.

"How powerful is Exar?" Gravis asked.

"He's not bad," Arc answered. "He's without a doubt the most powerful being in this world besides me, obviously."

Then, Arc sighed.

"Sadly, he must leave in the next 50,000 years. His longevity is running out."

"It's actually rather sad. If there were Star Gods in this world, Exar would be able to fight them equally, giving him another 200,000 years in this world."

Gravis' eyes shone.

"I guess that's a three-level jump, right?" Gravis asked.

Arc nodded. "Yes. Exar has reached the limit of Battle-Strength with a normal, human constitution that is realistically achievable with an Immortal Emperor's longevity."

Gravis nodded.

After that, Stella and Liam also talked to Arc for a while.

Their nervousness had completely vanished by now as they talked to Arc as friends.

Arc had an amazing ability to put people at ease.

After some hours, Stella went over to Gravis nervously.

Gravis also looked nervously at Stella.

"Can we talk somewhere private?" she asked.

Gravis' heart began beating rapidly.

"Sure."