Gravis returned to the Nine Elements Sect with his new emblem in his Spirit Space. 'This should make things easier.'

After arriving near the Nine Elements Sect again, Gravis contacted the bartender. "The trade has been finished. Thank you again for the discount," he transmitted.

"Nice to do business with you," the bartender answered. "Let's hope this isn't the last time Underworld comes into contact with you."

"Oh, I don't think this will be the last time," Gravis answered. "Trading with you is much easier than trading with the Peak Sects."

Gravis and the bartender exchanged some pleasantries until Gravis was finally ready to enter the Nine Elements Sect.

Gravis took a deep breath. 'It's been over 40,000 years. I hope that situation from back then is in the past. I'm still uncertain if Stella is willing to travel with me, but I hope she will.'

To be honest, Gravis was quite nervous. Stella had already taken up an irreplaceable space in his heart, and he would feel horrible if she rejected him. Gravis was only this nervous when he was about to fight someone extremely powerful.

'I wonder how strong you have become. I have only focused on level four Laws for these years. You probably already know more level five Laws than I. How powerful has your Will-Aura become? Which Realm have you reached?' Gravis thought.

Gravis wanted to see Stella immediately, but he couldn't. Stella was probably inside the core palace, and he couldn't look inside without risking his life. It was better to go the official way.

Gravis came to the main entrance of the Nine Elements Sect and kept his Law of Perceived Reality active. It was important that no one noticed the beast crystals. It was risky, but Gravis had a couple of assurances if things went south. He didn't come here unprepared. He knew exactly how dangerous coming here was for him.

Gravis landed in front of the main entrance and looked at a Peak Immortal that stood guard there.

As Gravis walked up to the guard, the guard looked at Gravis with furrowed brows. He couldn't feel Gravis' Realm, which meant that he was an Immortal King.

"Halt!" the guard shouted. However, his shout also sounded not as forceful as one might think. There was some politeness hidden behind it. "What brings you to the Nine Elements Sect?" he asked.

The guard knew that Gravis wasn't one of these disciples that wanted to take part in the entrance exams. After all, this was an Immortal King.

"Hello," Gravis said politely with a smile. Then, he summoned Stella's emblem. "I'm here to meet a friend. This is her emblem."

The guard looked at the emblem and took a deep breath.

This was the emblem of the Holy Maiden!

This was an important guest!

"Please wait here. I need to ask an Elder for permission since this is beyond my authority," the guard said politely.

The people waiting outside saw how respectful the guard was and became shocked. This same guard had treated them like they didn't exist, but he was so humble in front of this young man. Who was this young man?

The guard stretched out his hand to ask for the emblem, and Gravis put it into his hand.

Then, the guard flew into the Sect. Teleportation was blocked inside the Nine Elements Sect. After all, it would be devastating if an enemy army teleported right into the middle of their Sect.

While the guard flew away, a second guard replaced him at the gate. The second guard only stood at the gate stoically while waiting for the first one to come back.

The first guard flew for a couple of seconds until he arrived in front of an elder.

The elder had the appearance of a young man with blonde hair, but that didn't mean that he was young. After all, Cultivators could control their looks.

"Greetings, elder," the guard said with a bow.

"What is it?" the elder asked neutrally.

The guard showed the emblem to the elder, and he inspected it. After a while, his eyebrows furrowed as he took the emblem.

"Who gave this to you?" he asked.

"An Immortal King is standing outside the gate. He said that he is here to meet a friend. He showed this emblem as proof," the guard reported.

The elder nodded. "The Holy Maiden has forbidden anyone from visiting, regardless of who they are," the elder said. "Tell him that and thank him for returning the token to us."

The guard looked with an uncertain expression at the elder. "But elder, isn't this token-"

"Are you disobeying an order?" the elder asked coldly.

The guard shook in fear. "No, of course not! I will do as you commanded," the guard said with a bow.

"Good, then go," the elder said coldly.

The guard quickly left and flew back to the entrance.

Then, he looked at Gravis, who only looked at him with a neutral expression. The guard really didn't want to do this, but these were his orders.

"I'm sorry, but the Holy Maiden doesn't accept any visitors right now. However, we are thanking you deeply for returning the token to us," the guard said.

Gravis' expression remained neutral. Obviously, he had heard everything that had been said.

However, he couldn't let them know.

Deep inside, Gravis became furious. If Stella truly didn't want to meet anyone, the token would have been returned to him. However, they kept the token.

Something was going on.

Either the elder was corrupt, or something happened to Stella.

However, what was Gravis supposed to do?

The only proof of his identity as Stella's friend had been taken from him.

"Is there a way to meet the Holy Maiden?" Gravis asked calmly.

The guard was surprised that Gravis remained this calm. Didn't Gravis realize what had just happened? Did he believe that he could return anytime soon?

"You can join the Sect," the guard said without certainty. "You can probably see her from time to time if you are lucky."

"Is there another way?" Gravis asked.

The guard became more nervous.

There was one other way, but the guard was certain that the elder wouldn't want him to inform Gravis of it.

"I'm sorry, but there is no other way," the guard said.

Gravis furrowed his brows.

That was troublesome.

However, some seconds later, a voice transmission arrived, but it wasn't from the guard.

It was from another guard.

"In 350 years, there will be a grand tournament," the unknown guard transmitted to Gravis. "The prize is a chance to meet the Holy Maiden and ask for her hand."

Gravis' expression didn't change, but he nodded at the guard in front of him. Obviously, this was meant for the hidden guard.

After that, Gravis turned around and left.

The elder couldn't check the contents of voice transmissions, but he could probably feel the fluctuations of a voice transmission as long as the Realm of the sender was much lower than his.

Gravis was certain that the guard in front of him had asked one of his friends for help to inform Gravis. Like this, the elder would only be able to see that the guard spoke with one of his colleagues.

The guard was quite smart.

After teleporting a couple of times, Gravis narrowed his eyes coldly.

'This is beyond suspicious,' Gravis thought. 'First, an elder is intercepting my request to see Stella, and now there is suddenly a tournament with a chance to marry Stella as a prize. Something is definitely going on.'

'This means that the elder isn't corrupt, but that the Sect is suppressing Stella. The death of her teacher has probably severely affected Stella's standing. Someone else that had some beef with Stella's teacher has probably taken over, and they intend to get rid of Stella in a covert manner.'

'They're probably planning to force her to marry some genius from another Peak Sect to strengthen their alliance. Stella would then probably leave for the other Sect. Like this, the Nine Elements Sect would get some incredible benefits while freeing up the spot for the Holy Maiden.'

'Stella would never do something like this, which means that she is forced. Even more, this might not even have been the first time. It's very possible that this has happened before, but she was able to postpone it.'

Gravis quickly listened in on a couple of conversations in the Cultivation Towns, and sure enough, after some minutes, Gravis found out some interesting information.

'So that's how!' Gravis thought. 'These tournaments have happened before, but Stella said that she would only marry someone that has a greater Battle-Strength than her. The other Peak Sects have not sent their truly supreme geniuses, which allowed Stella to win every fight against every suitor. The supreme geniuses are probably not interested in a partner.'

Gravis' eyes shone coldly. 'However, how long will that keep going? How long until a truly powerful disciple appears? How long until the Nine Elements Sect will weaken Stella with some poison? At some point, they will run out of patience.'

'From what I've heard, Stella is a Peak Immortal King right now. She probably had to rush her Cultivation so that no other Immortal King has the Realm advantage over her.'

Gravis sneered. 'However, the Nine Elements Sect made a horrible mistake. They even allowed the public to enter the tournament. People would think that the Nine Elements Sect is so generous that they would even allow an unknown Cultivator to have a chance to receive the Holy Maiden's hand.'

'Of course, they know exactly that no free Cultivator could keep up with the resources, Weapon Techniques, and Laws of the other Peak Sects. This is only a publicity stunt.'

Gravis' eyes narrowed. 'Nine Elements Sect, you have disappointed me. Sure enough, you're not different from the Sect Alliance. Politics, vanity, deceit. Nothing of value.'

Gravis turned back to the Nine Elements Sect with rage.

'A tournament where only Immortal Kings can enter?'

'That's not even a challenge.'

'And in the future, I will sort you out, Nine Elements Sect. I'll kill whomever is behind these orders!'