Gravis went back to Stella, and he decided to spend a long time with her and his friends.
Gravis had about 8.5 million years of longevity left in the Divine God Realm, and he wouldn't waste it.
This was his life.
This was the life that he had always wanted to achieve.
It wasn't the perfect iteration of his goal, but it was very close.
He could spend as much time with Stella as he wanted.
He could spend as much time with his friends as he wanted.
He could spend as much time with his family as he wanted.
Gravis' freedom hadn't been this complete before.
However, in the end, it still wasn't complete.
His father was still suffering every day from his own Cosmos.
The survival of his friends still hinged on Orthar's rules.
And in the end, Gravis' longevity also had a limit as long as he remained inside Orthar's Cosmos.
So, even though Gravis had essentially achieved what he had always dreamed of achieving, the finality of his future still hung over him.
Gravis tried to distract himself from his future.
The closer he got, the worse he felt.
This should be a great time for Gravis.
Yet, it wasn't as great as the previous times.
After a million years, Gravis and all his loved ones had forged an unbreakable bond.
Instead of a person that appeared and disappeared, Gravis had become a constant in all their lives.
This was what everyone had wished for.
Life couldn't be any better.
Another million years passed.
Then, another million years.
Gravis felt like he was living in a dream.
It was like all of this wasn't real, and deep inside, Gravis knew that it truly wasn't real.
The future hung over Gravis, and the older he got, the more his vision focused on it.
Yet, everyone else lived their lives to their fullest.
Yersi had found another partner she was interested in. Surprisingly, it was a young Ancestral God.
When they had met, they had argued about Yersi's choice of ingredients, but as the argument progressed, the two of them realized that the other side wasn't actually that ignorant.
In the end, they began talking about other things, and eventually, they ended up together.
The young Ancestral God was still working hard on becoming a Divine God. After all, he wanted to stay with Yersi for her entire life.
Yersi had lived a very long time in Opposer City, and right now, it felt to her like she had always lived here. After all, she had lived here for most of her life by now.
Her past life as a Cultivator felt so distant.
Manuel had continued to focus on becoming a Heaven's Magnate. By now, he knew two level ten Laws, which was very impressive for someone only a bit more than eight million years old.
Manuel had split from the Heavenly Divine Sect, and he created a new Sect.
Meadow came with him.
Meadow became the Core Plant of Manuel's new Sect.
Thanks to his power, Manuel had decided to assume the mantle of Ancestor of the new Sect.
Who was the Sect Master?
Orpheus.
Orpheus had also grown very powerful, and he had comprehended nearly two level ten Laws.
Lina had also joined Manuel's Sect, but she only barely knew a single level ten Law, which was why she had become a Vice-Sect Master.
Manuel had created an entirely new Peak Sect, and he called it the Myriad Sect.
Why not?
They had used that name previously, and Manuel still found it very good.
His Sect wasn't focusing on anything in particular anyway.
There were also a couple of other Sects that were slowly gaining enough power to become Peak Sects.
The Heavenly Divine Sect had the power to suppress all of these Sects, but they didn't want to. After all, they needed enemies and competition to become more powerful. Destroying their future enemies early would literally be damaging themselves.
Azure was still focusing on finishing the Laws of Perceived Reality and the Laws of Emotions.
She knew several Emotional Laws, but not all of the True Emotional Laws. Additionally, she was still missing the Law of Control.
Meanwhile, Stella had already comprehended the Law of the True World. She had already known the Law of Sentience when Gravis had returned, and it hadn't taken her much time to learn the remaining Laws of Perceived Reality.
The Life Laws and the Laws of the Dead World came from Gravis.
Gravis and Stella could become Heaven's Magnates whenever they wanted.
As for Narcissus, nobody knew where he was. He was probably sitting in some isolated location, just living.
He was just living.
That was enough for him.
Arc had also essentially vanished, but Gravis could still contact him whenever he wanted. Arc was simply traveling around the world, doing whatever he wanted.
Being in the highest world was like a vacation for Arc.
Then, another million years passed.
Nothing much had changed during that time. Everyone was essentially still doing the same things.
A lot of time had passed for everyone, but for Gravis, it felt like not much time had passed.
This was the effect of the many Samsaras Gravis had been through and of the finality of his future.
When Gravis realized that he was approaching his ten millionth birthday, he felt like it wasn't real.
Ten million years.
It didn't feel that long.
It felt like, just moments ago, Gravis had the entirety longevity of the Divine God Realm left.
Ten million years.
That was so long!
But now, Gravis had already gone through half of his remaining longevity in the Divine God Realm.
Five of the ten million years had passed.
Gravis looked back at the time he had spent with Stella and everyone else, and he realized that it hadn't been as great as he had always imagined it to be.
And he knew why.
The future was pressing heavily down on his shoulders, and it stopped him from enjoying his current life.
"How much longer are you going to wait?" Stella asked from behind of Gravis with a sigh.
"I still have five million years left," he said.
"And what's the use of these five million years?" Stella asked with concern. "Gravis, we have the deepest connection imaginable. I can feel that you are not happy."
Gravis took a deep breath and released it, but he didn't answer.
"Gravis, you can't wait forever. The sooner you put your worries to rest, the sooner you can begin to live."
"Mortis has already become a Heaven's Magnate over three million years ago. Do you want to let him wait for that long?"
After a while of silence, Gravis turned around and deeply embraced Stella.
Some time later, they parted.
"Fine," Gravis said with a bitter smile. "I'll become a Heaven's Magnate soon."
The two of them spent the last day together, and then Gravis teleported away to become a Heaven's Magnate.
After Gravis left, tears appeared in Stella's eyes.
She didn't know what exactly it was that made Gravis worry this much, but she could feel his emotions.
She could feel all the emotions Gravis felt, and she felt incredibly hurt whenever she felt them.
It felt like Gravis was slowly walking to his death.