Chapter 1274 - – Aftermath
After Zero's Essence left, Gravis released a heavy sigh and vanished into the underground again.
The Peak Sects were still searching for Gravis, and Gravis couldn't remain here now that Zero's Essence had left.
Heavenly Senior only smiled before he also teleported away.
They would soon get another Heaven's Magnate.
Two Heaven's Magnates only a million years apart.
It was great!
Heavenly Senior saw the power of change Gravis had, and he pushed that power even further.
With his actions, a new Heaven's Magnate had been created.
How many Heaven's Magnates could claim such an achievement?
Child of Heaven also left since the war was over.
Now, only the Elders and soldiers of the Mortal Sect, Eternity Sect, and Dusk Wind Sect were left.
It was still hard to wrap their head around the monumental changes that had taken place.
They had already known that today would be a big day. After all, the Lightning Peak Sect had died today.
Yet, the changes had been even more consequential than that.
A new Heaven's Magnate had been born.
The Mortal Sect had lost their Vice-Sect Masters, their Sect Master, and their Ancestor, essentially making them headless. The strongest surviving members of the Mortal Sect were the Elders.
The other Sects would ruthlessly suppress the Mortal Sect until they would lose nearly all their Law Comprehension Areas and God Stone mines.
Yet, as long as their Core Plant remained, the Mortal Sect wouldn't vanish.
They knew that they would have to undergo a long period of suppression and humiliation, but eventually, they would return.
The surviving members of the Mortal Sect looked at each other with discomfort and solemnity. They knew what was waiting for them, and they didn't look forward to it.
The surviving Elders decided to close the Mortal Sect's borders.
They had to concentrate on recovering, and they had to put their everything into creating a new Sect Master and Ancestor.
Everyone knew that this would take a long time.
The Dusk Wind Sect had reclaimed their name, and they had eradicated their fated enemy. Their Sect Master had died, but the two Vice-Sect Masters and the Ancestor were still alive. After all, they hadn't been at the frontlines.
The members of the Dusk Wind Sect returned to their Sect and told the Vice-Sect Masters what had happened.
The Vice-Sect Masters contacted the Ancestor, and they all talked for a long time.
In the end, it was decided that this outcome was better than having done nothing.
They had reclaimed their honor and their ancestral name. Sure, the Sect Master had died, but the Ancestor could lead the Sect until one of the two Vice-Sect Masters became powerful enough to become the Sect Master.
On top of that, they had gained a massive number of God Stone mines and Law Comprehension Areas by eradicating the Lightning Peak Sect.
They had received a heavy hit with the death of their Sect Master, but their foundation hadn't been damaged, and they had expanded a lot.
The Dusk Wind Sect would soon rise.
The Eternity Sect had lost one of their Vice-Sect Masters, and they had lost an insane amount of wealth by paying off the True Life Sect.
However, they had it the easiest.
Their Sect Master and their Ancestor were still alive, and they still had a second Vice-Sect Master.
As long as another Sect didn't declare an extermination war on them, they wouldn't even truly feel the absence of their Vice-Sect Master.
They gained a huge amount of territory, which made everything worth it.
The Eternity Sect knew that they would quickly give rise to a new Vice-Sect Master and another one after that with these new resources.
The Eternity Sect would rise!
The True Life Sect hadn't lost anything but had gained an unreal amount of wealth from the Eternity Sect. With a smile, they snuggled up to the Heavenly Divine Sect and strengthened their bond.
In the past, due to the Heavenly Divine Sect's power, their faction had had the advantage in power. After all, the Lost Wind Sect, the Mortality Sect, and the Eternity Sect couldn't deal with the Heavenly Divine Sect, the True Life Sect, and the Lightning Peak Sect at the same time.
However, with the Lightning Peak Sect gone, the other faction now had one more Peak Sect on their side.
The Heavenly Divine Sect was about as powerful as two Peak Sects, and the True Life Sect was an average Peak Sect.
So, at this moment, the two factions were of similar power for the first time in a long while.
The Heavenly Divine Sect could deal with the loss of the Lightning Peak Sect, but they wouldn't be able to deal with the loss of the True Life Sect.
The two Sects were now intrinsically connected, and their survival depended on each other.
Additionally, since the Heavenly Divine Sect and the True Life Sect hadn't lost anything in the war, they could steal some of the territories of the former Lightning Peak Sect.
They had lost their political advantage, but their inherent power had profited greatly.
Additionally, the Heavenly Divine Sect now finally had an actually dangerous opponent, and they could take the war seriously.
The Twilight Council also hadn't been involved. The only thing they would do was to claim some of the fringe territories of the destroyed Lightning Peak Sect, giving them a bit of wealth in the process.
So, all in all, what was the aftermath for all the Sects?
One Peak Sect had been destroyed, leaving six.
The Dusk Wind Sect was fine with the outcome.
The Twilight Council was fine with the outcome.
The Heavenly Divine Sect liked the outcome very much.
The True Life Sect liked the outcome very much.
The Eternity Sect liked the outcome very much.
Only the Mortal Sect hated the outcome.
What was the new status of all the remaining Peak Sects?
The Dusk Wind Sect and the Eternity Sect would aggressively expand and grow.
The Twilight Council, the Heavenly Divine Sect, and the True Life Sect would slightly expand.
The Mortal Sect would vanish from the eyes of the world and slowly recover.
Today, a Peak Sect had been destroyed, and the entire dynamic of the world had changed.
Gravis and Mortis returned to comprehending the Law of Heavenly Fire, and the Heaven's Magnates continued doing whatever they were doing.
And Zero's Essence?
"You've made the right choice," the Opposer said as he looked at his daughter.
Zero's Essence didn't answer and only released a sigh. After teleporting away, she had broken through to the Heaven's Magnate Realm and had come home.
The Opposer and the Economistress had proclaimed their pride in their daughter.
Zero's Essence was their first child that had ever managed to reach the Heaven's Magnate Realm.
"Is it the right choice?" Zero's Essence asked with furrowed brows. "Only you have ever managed to escape Heaven's control to this degree. Yet, you are still somewhat under its suppression."
"I sacrificed my perceived freedom and autonomy for a chance at true freedom in the future. Yet, does this chance even exist? If not even you can reach true freedom, how can I reach it?"
"I have sacrificed my own perceived freedom for a chance of true freedom that's infinitely close to zero."
"Was it truly the right choice?" she asked herself and the Opposer at the same time.
The Opposer only drank some of his coffee.
"It was the right choice," he repeated.
Zero's Essence looked at her father uncertainly.
"If it had been at any other point in time in the past, your decision would have been the incorrect one," the Opposer said. "However, you have reached the Heaven's Magnate Realm at the best time in history."
"The world is about to change."
"The entire Cosmos is about to change."
"Rules you take for granted will be abolished, and new rules will come into place."
"The eternal and unchanging fate of all the Cultivators in this Cosmos will be changed for the first time."
"Not even I know exactly what's going to happen. I only know approximately which direction it will take, but I can't foresee the exact result."
"There are still too many unknowns to make a concrete judgment."
"However, one thing is for sure. Everything will soon change."
Zero's Essence looked at her father in shock and a bit of nervousness.
If her father was taking things this seriously, it meant that truly the entire Cosmos would change.
But what was going to happen?
What would bring this change?
Was it her father?
"We only have to wait for him," the Opposer said as he looked in a certain direction.
Zero's Essence didn't follow her father's perception, but she subconsciously knew whom the Opposer was referring to.
"It all depends on him?" she asked.
The Opposer nodded.
"It all depends on Gravis."
"He will decide what will happen to us all."