Davis asked while Bolt Atlas shuddered as he sensed his body recovering. His injuries were rapidly healed. A few seconds later, he wondered what use the healing pill he had gifted was as he sat back down.
"No, it's my first time. I even forgot you were capable of using life energy after seeing you use chaos-destruction energy. As far as I know, no one has ever achieved the fusion of those two energies. It's absolutely scary… and the reason I wanted to fight with you and learn it no matter what."
Bolt Atlas wryly smiled, "But I now know I was daydreaming. Even a minute strand entering my pores blows my fingers away when reacting to the destruction energy. I would never be able to control it. I admit defeat."
Davis lightly nodded.
Even now, he was being viewed by many parties from a great distance. However, none of them were brave enough to be near him like Bolt Atlas did, so he was quite impressed. As for Bolt Atlas trying to learn chaos-destruction energy, Davis didn't care.
One, he knew the hurdles he had to cross in order to learn it. If many factors didn't converge, he would've never been able to comprehend it, and even if he had, his body would not accommodate it, and he would end up being destroyed. When chaos and destruction energy intertwine, it is more like self-destruction. Controlling it was purely impossible, but he had chanced upon that level due to many factors.
Two, he would like to see someone actually comprehend it so that he could learn more, as he knew making progress in this was going to be extremely difficult. Bolt Atlas was also forthright in his attitude, so he approved him.
"Honestly, I thought you were much more scarier. But after I saw you form an agreement with the Heaven's Warriors, I knew you could be reasoned with. Now, I'm convinced. Perhaps I should relay this to others so that they may see you without bias."
"Oh yeah?" Davis raised his brows, "You drank something I gave you. Everyone is going to think you are being controlled by me when you speak for me."
"What? Damn!"
Bolt Atlas held his head, appearing like he was screwed, making Davis control his laughter.
"Give up. It's impossible to make people see me in a good light. They're scared of what they don't have and scared of heights they can't reach. I'm more interested in hearing the life of a supreme genius. What sort of training do you all go through?"
"…" Bolt Atlas blinked. Was he being looked down upon for being weak?
"I have kids." Davis added, "I'd like to put through a similar regime so that they won't lose to the likes of you and your peers."
"Oh."
Bolt Atlas understood. He exhaled lightly, his shoulders relaxing as he saw the Divine Emperor of Death was not pressing him for any loyalty or anything, just curiosity. He smiled wryly.
"Life of a supreme genius, huh?" He folded his arms, his violet eyes glinting with a hint of reminiscence, "It's not as glamorous as people think. My Atlas Family is one of the majorly-major forces in the Upper Realms. We rule the Void Autarch Upper Realm, after all, but that status doesn't come without a price."
Davis remained silent, gesturing for him to continue.
"Since birth, I was subjected to the harshest training upon learning that my bloodline purity is high but not high enough. My blood, bones, and soul were refined with space-attribute resources. If I failed to meet my family's standards, they wouldn't have hesitated to discard me. Not kill me, but exile me from the main branch to fend for myself. No resources, no support."
His fingers trembled ever so lightly, as though recalling painful memories.
"But I thrived. Because I had to. The moment I awakened my innate talent in Space Laws, I was forced into battles with elders. There was little mercy and rarely any holding back. I was thrown into chaotic void storms within broken yet anchored space to comprehend the true nature of space. Once, they even sealed me in an unstable spatial pocket, waiting to see if I'd escape or be crushed into nothingness."
He let out a short laugh, "I almost died countless times before reaching my current level. But that's what it means to be a supreme genius in my family. We're honed like weapons, sharpened until we either shine or break."
Davis listened intently, his expression unreadable. But when Bolt Atlas mentioned exiling those who failed, his brows twitched.
"Hmm." Davis tapped his fingers against his crossed arms, "Sounds like a pain in the ass, but the results speak for themselves. You survived."
Bolt Atlas smirked, "More than survived. I conquered." His aura subtly flared, a confident gleam in his eyes, "Now, what about your kids? Are you planning to throw them into a death trap to make them stronger? I heard Divergents are ruthless to their families."
Davis chuckled, "I heard so too, but of course not. I don't treat my family badly. But I want them to experience struggle. Real struggle, not just spoon-fed knowledge and power. If they want to reach the top, they have to earn it, just like I did."
Bolt Atlas nodded in understanding, "Then they'll be strong, not just in cultivation but in willpower."
"…"
A moment of silence passed before Bolt Atlas stretched his shoulders, "Still, now that I think about it, my family might not be too happy that I fought you and failed to kill you and even sat to talk with you. If I go back, I'll probably be interrogated like crazy."
"They sure would. Your family sounds ruthless, after all." Davis shook his head, feeling some pity for Bolt Atlas.
He knew they would have Primarchs who could break his knees and make him spit out the truth when there was none.
Bolt Atlas chuckled dryly, "Actually, our family wasn't like this before. However, an ancestor literally bankrupted us and made us all quite ruthless and calculative in order to survive. At least, that was what I heard from my seniors. That ancestor is right now locked within the depths of our prisons, never to see the light of the day."
"Sounds interesting. What did they do to bankrupt an entire Upper Re-"
Davis's voice was suddenly caught in his throat, feeling like he had heard something like that before.
Suddenly, he couldn't help but smile deeply as he looked down before he returned his gaze.
"Haha. As expected of a supreme genius. There's rarely one without any ambition. You're honest, but you also have ulterior motives. Speak, what do you want to know?"
"…"
Bolt Atlas went stiffer. He knew he wouldn't be able to hide his motives from the Divine Emperor of Death, who could also use Enigmatic Heart Laws. But still, he thought he was able to conceal it well.
"In truth, the other reason why I approached you was because I wanted to know where the entrance to the First Haven World is in order to further my cultivation, but I wasn't able to ask since I was focused on battling with you."
"…" Davis nodded.
[
"My parents were strong immortals, but I was born a cripple, a disgrace who couldn't even cultivate. That's right. I was not born an immortal, much less inherited the talent my parents had. Yet, my parents still loved me, showering me with life-saving medicine to save my crippled body. It did not take much to keep me alive, but I wanted to prove to them that I was not a mistake, so I studied very hard and came up with a new cultivation method suitable to my crippled body after many years, birthing a vast inner space even when I reached the level of a Revolving Core Stage Cultivator."
"Because of what I did, my parents uplifted me, pouring countless resources into me like I was a bottomless pit. I was so happy, not realizing that the amount of resources poured into me could even push an Upper Realm into dire straits."
]
These were World Master's words when she told him about her origin. She didn't reveal who she was, but she said that her cultivation was like a bottomless pit and pushed an Upper Realm into dire straits.
He figured Bolt Atlas's ancestor might be one of her parents, and after Bolt Atlas mentioned the First Haven World, he practically confirmed it.
"So you know who the First Haven World Master is."
"Kind of. Not many know of her, and even I didn't know until I researched about you and chanced upon the other dangerous Anarchic Divergents. Those records were forbidden to read because of the karmic burden blurring the words and due to the disgrace it brought our family, but I was able to get my hands on them and learn about Ancestor Davina Hyluan Atlas, the being who was completely erased from the history of our family."
"…"
Davis had an indifferent expression, but countless thunderbolts rocked his soul, "Is that the First Haven World Master's name or her parent's name?"
"You don't know?"
Bolt Atlas looked dumbfounded.
Did he just reveal something he shouldn't have revealed to the Divine Emperor of Death?