Lightning Is the Only Way

So, Gravis and Mortis began to fly in a random direction, searching for anything that could be converted into money.

The extremely hard ore this deep in the earth couldn't be used. First of all, it was hard but brittle. At best, it could be used for buildings. Additionally, this kind of ore was scattered all across the world at this depth, making the supply endless. The Peak Sects had already squeezed all the money out of this kind of ore.

Fortunately, thanks to their Elemental Synchronicity, getting through the ore wasn't harder than flying through air. They could even teleport.

Only very powerful Divine Gods could survive in such a depth. Additionally, not many of those existed. On top of that, their Spirit Sense would be suppressed by a significant degree by the gravity.

Because of that, the two of them were safe at such a depth.

Yet, there also wasn't anything valuable at such a depth.

So, the two of them charged in a random direction for around 20 years, and then, they slowly surfaced a bit.

They remained at a depth where only Late-Stage Ancestral Gods could survive, but thanks to their unsuppressed Spirit Sense, they could also see the area where only Mid-Stage Ancestral Gods could survive.

Some valuables could be found here.

However, the highest world was still far too gigantic, and the valuable places were rare.

After a century of searching, the two of them only found two tiny clusters of ore, and they weren't even that valuable.

Since they knew the True Law of Hard Complex Materials, they knew what kind of ore this was and how much it was worth.

They made about 50,000 God Stones.

In a hundred years.

That was essentially nothing.

However, they simply didn't have any other option, so they continued.

Twenty years later, they found another tiny cluster of ore.

Then, they found another one.

Then-

"Stop!" Mortis transmitted to Gravis.

"What's going on?" Gravis asked Mortis. Mortis had always traveled at the front in his intangible form as security.

"Roots," Mortis answered.

"Roots? There's a plant?" Gravis asked.

"Yes, and the roots don't seem to end at this depth. I think this is a Divine God plant," Mortis answered.

"A Divine God plant?" Gravis asked in shock. "Where the hell are we?"

"Probably near a Peak Sect. I don't think that normal Sects have Divine God plants."

"Wait," Gravis said. "So, we randomly just entered the headquarters of a Peak Sect?"

"I mean, searching blindly for valuables is luck-based, and you know our luck," Mortis answered.

Gravis took a deep breath.

If Mortis hadn't been at the front as insurance, Gravis wouldn't have seen the plant before it saw him.

And then, the plant would have simply captured or killed Gravis.

"That fucking luck again," Gravis commented with frustration. "Can I get a fucking break for once?"

"Also, how come we didn't find even a single Formation Array?"

"I guess the Peak Sects don't build Formation Arrays that far down," Mortis answered.

"Possible," Gravis answered. "Anyway, we should leave."

Mortis didn't answer.

"I think we can do something here," Mortis answered.

"Hm?" Gravis asked.

"What do you think about Samsara?" Mortis asked.

Gravis only snorted. "Dude, do you have any idea how long that plant must have lived? Additionally, it has been surrounded by thousands of Cultivators every second of its life. One Samsara will probably stretch for hundreds of millions of years, maybe even a billion years."

"I'm not going to survive that."

"Are you sure about that?" Mortis asked.

"What, you think I will survive a billion years of Samsara?" Gravis asked with a sneer.

"No, that's not what I meant," Mortis answered. "You have created Samsara with Minor Law of Perceived Reality as a basis, but now, you know the True Law of Perceived Reality."

"In my opinion, being pulled into your own attack sounds like a disadvantage and an imperfect usage of the concept."

"So, by that logic, shouldn't there be a way to transform Samsara into an attack that only pulls your enemy into it?" Mortis suggested.

Gravis furrowed his brows as he scratched his chin in thought.

"You know, that actually makes sense. You want to try? However, it should take a while until I'm done with creating the attack."

"Sure, I don't mind," Mortis answered. "You simply go further down and create your attack in peace. I will simply search for more stuff in the meantime."

Gravis nodded. "Alright, let's try."

Gravis went deeper underground while Mortis left.

Then, Gravis focused on Samsara and combined it with the True Law of Perceived Reality.

This was a Weapon Technique that combined peak-rank Laws, and it would take a long time to refine the technique.

Time stretched on and on as Gravis completely focused on his attack, and eventually, he finished it.

It took him 50,000 years.

When Gravis was done, he called Mortis back. Mortis had only found about a million God Stones worth of stuff, which was still essentially nothing for their current Realm.

"So, how do we test it?" Gravis asked. "Theoretically, I shouldn't be pulled into Samsara again, but I'm not certain. If I use it on the plant, I might actually die."

"Try it on me," Mortis said.

Gravis lifted an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"I've already gone through far longer Samsaras, and my conviction is incomparably stable. Additionally, we haven't lived for that long, and my Samsara should only take around three to five million years."

Gravis scratched the back of his head. "Alright, but I will only use the new base-version. I won't add all the extra Battle-Laws that increase the damage of Samsara."

Mortis nodded.

Then, Gravis took out his saber and loaded it with his new Samsara.

Gravis slashed his saber towards Mortis, and Samsara hit Mortis.

Gravis looked with interest at Mortis, and his excitement reached a new height when he saw Mortis lose his balance.

Gravis hadn't been pulled into his new Samsara!

It worked!

"Are you alright, Mortis?" Gravis asked.

Mortis appeared quite shocked by the whole ordeal. Sure, Samsara was powerful, but Gravis hadn't thought that Mortis would be that distraught.

"Samsara changed," Mortis said.

"In what sense?" Gravis asked.

"It now also includes my own perception, and it comes first. I felt all the feelings I have felt back then, and I even relived that part where my old version has killed himself."

"It was a dark place."

"Luckily, I knew what Samsara was there for, and I knew that my life would become far better, which allowed me to pull through."

Mortis took a deep breath.

"I underestimated Samsara," he said.

Gravis felt guilty when he heard Mortis' recounting of the events. "Sorry," he said.

"It's fine," Mortis answered. "All of this has reaffirmed my conviction to continue on my path, and it was necessary to test the new version."

Gravis nodded. "Alright. So, should I test it on the plant?"

"I'll do it," Mortis said. "It will notice you if you come close. I will simply take a pre-loaded Samsara from you, close in, become tangible, and use it. It's risky, but I think it should be worth the risk. You go down as far as you can. I will join you later."

"Okay," Gravis said. Then, he loaded another saber with Samsara and handed it to Mortis. Mortis couldn't create Samsara himself since he was made of Heavenly Lightning, which would interfere with Samsara.

Then, Gravis went as far down as he could.

Eventually, he reached the World Barrier.

Gravis had also been at the World Barrier in the higher world, so this wasn't anything new to him.

This was the silver wall that protected the Cosmos from the Primordial Chaos.

Only Heaven's Magnates could survive at this depth.

When Mortis saw that Gravis was at a safe place, he slowly closed in on the plant from deep below the ground, at the deepest part of its roots.

Its roots reached the depth where only Mid-Stage Divine Gods could survive, but it could probably stretch even further into the ground.

This plant was truly powerful, and it had probably lived for over 50 million years!

It was more ancient than any non-plant Divine God.

This plant was the core of a Peak Sect. Without this plant, the Peak Sect would find it incredibly difficult to keep up with the growth of other Peak Sects.

Every Peak Sect needed a powerful plant.

When Mortis reached the lowest part of the plant's roots, he readied himself mentally.

Then, he became tangible and immediately unleashed Samsara.