Lightning Is the Only Way

"Oh, lookie here. Look who's come out of his cave to join the family," Meadow said as Gravis walked closer to her and Narcissus.

At the moment, Meadow and Narcissus were staying under the Heavenly Divine Sect. The Core Plant had allowed them to stay here for the time being, but it had also made clear that it wouldn't give up its spot. At some point, the two of them would have to leave.

Of course, Meadow and Narcissus had planned that anyway. Plants on that level didn't need to fight anymore. After all, plants didn't have Will-Auras. The only things they needed were Laws and some combat experience.

There was no reason to fight the Core Plant of the Heavenly Divine Sect over its spot. They could literally go anywhere else.

Surprisingly, Gravis didn't clap back at Meadow. Instead, he only looked at her with concern. "Is everything alright with you two? A lot of our friends have died."

"Aw, look! He's worried about us. How cute," Meadow answered with a ridiculing sneer. "What? You think that I'm some baby that can't handle some death? Death is normal. So what if some people died?"

Gravis also looked at Narcissus, who didn't answer.

When Gravis saw their Law fragments, he realized once again that plants were very different from humans and beasts.

Meadow said she didn't care about the death of so many of their friends.

Was that the truth?

Yes, it was the truth.

Plants were mostly devoid of empathy. Yes, Meadow had enjoyed being around everyone, but that joy had no added feelings of companionship or closeness.

Having someone close to Meadow die wasn't much different from just saying goodbye to a person she had met on a trip. She had enjoyed their company, and they had laughed a lot, but after the person left, she wouldn't drop into grief.

It was just normal.

Hello and goodbye.

Sure, she couldn't have more fun with the dead person anymore, but that wasn't so bad. It sucked to some degree, but it wasn't hard to accept the change.

That also wouldn't change if Narcissus died. Meadow and Narcissus simply stayed together since they were useful to each other. They would both fight together, which meant that they both were safer than if they were alone.

Having children? It was just a fun side-activity.

When they both reached the Peak Divine God Realm, they would also split up. After all, it wouldn't make much sense to stay together after that.

This cold feeling of uncaring apathy would turn away many people, but that was just how plants were.

They loved having fun, but they would never bond with anyone.

It was simply impossible for them.

Gravis knew that, but he still enjoyed being in Meadow's company. He knew that Meadow had no close connection to him from her side, but that wasn't actually important. Gravis had chosen to have her as his friend.

"That's good," Gravis said. "You're at the seventh level of the Divine God Realm now. Seems like you are basically already completely safe in this world since the Heaven's Magnates won't attack you."

"I don't take chances," Narcissus commented evenly.

Silence.

"What are you living for?" Gravis asked after a while.

This question came to Gravis after he saw their Law fragments. Gravis wanted to be alive to feel love, happiness, and freedom. He wanted to see more of the world, and he wanted to spend time with his loved ones. He also wanted to become more powerful.

Yet, for plants, everything was different.

They didn't care about love.

They didn't care about friendship.

They didn't care about freedom as long as it didn't interfere with their survival.

They basically cared about nothing but staying alive.

In Gravis' mind, that seemed pointless and aimless. It was like they were living for literally nothing.

That was why Gravis had asked the question.

"Life," Narcissus answered.

"Life?" Gravis asked.

"Yes, life," Narcissus repeated. "The purpose of life is a circle at its fundamentals. Those who want to survive, survive, and those who don't want to survive don't survive. Therefore, every living being wants to survive. After all, all the ones that didn't care about life aren't alive."

"You are alive because you want to be alive. If you didn't, you would simply disperse into Energy. Friendship, love, power, vanity, all of these things are additional purposes. On the fundamentals, you are simply alive because you want to be alive."

"I am alive because I want to be alive, and I want to be alive because I am alive," Narcissus explained.

The concept was very abstract, but Gravis understood Narcissus' reasoning.

"So, you only want to stay alive because you are already alive?" Gravis asked.

"Correct," Narcissus answered.

"What if you died?" Gravis asked.

"Then I will be dead," Narcissus answered.

"Would that bother you?"

"No," Narcissus answered. "When I am dead, I can't feel. Therefore, I also can't be bothered by anything."

"Then, why stay alive?" Gravis asked. "After all, dying doesn't bother you."

"Because I want to," Narcissus answered.

"That's it?" Gravis asked.

"I don't want to repeat myself needlessly. I explained it enough times to you," Narcissus said before becoming quiet.

Gravis remained silent as he thought about Narcissus' words.

"Is that also true for you, Meadow?" he asked.

"Of course," Meadow answered confidently.

She didn't clarify any further.

'Staying alive because you want to,' Gravis thought. 'It's rather ironic. Plants can't comprehend the Law of Freedom. Yet, their very existence is rooted in the Law of Freedom.'

'Of course, I also want to stay alive because I want to, but I want to stay alive because of many different reasons. I rely on these other reasons to fuel my desire to survive, but plants don't need that.'

'They simply live because they are alive.'

'It's so incredibly simple, yet so incredibly robust and strong. Humans and beasts can lose their desire to stay alive, but plants can't.'

'I wonder, is the ability to choose death also a part of freedom?'

'If I can choose wanting to die, would that mean I have more freedom?'

'Yet, my desire to choose death would come from my other goals vanishing and being destroyed. Would it even be my choice at that point?'

Gravis knew a lot of powerful Laws, and he had gained incredible insights into the truth of the Cosmos.

The plants couldn't comprehend the Laws of Perceived Reality, but their existence is rooted very deeply in them.

In order to stay alive, plants desired control and safety.

Plants avoided danger.

Plants also avoided suppression most of the time since suppression was often accompanied by danger and a lack of control.

And freedom? The very reason for their survival was based on freedom.

The plants were created with all the Laws, just like every other living being.

Yet, they couldn't interact or interface with one of the major categories.

In the end, it all boiled down to one thing.

The plants couldn't interact with the Laws of Perceived Reality because Orthar had designed them that way.

Orthar mainly focused on humans since he had given them a Spirit and a Will-Aura. These two things were important for Orthar's power since he could borrow the Spirits and Will-Auras from his Cosmos and unleash them on the outside.

Initially, beasts were designed as fodder for humans, but throwing away the very talented beasts would also be a waste of resources. The weaker beasts were destined to be fodder for humans, while the truly talented beasts reached the same importance as humans.

And plants were there to support both humans and beasts. Plants were not interested in killing others for tempering, and they only wanted to become more powerful. Then, the plants would create Law Comprehension Life Fruits, which they would exchange.

Without the Core Plants, all the Peak Divine Gods in the Peak Sects would only have half of their Laws. After all, they relied a lot on the Law Comprehension Life Fruits of the Core Plants. Without them, it would become much harder to comprehend level nine Laws.

Orthar took away the plants' ability to comprehend the Laws of Perceived Reality to stop them from searching for more power. A Spirit was also important to comprehending these Laws.

Yet, if they had a Spirit, the plants would need to battle to increase their Will-Aura, which would kill unripe crops for Orthar. At that point, the plants would just join the beasts and humans.

So, it was better to have them as a support to beasts and humans.

Gravis threw one last look at Meadow and Narcissus.

They were level seven Divine Gods now, and they weren't worried about anything anymore.

They didn't need to stay hidden.

If they wanted, they could leave the Heavenly Divine Sect and could go wherever they wanted.

The Cultivation world no longer bothered them.

Narcissus and Meadow had essentially reached their goal.

From now on, they would simply continue living until their longevity ran out.

Meadow and Narcissus had survived, and they had reached the end.

They were on the top of the world now.

Their journey to the top had ended because they had reached it.