Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis and Stella exchanged their love for a couple of hours.

After they were done, Gravis looked at Stella. "So, you want to help your boyfriend a bit in comprehending the element-neutral Law of Heat?" he asked.

Stella looked shocked. "What? No! Why would I want to spend more time with you!?"

Gravis was a bit taken aback for a second, but then he had to laugh.

"Okay, you got me. Your voice just sounded way too convincing," Gravis said between laughs.

Stella also giggled. "Of course I'll help you. Wherever you go is wherever I go. We are together. We are one."

Stella and Gravis left space and directly shot into the ground. 

After a while, they stopped at a depth that was still somewhat comfortable for Stella. The gravity and temperature around them had shot up to insane levels, but they weren't some new Cultivators. They could resist something like this easily.

Gravis sat down, and Stella plopped on his lap again with a cute giggle. 

Gravis also had to chuckle a little and then closed his eyes.

This time, Gravis felt like he was on a hot desert dune. There was red sand all around him as the sun ruthlessly bore down on him.

Stella was with Gravis, and she pulled him along.

Stella already knew the Law of Heat, and she would be Gravis' guide on this journey. 

Stella showed Gravis interesting things and demonstrated a lot of other things. Yet, she never explained anything. Explaining something was entirely different from showing someone the correct way.

If Stella explained the Law to Gravis, he would be able to understand it instantly, but that wouldn't grant him any experience in comprehending Laws. It was important that Gravis made all the important connections himself. 

They didn't even talk once. They simply traveled across the desert as Stella showed Gravis where they should go next.

Gravis simply followed with a smile as he looked at the magical world of Laws. 

Comprehending Laws had never been so much fun!

In the past, it was like the time for comprehending Laws didn't even exist. It was like Gravis just started and then was already done. 

But now, this process had become enjoyable with Stella. 

It was like a fun vacation with his lover, and everyone that had a healthy relationship enjoyed something like that.

Even more, the time spent comprehending Laws now felt relevant and important. The memories of the process no longer got erased but engraved themselves in Gravis' heart. 

The time also didn't feel short anymore.

Gravis now felt the full passage of time as he comprehended the Law of Heat, and he wouldn't want to have it any other way.

This was time spent with Stella, and Gravis cherished it.

Time passed as every day in the world of Laws felt like years. In the past, every year felt like seconds, but everything had changed now.

Eventually, Gravis had seen the entire desert, and Stella only smiled at him.

Gravis smiled back and looked at the desert in comprehension.

BOOOM!

Gravis comprehended the element-neutral level four Law of Heat!

Gravis smiled.

However, he didn't leave the world of Laws yet.

Instead, Gravis looked some more at this desert.

Something else was intriguing Gravis about this desert.

Gravis didn't know what it was, but he felt like he had seen something like this.

Gravis knew that this wasn't the Law of Temperatures. It was something else.

Yet, Gravis just couldn't put his finger on what it was.

'It feels like there is more here,' Gravis thought. 'Yet, that makes no sense. This entire world of Laws is only a visualization of the Law of Heat. This world actually doesn't truly exist. It's just the concepts of the Law converted into a visual medium.'

'I'm only looking at the Law of Heat, but why does it feel like there's more here? That shouldn't be possible.'

'Where have I seen something like this before?' Gravis thought.

Gravis' Spirit was racing as he tried to find the origin of this ethereal feeling.

Stella looked with confusion at him. What was up with him?

Gravis just kept looking. The feeling of familiarity had increased by now.

'I know exactly that I have seen something like this before!' Gravis thought as he furrowed his brows. 'I also know that it is of great significance. Yet, what is it? Where have I seen it before!?'

Gravis analyzed the desert around himself.

There was nothing.

There was only sand and heat, and even the sand was basically just heat.

Everything was heat. 

Silence stretched across the world of Laws.

Absolute silence.

There was no movement of air.

There was no movement of sand.

There was no movement of life.

Everything was simply… dead.

Gravis' eyes widened!

'The middle world!' Gravis thought in realization. 'Before I met the middle Heaven, after the entire world died, I saw a similar scene! Everything was dead, and the world had stopped!'

WROOOOOM!

Suddenly, the sky in the dead desert shook.

The blue, cloudless sky suddenly started moving like a shockwave had gone over the world.

Gravis turned his head, and what he saw took his breath away.

On the horizon of the world of the Law of Heat, a black wave was moving outward. It was like a black sun was rising from the east as its black light engulfed the world in a kind of darkness.

Yet, this darkness didn't feel like the darkness Element to Gravis.

It felt… different.

The darkness Element felt complex. It could hide things, engulf things, protect things, hurt things.

Yet, this darkness felt far simpler.

This darkness simply felt like the end.

There was no complexity about it. 

It was simply the end.

'What's going on!?' Gravis thought nervously. 'This entire world is only a visualization of the Law of Heat! Why would there be something else here!?'

Gravis looked transfixed at the horizon while Stella looked with confusion at him.

Then, she also looked in the direction Gravis was looking towards, but she saw nothing out of place.

This only confused her even more.

After some seconds, Gravis looked at Stella, and he noticed that she looked with confusion at him.

'She doesn't see it?' Gravis thought.

Gravis looked back at the black sun that was just below the horizon. 

It was impossible to not notice something like this.

'It feels familiar, somehow,' Gravis thought. 'Yet, it also feels different.'

'I need to check what this is!'

In the world of Laws, Gravis was suddenly charging towards the direction of the black sun. This world didn't really exist, and because of that, no rules applied.

Gravis flew faster than any Divine God in this surreal dream of a world.

Yet, no matter how far he flew, he didn't come closer to the black sun.

It was still just below the horizon.

Gravis looked back and saw Stella beside him.

Distance was irrelevant in such a surreal world. After all, it didn't really exist.

'Is it actually physical distance?' Gravis thought.

Gravis shot Stella a look and vanished from the world of Laws.

In the higher world, Gravis was opening his eyes, and Stella also opened hers.

"What's wrong?" Stella asked. 

Gravis turned his head to the east.

"It's still there," Gravis said. "I can still feel it."

"Gravis, what's going on? You're worrying me!" Stella said with a serious voice.

Gravis told her what he had seen just now, and Stella also fell into thought.

"I've never heard of anything quite like it," she said. "I've learned a lot about history in the Nine Elements Sect, but I've never heard even something similar."

Gravis remained silent for a while as his brows furrowed.

"I feel like it's calling to me," Gravis said.

"Calling you?" Stella asked.

Gravis nodded.

"I want to see what it is," he said.

Stella had a worried look in her eyes, but there shouldn't be many things in this world that could threaten them. By now, Stella knew much more about the background of the world, thanks to Gravis' story and meeting Arc. 

Such a thing shouldn't be something that a Cultivator can do, even the most powerful ones in this world.

Only something or someone like Arc would be able to create something so mystical.

Yet, this couldn't come from Arc. After all, if Arc wanted something, he would simply call Gravis and directly tell him. Stella didn't think that Arc liked acting all mystical.

However, just after Gravis stood up, he stopped.

"This feels too weird," Gravis said with furrowed brows. "All of this feels unnatural."

Gravis scratched his chin in thought.

"I think instead of charging headlong into something like this, I should ask Arc," Gravis said.

Stella released a breath and nodded. "Yes, that sounds for the better."

"Arc, something happened," Gravis said.

"Oh? What's up?" Arc answered directly into Gravis' mind.

"Have you heard my previous conversation?" Gravis asked.

"Nah, I have better things to do. Why? Something the matter?" Arc asked with a cheerful voice.

Gravis explained to Arc what he had experienced.

When Gravis was done, Arc remained silent for several seconds.

This immediately made Gravis furrow his brows.

Arc knew the entire world like the back of his hand. Being silent meant that one was thinking. 

Yet, what was there to think about? Arc knew everything about his world!

SHING!

Suddenly, Arc appeared in the underground room beside Gravis.

Gravis and Stella raised their eyebrows.

This was the first time that they had seen Arc leave his clearing.

He had always been in his clearing the entire time. 

Yet, this time, he left it.

"I think I know what's going on," Arc said with furrowed brows. His voice sounded serious.

"Bring me to it," Arc said. "You don't need to worry. I won't let anything happen to you during this journey."

Gravis blinked a couple of times. "What do you mean with bring you to it? Can't you see the entire world?"

"I can, but if my guess is right, I can't see it," Arc said. "Only you can see it, and I need you to guide me to it."

"What do you mean with that only I can see it!?" Gravis asked. "This is your world!"

"Yes, this is my world," Arc said, "but even if I can control everything in this world, my world still resides in my creator's cosmos, and my creator's cosmos still resides in the Primordial Chaos. The rules of my creator's cosmos still influence my world, and the rules of the Primordial Chaos influence my creator's cosmos."

"It's the same thing as actual luck," Arc said. "My creator knows Karmic Luck, but the actual concept of luck is too ethereal. Yet, luck still exists. This is simply something that exists in the Primordial Chaos, and we just have to deal with its existence."

This was the first time that Gravis had heard of something like this.

"Bring me to it," Arc said again with a serious tone.

Gravis nodded with a bit of confusion. "Sure, it's towards the east."

SHING!

The three of them immediately teleported.

Gravis' and Stella's Spirits shook a little.

That teleportation must have been insanely far! The spatial displacement affected even them!

They also noticed that the Energy density had dropped considerably. In fact, it was even lower than the Energy density in the territory of the Sect Alliance.

"Further to the east?" Arc asked.

Gravis shook his head a bit to clear his mind and concentrated on that peculiar feeling.

"Yes."

SHING!

Another insane spatial displacement. 

By now, the Energy density was just as low as in a lower world.

"Where now?" Arc asked.

"A bit to the south-east."

SHING!

This spiel repeated itself many more times until they finally stopped.

"I think we are above it," Gravis said as he looked down. 

Gravis felt like the thing that was calling to him was just below him. Yet, he still couldn't see it.

Arc nodded.

SHING!

The three of them shot towards the ground and passed through it at ridiculous speeds. 

Arc was essentially making them non-existent to the world. Not even the gravity and heat were affecting them.

"Stop!" Gravis said.

Arc stopped, and Gravis felt like he was very close to it. 

Just a bit further to the east.

They weren't really that deep in the earth, less than 100,000 kilometers deep, in fact.

Gravis moved forward a bit under the worried gaze of Stella. Arc was staying close to him.

After some seconds, the three of them entered a ten-meter-wide underground cave.

Stella saw nothing.

There was just a cave.

Arc also looked around with narrowed eyes.

Yet, he also saw nothing.

Then, Arc looked at Gravis and saw that Gravis was looking transfixed at the middle of the cave.

"Can you see it?" Arc asked.

Gravis nodded as he couldn't avert his eyes.

"Yes, I can see it."

"What does it look like?" Arc asked.

…

Meanwhile, in the highest world, the Opposer was looking at what Gravis was doing with furrowed brows.

He could also see it.

"Are you fine with this?" the Opposer asked.

Silence.

"Are you still unsure of your decision?" the Opposer asked.

Silence.

"Are you that confident in yourself?"

Silence.

"Fine, it's your cosmos. I'm not bailing you out if you screw up." the Opposer said.