Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis exited Arc's clearing and traveled to the Nine Elements Sect. Since he had become quite a bit stronger, he finished the journey in just a couple of days. Even more, Gravis no longer needed to avoid any gatherings of Cultivators.

Yes, cities and important locations had beast crystals, but as long as Gravis kept his Law of Perceived Reality active in his surroundings, no one would notice if the beast crystals shone. Gravis couldn't control the beast crystals, but he could control the perception of everyone around them.

How many beasts straight up entered a big city?

Nearly none.

These beast crystals only existed as a precaution, but they very rarely started shining. After all, nearly all the beasts would be killed on the frontlines. 

Because of that, nobody really paid attention to the beast crystals. As soon as they started shining, they could pay attention to them, but as long as they remained inactive, nobody cared. Thus, Gravis could easily influence everyone's perception. As long as no Immortal Emperor looked with intense concentration at the beast crystals, constantly questioning their own perception, he wouldn't be spotted. 

And Immortal Emperors probably had better things to do.

So, after just a couple of days, Gravis arrived in front of the Nine Elements Sect.

For the first time, Gravis actually saw the headquarters of the Nine Elements Sect, and it was just as impressive as he had imagined.

The different, luxurious buildings of the Sect shone in all the different colors and were built on different, flying mountains. The mountains were anchored to the ground by gigantic chains several kilometers wide. These chains had been created with Immortal Emperor materials, which would elicit respect out of anyone that saw them.

Every inch was bursting with Formation Arrays that created a beautiful array of colors that shone throughout all the Sect and surroundings. 

However, that was not the most impressive thing.

Around the Nine Elements Sect were nine Law Comprehension Areas, each one corresponding to one of the pure level three Elements. Even more surprising was the fact that a ton of weaker Cultivators stood inside the Law Comprehension Areas, comprehending the Laws. There weren't even any guards, and these people had no insignia from the Nine Elements Sect.

This meant that anyone was free to just look at them if they wanted. They were basically public property.

Obviously, such a concentrated area with different Law Comprehension Areas couldn't have possibly been created by nature. This meant that all these Law Comprehension Areas were artificial.

'Heavy floating mountains, chains that are created with way too powerful materials, a ton of Formation Arrays just to make the surroundings look more beautiful, and nine Law Comprehension Areas close to each other that everyone can look at. The Nine Elements Sect is oozing money, power, and pride,' Gravis thought.

'What a waste of Energy,' Gravis thought with a sigh and a shake of his head. 'They are probably burning through a million Immortal Stones per day just to keep everything going. However, none of these things actually increase their defense. It's simply a display of vanity.'

As soon as Gravis saw the Nine Elements Sect, his impression of them fell several levels. 

Didn't they know that all of this was unnecessary? 

Only weak people filled with vanity would be interested in these kinds of displays.

'Although this display would attract a lot of new disciples. Even if these new disciples were mentally weak, the Nine Elements Sect could fix their mindset.'

Gravis furrowed his brows. 'Yet, I doubt that they would do that. The Law Comprehension Areas would already be enough, but they even have these Formation Arrays. Even worse are the chains. None of these weak people would even recognize the materials of the chains. In this world where humans are going crazy for materials, this Sect is wasting so many of them just to display power.'

'These chains could simply be broken down and sold to the powerful elders, increasing their power even more. This means that someone in the upper echelon doesn't want these chains to vanish. They are either one of the most powerful people in the Sect or a ton of people with high standing.'

'This Sect is definitely not a wonderland. The more they want to appear like a wonderland, the more obvious it is that this isn't one,' Gravis thought.

'Stella probably had to deal with a ton of people in her life that put respect above everything else. Such a beautiful woman like Stella probably had to deal with many suitors that just oozed prestige and money. Yet, Stella is obviously not interested in these kinds of people.'

Gravis took out the emblem that Stella had given to him before they parted ways. This emblem would ensure that they would be able to meet again.

After all, not everyone could see the Holy Maiden of the Nine Elements Sect. 

Gravis' Spirit Sense encompassed the entire Nine Elements Sect. This was incredibly rude and invasive, but no one noticed. The Law of Perceived Reality also hid Gravis' Spirit Sense. 

Of course, Gravis was still cautious. If his Spirit Sense touched a Major Circulation Immortal Emperor, they might notice him. Because of that, Gravis didn't stretch his Spirit Sense into the core palace of the Nine Elements Sect. 

Gravis found a lot of Cultivators that had gathered in front of the main entrance of the Sect. Their Cultivation ranged from Unity to the Law Comprehension Realm. This was probably an area where new disciples could register for the entrance exams of the Nine Elements Sect. 

Surprisingly, there were fewer Cultivators of these Realms inside the Sect than outside the main entrance. This showed that the Nine Elements Sect only accepted the best of the best. Over 99% of these disciples would probably be disqualified. 

Even more surprising was the fact that the Nine Elements Sect had more Immortals and Immortal Kings in their Sect than all the lower Cultivators inside and outside the Sect combined. It was practically teeming with Immortals and Immortal Kings.

'Judging by the number of Immortals and Immortal Kings, Immortals are probably average disciples while Immortal Kings count as elite disciples. I can even see a couple Immortal Emperors, and many of them are dealing with a ton of organization. Immortal Emperors are probably the elders and basic decision-makers of the Nine Elements Sect.'

After that, Gravis inspected the Formation Arrays. Most of them were only there to make the Sect appear grander, but there were also actually useful ones.

Gravis didn't know much about Formation Arrays, but as soon as the Formation Arrays became active, they gave off Law fluctuations. Gravis knew a ton of Laws, and based on these Law fluctuations, he could extrapolate what these Formation Arrays were roughly doing. 

'Interesting,' Gravis thought. 'One of these Formation Arrays stops the usage of every kind of teleportation, including emblems.'

Gravis took out his emblem from Arc and inspected it.

'Sure enough, not even the Nine Elements Sect can do anything against the Heaven of this world. My emblem still works.'

'Pretty sure Arc made this emblem with the level six Law of Space, which has been integrated into the Major Law of Primordial Force, which has been integrated into the Law of the Dead World, which has been integrated into the Law of the True World. This basically gives this emblem a power of a level eight Law. Even more, if Arc has the Law of the True World as his Avatar, this emblem would actually have the power of a level nine Law.'

Gravis took a deep breath. 'Level nine Law. I just barely comprehended two level five Laws, and I'm holding something in my hand with the power of a level nine Law.'

'Arc sure is unimaginably powerful. Level nine Laws should be Laws that Divine Gods are comprehending.'

Gravis also found something else.

No one could look into the Nine Elements Sect with their Spirit Sense. However, Gravis' Spirit Sense was working with the Law of Perceived Reality, and the Law of Perceived Reality had the Law of Freedom inside it. Therefore, his Spirit Sense wasn't impeded in any way. Gravis just didn't want to look into the core of the Nine Elements Sect.

However, Gravis found something very peculiar outside the Nine Elements Sect.

A couple thousand kilometers in front of the Nine Elements Sect, inside a small Cultivation town, Gravis saw the house of a Nascent Nourishing Realm Cultivator.

This house didn't seem different from any other house, and it acted as a tavern. 

However, when Gravis' Spirit Sense entered the house, the bartender showed a tiny reaction to Gravis' Spirit Sense. 

Usually, feeling the Spirit Sense of anyone wasn't really special. Everyone could do it.

However, Gravis was the only one that knew that he had hidden his Spirit Sense. This meant that the person that felt his Spirit Sense wasn't aware of the fact that he wasn't supposed to feel the Spirit Sense. 

So, he reacted like any Cultivator and just looked at Gravis for a short moment to see who was looking at him.

Gravis furrowed his brows.

This was obviously a Nascent Nourishing Cultivator. Everything about him was on that level.

However, only Major Circulation Immortal Emperors were supposed to be able to feel Gravis' Spirit Sense, and even more, only when they paid close attention. 

The bartender perfectly acted like an ordinary Cultivator, but precisely that told Gravis that he wasn't an ordinary Cultivator.

'This is a Major Circulation Immortal Emperor that hides just outside the Nine Elements Sect as a Nascent Nourishing Cultivator. He probably knows the Law of Humility, just like Siral. This is the only explanation I can come up with for his ability to hide from my inspection.'

As soon as Gravis saw the bartender react, he didn't dare to inspect the underground of his tavern. Looking into the bar was expected, but if someone of comparable power also lived below the bar, Gravis' power would be noticed. 

'I can only think of one reason for all of this,' Gravis thought.

'This is an important location for Underworld.'