Bo Wu continued looking around the place for a way out while Amon’s voice continued to bother him. He couldn’t find any. He tried striking and digging the walls and ceiling. An impenetrable force field prevented him from going any deeper than a few centimeters. This frustrated him. Amon’s incessant noise didn’t help the situation.

"For hell’s sake, I never pegged you to be this noisy and annoying," Bo Wu complained.

"Oh, now you know how I feel when you kept pestering me with your voice, eh?" Amon returned.

After walking around the cavern another time, Bo Wu finally gave up and sat on the large skeleton of an unknown beast.

Amon’s voice continued to sound inside his mind. "... Tell me, why do you wait so long before you decide to take over?"

"Because I need to grow beyond your power," Bo Wu answered.

"Oh." Amon stopped speaking when he heard Bo Wu responding.

Seeing that this actually shut Amon up, Bo Wu explained the details further. "When I was imprinted into your body, I was severely weakened. That was all Hai Di could accomplish since he was performing the procedure from a separate world. I was too weak to possess you. I must consume other beings to increase my strength. Unexpectedly, your cultivation speed is insanely fast. My growth could barely keep up with yours. If things were left as they were, I’m afraid I would never catch up to a state where I could overpower you."

"So, you needed to wait for the time when I was heavily wounded," Amon surmised.

Bo Wu nodded. "Your deduction is correct."

"I have been wounded severely in the past," Amon said.

"Not as severely as this. Without gaining a power that eclipses yours, I need you to be in a severe condition. The only other time that you were close to ideal for me to possess was when you were almost killed by Zhang Daofeng. Unfortunately, you have already consumed the Divine Immortal Growth Pill. Your recovery was too rapid to allow me the time to take over your body. This time, however, you are not only severely wounded physically, but your mind has also suffered a lingering injury from the snail beast’s mental assaults. I can see no better opportunity."

"Except for the fact of being trapped inside here," Amon added.

"Yeah, except that," Bo Wu agreed.

There was a brief moment of silence before Amon spoke again, "Tell you what. How about I help you get out of here?"

"Huh?" Bo Wu didn’t expect the offer.

He didn’t answer for a long time. Amon also remained quiet. It was so long that Bo Wu again thought that perhaps this was all but a trick of his own mind.

"Hello?" Bo Wu uttered.

"What hello? Do you want my help or not?" Amon asked.

"Are you sure you can help me?"

"I was not sure at first, but as I said, I have contemplated a lot about what had happened. I have a somewhat better understanding of the nature of that energy vortex above. If my guess is correct, I know why my body has survived the crossing."

"Really?" Bo Wu asked. Unlike Amon, he didn’t receive the full brunt of the damage when they crossed into this cavern. The pain Amon had to endure was a hundredfold compared to his. How could Amon remember or analyze anything throughout that pain? He tried to recollect when they were moving through the energy pathway. He couldn’t think of anything in particular aside from the fact that they completely lost control and could only surrender to fate.

"I also gain further understanding after looking at everything inside this cavern," Amon added.

"What’s so special about this cavern?" Bo Wu asked.

"I think this was the mythical place the people of the lower world call the ancient battleground."

"The ancient battleground..." Bo Wu was not unfamiliar with this term. He had heard it long before Amon heard it from Un Lao. He was, after all, also one of the denizens of the lower world.

"The ancient battleground is said to be the site where the rulers of the two realms battled one another. I find it hardly believable that powerful beings, such as they, battled inside this tiny cavern. This cavern would have lost its shape."

"The battle was many millennia ago. Who is to say the shape of this battleground is the same as then? No, I believe the mythical battle happened out there, right above the pit where we had the Worthiness Trial. The incredible pressure from the collision of their energies must have fallen to the ground and caused a collapse in time and space. It took everything within its vicinity and created this place."

"You mean..."

"This cavern was a real space, an underground cavern dug out by their energies, but at the same time, it was also a separate realm, a pocket dimension, that locked everything inside. Even if you can punch through this cavern’s wall, you can’t punch through the wall of the dimension."

Bo Wu understood what Amon said. His previous attempt to dig a way out supported Amon’s theory.

"That black vortex is the remnant of the energy that created this place," Amon continued. "It remains after so long. This shows how insanely powerful the beings who unleashed the energy that caused the occurrence were. The vortex is also the only gate connecting this pocket dimension to the real world."

"That all sounds fascinating. How will that help us?" Bo Wu asked.

"The myth mentioned that the two sides that fought were the ruler of the lower world and the ruler of the upper world. After experiencing the energies inside the vortex, I am inclined to believe that to be the truth..."

"Tch!" Bo Wu was annoyed. Amon kept explaining, yet ignoring his question.

"... That is because I sensed both the divine and infernal energies inside the vortex. Most likely, this place originally possessed a ley node of the darkness elements. A collision between the ley node and the energies from the two opposing cultivation paths triggered a bizarre phenomenon that birthed the energy vortex that kept this dimension locked. I managed to survive when passing through the vortex because I possess a unique combination of energies. I possessed both the divine and infernal cultivation. I also have the highest affinity with the darkness elements. This combination provides my body with the strongest resistance against the unique energies inside the vortex. Missing even one would have meant certain death."

"Fascinating," Bo Wu said sarcastically. "Now, why can’t I cross back out there with your body?" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"Because the door only flows in one direction. You must be strong enough to go against the flow. My body only helps you resist the damaging energies within the vortex. It doesn’t let you control it. Nevertheless, I feel like I have comprehended something after experiencing that intense vortex. I can’t put it into words."

"Like a law?" Bo Wu asked.

"As expected, you know about the law."

Bo Wu showed a face like he had let something slip, but he then shrugged and said, "So what if I know?"

"Heh, you kept feigning obliviousness when I asked you in the past. Are you willing to tell me about it now?"

"What good will it do you? Even if you learn about the law now, you can’t do anything with me in control of your body."

"Then there is no harm in telling me about it now, isn’t there?"

"Hehe. Very well. I will tell you, just because I pity you. Enticing you with something you can no longer have will be punishment for all those times you deny me my meals."

"Out with it, then," Amon said.

"Heh. Though I said I knew, it was only on the surface. I’m, after all, a spirit beast. We can’t access the law. Only a cultivator can. A cultivation law was an understanding of a topic on its most fundamental level. It only happens when one experiences ultimate enlightenment on that particular topic."

"What topic is available for a law?" Amon asked.

"Anything. The most common laws are the elemental laws. Those who have attained the law of an element can improve their arcane arts of that particular element to great heights, much greater even than one who has affinity to said elements. A law, however, can cover a broader range. There is no limit to it. Some possess the law on particular weapons. Those who possess the law of the sword can perform wonders when wielding a sword."

"Interesting," Amon uttered.

"One, however, can only possess one law," Bo Wu added. "If you have decided on a law, it will lock you out of attaining further laws, even if you attain another enlightenment."

"Really? But how does one refuse to comprehend a law? When you receive the enlightenment, won’t you immediately learn that law? Does that mean one does not have a choice in the law they learn?"

"Well, I’m not truly one who can say it for sure, considering I never experienced it, but I have heard from Hai Di that when one receives an enlightenment that leads to one acquiring a law, one will hear the voice of Heaven."

"The voice of Heaven?"

"Yes. A voice from Heaven, asking you if you are willing to receive a law."