The wind howled through the trees to lay the mood over the forest. a calamity had dawned upon their planet and even the trees and moss could sense the change brewing in its depths. Mori had reclaimed the items to their storage bags before he left to walk amongst the clanking trees. their silvery metallic brush making a light chime in the brutal winds that threatened to tear them down. but they stood tall an impervious bulwark that relented to none. though he found most of the items to be absolute garbage, considering his current situation he decided it was best to keep them. "Who knows they might end up being useful I know that the spirit stones at the least will be quite helpful."
As he wandered he soon came across a cliff face that seemed to reach up to strike the sky. "This will do for now, I need to prepare thoroughly before I can even think about going out, there should be a sect nearby. hopefully they will be cooperative rather than try and get in my way as their disciple has though he is most likely an exception." as he was muttering to himself he pulled out a sage spirit stones from the dead man's pouch and began struggling to carve runes on its surface. it felt like carving granite with a butter knife. After realizing he was going to be here a while he sat cross legged in the grass as he slowly scratched away a formation on the spirit Stone itself. though not a typical method using his extensive knowledge in the arts. Even though his spiritual sea was destroyed and his memory and thoughts were hazy with a bit of focus he could at least remember how to make most of them which was more than enough for his applications.
As the sun started to set he finally scratched the last score into the spirit Stone as it whirled to life. Suddenly a jet of blue green flame shot from the top of the spirit Stone. with his new tool in hand he proceeded to spend the next 2 days tunneling into the cliffside. finally after he dug out his new abode he scratched a simple illusion formation into the much softer stone with the carving tool. after he placed a few spirit stones on it the formation let out a large cloud of mist that seemed to take the shape of the stone around it to mask the entrance of the cave. Without his spiritual sea just carving those 2 simpler formations had drained the life out of him as his head felt like it had Been struck with a jackhammer." Damit I knew mortals had a tough time with runes but to think it's so difficult without any cultivation at all. exhausted over 2 lousy formations, GAhh!" he held his head in his hand trying to soothe the pain before allowing himself to finally rest now that he was safe.
His eyes fluttered shut as a small smile crested upon his lips as his mind drifted off into its wild dreams. He tried to not think about it but no matter how hard he tried her face still took hold of his mind in its passing, fleeting glances. his memories were shrouded in a haze the only clear moment in his mind the image of her body disappearing from his arms, her existence fading away like flower petals in the wind. it was a bittersweet smile that reminded him of all he had fought to protect and everything that he had lost.
He awoke to a single tear that fell down his face that he wiped away without much thought. what's done was done and there was only one thing for him left to do. 'I must move forward' his mind churned with conviction as he knew the only way to achieve his goals was to use every card in his deck and use every trick in the book to not only return to his place but strive beyond it to overcome the heavens themselves. "Well first things first I need a plan," sitting on the bare rock below him a few thoughts ran through his head but in the end he came to one conclusion "I need new spirit roots." he said to himself but he continued to think," no not just new roots I need better roots, even greater than the 7 branch abyssal roots I possessed before." He recalled his previous roots before they were destroyed. black as night coated in a luster of a myriad of colors that allowed him to channel the 5 base elements as well as yin and yang. "even if they did pass the supreme rank I'll need something even stronger to even have a hope of surpassing my previous self." There was a sour look on his face as he thought about a solution before a wonderful idea struck from the recess of his mind he had almost forgotten forever ago. "ah what if?" his voice seemed to pause before a devilish smile crept upon his face. " if the limits of regular spirit roots is not enough what about an artificial root. I remember long ago there was an old foggy that had tried to push the limits of cultivation, he had proposed that if done without fault one could create a stable gravity root that allowed one to touch upon the laws of gravity without ever needing to learn the dao of gravity. If I remember correctly he had almost done it. but when he tried to implant it in himself he suffered a massive recoil and died soon after."He paused for a moment to think." But that was over 10,000 years ago but who knows if it is possible ?" His face held a look of suspicion and disbelief in his own thought. Back then he thought it would be impossible but now it was his only shot. without roots stronger than his 7 branch abyssal root there would be no chance he could ever think to challenge heaven directly. "Either way it's impossible for me at the moment so let us focus on the other major problem, my merderains are completely torn to shreds let alone the lump of coal that is my dantain."He stopped for a moment to contemplate. "I mean even if I can carve out new merderains there's no assurance I can even fix or replace it, let alone gain new spiritual roots." For now he spent the day thinking while theorizing a solution to his conundrum.