Birth of the Demonic Sword

The arrival of Noah's pursuers was a strange sight that the cultivators inside the Hellish Landscape couldn't help but notice. It wasn't odd for experts to enter the separate dimension in groups. Still, it was rare for so many assets without an apparent organization to join forces as soon as their exploration began.

However, no guard could stop them since they all had cards and tokens that stated their position inside various organizations. Some of them had even worked for multiple forces, so their credentials allowed them to avoid the mansion without meeting any troubles.

Tracking cultivators inside the Hellish Landscape was quite hard, especially if they left the safe areas. The massive fires that made most of that separate dimension could destroy traces and leftovers of auras in seconds.

Still, individualities could take countless shapes, and some of them allowed cultivators to find fellow experts without the need for any trace. In some rare cases, a few existences could even divine the position of their targets.

The team of pursuers contained some of Noah's old acquaintances. Zach and Gil from the Crystal City were there, but they wore robes that didn't expose their affiliation to that organization. The guild that was protecting the library in Vagona city was also there.

Other smaller guilds and organizations had joined the hunt due to the bounty on Noah's head, but their members didn't feel in control of the situation while working together with those teams. It wasn't even a matter of influence of their forces. The presence of two liquid stage cultivators put those groups instantly in charge of the chase.

Noah had met only one of those liquid stage experts, and she was wearing a disguise to avoid linking her identity to her guild. Chief Ash from the guards of the library in Vagona city was among the hunting group.

The other liquid stage expert had never interacted with Noah, but she had been close to meet him in the forest ruled by the Twelve-legged Queen. She was Lady Lena from the Crystal City, and she was also wearing a disguise to protect her organization.

The cultivators in the gaseous stage could avoid hiding their identities since they weren't worthy of recognition. The Immortal Lands had countless experts at the beginning of the divine ranks, so they weren't famous enough to need a thorough disguise.

Instead, the two liquid stage experts had already surpassed the masses of nameless divine existences. Their cultivation level spoke for their talent. They had already proven that they could strive for the higher ranks, and that gave them some fame.

Those who witnessed the arrival of that hunting group didn't link the event to Noah. No one would believe that a team that featured two liquid stage experts would go after a single gaseous stage cultivator.

Of course, they didn't know all the facts. Noah had already deeply offended the Crystal City, and Chief Ash's team had personal motives to join the hunts.

Moreover, Noah's identity as a hybrid had forced those experts to take the hunt seriously. Not even Fergie had been able to foresee that they would have sent liquid stage cultivators after him.

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Noah continued to dive through the dense scarlet flames, unaware that dozens of cultivators were already searching for him.

The environment remained the same for entire hours. Flames filled Noah's vision and enveloped his body, and their power slowly increased as he ventured deeper into the separate dimension.

Noah had to use a few tunnels at some point. Flames with power in the middle tier had begun to appear in his path, so he had to fly toward a few safe areas to continue his descent.

The tunnels among the sea of flames featured countless guards and a few structures belonging to the various organizations. Noah only needed to show his green card to avoid the entrance fee, but his worries lingered elsewhere.

His green card carried his name. Noah had to leave traces if he wanted to reach deeper parts of the separate dimension.

Noah couldn't avoid that, but he took advantage of that unfavorable situation to purchase maps about the Hellish Landscape. Cultivators rarely visited the shops in those areas, so he quickly found a structure that didn't feature any line.

'Where should I go?' Noah thought as he continued to follow the tunnel while studying the map.

Except for the endless lands made of fire, the Hellish Landscape had a few regions that featured solid ground. Different dying wishes had clashed on those spots and had given birth to strange environments devoid of flames.

Noah didn't want to leave the fires. His hybrid status made him more resilient than every cultivator, so he preferred to fight in an environment that could wear out his opponents.

Still, he also wanted something that wouldn't benefit cultivators with a fire aptitude too much. The messier the environment, the better it was for him since he could adapt to any situation.

'This seems interesting,' Noah thought when he read the description of a mark in a deeper part of the separate dimension.

The Hellish Landscape was immense. Its regions featured countless magical beasts, and their power would increase with the depth. The same wasn't true for the flames since they would weaken whenever they clashed with a different dying wish.

Noah's target was among one of the regions that could contain magical beasts in the eighth rank. That place's name was Rumbling Region, and it featured the inheritance of a rank 8 existence with a lightning aptitude.

According to the map, the lightning bolts shooting out of the inheritance had created a landmass. They had clashed with the flames for millennia and given birth to a peculiar region. That place even had a different fauna and flora from the rest of the Hellish Landscape.

The flames there had power at the peak of the middle tier, but the magical plants in the area fed on them and weakened their might. Noah read that the surface had multiple large areas where the fire barely crossed the halfway mark of the lower tier in terms of strength.

The map gave Noah a detailed description of the path that led toward the Rumbling Region. He had to follow a series of tunnels and cross flames through entire regions of the separate dimension. Still, the journey didn't scare him. He was looking forward to reaching his destination.

Purchasing the map had given him a general overview of the inheritances contained in the Hellish Landscape, and what he leant made his interest skyrocket. He wanted to test himself in a few of them, but he had to take care of his issue first.

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"Have you seen this cultivator?" Lady Lena asked one of the guards in a tunnel near the surface.

Chief Ash stood politely behind her, and the rest of the gaseous stage experts imitated her. They all waited for Lady Lena to handle the situation since she had revealed her affiliation with the Crystal City.

Due to the flames and Noah's robe, the hunting group was struggling to find him. The experts would eventually locate him with their abilities, but Lady Lena didn't want to waste time.

The Crystal City was important in the areas near the border, so the guard could only bow in front of the white metal card shown by Lady Lena. The cultivator didn't hesitate to contact the other troops stationed in different tunnels to please her.

In a matter of seconds, the guard found something that matched Lady Lena's description. The inspection was so thorough that the hunting group even learnt about his possible destinations.

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Author's notes: My neck seems fine this morning. The next chapter should arrive in a few hours.