Birth of the Demonic Sword

The rest of Noah's group didn't remain on the sidelines. The other experts joined the battle once the upper tier shark attacked, and they quickly took care of the various underlings.

The experts from the other teams didn't only want to help the duo. They also d.e.s.i.r.ed to experience the conditions generated by the Devils.

Heaven and Earth's mission probably saw those creatures as the primary targets, so the group had to learn how to fight them. The transformation of their existence was a strange phenomenon that they had to learn how to counter.

The group defeated the pack before focusing on the Devils. Noah and King Elbas had no interest in those creatures since they had already captured one of them, so they limited themselves to watch the fight.

The duo took that chance to have a secret conversation. They wouldn't mind talking about that with their companions, but Noah wanted the experts from the other teams to remain unaware of those topics.

"Why do you want the Devil?" King Elbas asked. "You know me. I can't control my curiosity, but you are different. You don't need their energy since magical beasts are less troublesome to get. What am I missing?"

Noah and King Elbas were on the ground and kept their eyes on the sky to inspect the battle. However, their attention soon moved to their conversation.

"This might sound a little crazy," Noah whispered.

"That's not surprising," King Elbas commented.

"You know that I can't suppress my ambition," Noah revealed. "I have to explore every path that can give me more power."

"How could I not know that by now?" King Elbas snorted. "What do you have in mind?"

"The chaotic laws carried by the Devils feature the very power of change," Noah explained. "Yet, this energy doesn't have a clear path. It simply changes everything randomly."

King Elbas wasn't stupid. Actually, he was one of the smartest experts in the whole plane, especially when it came to inventing inscribed items and training methods.

He could immediately understand where Noah's explanation was going. After all, King Elbas had also studied his ambition, so he could imagine a synergy between the two energies.

"This is far crazier than I expected!" King Elbas shouted, but Noah used his mental waves to contain the expert's voice. "You would risk your very existence for a slim chance to improve. How can you even consider that path?"

"I need you to tell me how crazy this is," Noah sighed. "My mind likes to play tricks. In theory, the procedure can work, but I want a second opinion on the matter."

King Elbas fell silent. It was rare for experts at that level to doubt their path, but Noah was disclosing his insecurities openly. It seemed that his latest idea worried him deeply.

"It definitely is crazy on multiple levels," King Elbas eventually said while scratching his jaw. "Existences aren't easy to affect, and they shouldn't go through great changes at all in the divine ranks. The cultivation journey tells us to expand and improve them. It rarely requests complete transformations."

"Power is power," Noah commented.

"And you might lose everything you have achieved if you chase it through this procedure," King Elbas replied. "I can relate with your insatiable d.e.s.i.r.e, but the risks are too great here. I strongly advise against it."

"I only need to know if it's possible," Noah explained. "Is there a chance for this procedure to work?"

King Elbas didn't want to lie. Noah's law could make the whole procedure work. It was one of the few energies in the world that could give a purpose to the Devils and force an actual evolution.

Still, he wanted to choose his words very carefully. Noah's decision would depend on his evaluation, and many adverse events could follow that.

"It is possible," King Elbas sighed. "Your ambition could force the power of change inside the chaotic laws toward a stable path. It might even produce something far better than the sharks. I just don't know if you can improve anymore."

"I guess I can only perform tests in a safe environment," Noah concluded.

"I can lend you some of my stuff," King Elbas added. "I have items that can copy laws to some degree. I would use them before approaching the experiments on yourself."

"Of course," Noah commented. "I'm crazy, not idiotic."

"Do you want my opinion on that too?" King Elbas mocked Noah, and the latter limited himself to give voice to a short laugh.

The battle in the sky eventually ended. The experts took a while to learn how to defeat the Devils without endangering their laws. That experience would improve their future fights and give them more chances to complete the mission.

A series of complaints flew toward Noah, but the latter ignored them. He didn't care about the safety of the group when those risky procedures filled his mind.

The group divided the loot and proceeded with the journey. Noah kept most of the shark's body, but King Elbas gained the chance to study it. The expert didn't care about that flesh. He only wanted to see how the mutations had affected its body.

The event that they had just witnessed turned out to be quite rare. The group guessed that something similar happened in other areas of the higher plane, but they didn't have to face it again even after months of exploration.

Yet, the experts encountered the sharks on multiple occasions in that period. Their initial guess had been on point. Heaven and Earth had led them into a safe area, so the number of threats increased as they dived deeper into the higher plane.

The group didn't meet any powerful specimen. The packs on their path mainly featured middle tier creatures, and they could handle them quite easily.

The experts also had to face sparse Devils from time to time, but their power was relatively low. It seemed that they had yet to reach the areas where those threats touched a dangerous level, but they didn't lower their guard nonetheless.

The exploration eventually became quite dull. Noah and the others were in a spectacular environment that carried unusual features, but they couldn't do much with it.

The Devils offered some excitement, but their behavior was erratic. Those creatures always tried to ignore the experts and only started to fight after suffering some damage. Moreover, their attacks were nothing more than mutated copies of the group's laws, which worsened the overall situation.

The sharks couldn't provide much either. Those creatures had evolved in different ways, but they remained magical beasts. They were powerful, but they could only give flesh and peculiar materials to the group. Noah didn't see any difference from regular hunts.

"Do we have to spend millennia like this?" Harold complained after the group defeated another pack of sharks. "I understand the need for our help, but I expected more."

"Maybe the stronger Devils can give you the excitement that you seek," Althea replied. "Why would you even complain about easy battles? We are gathering materials while studying how our existences can mutate. These are free benefits."

Althea was right, but that didn't lift the group's mood. They preferred to face dangers and improve quickly rather than repeat the same tedious battles over and over again.

Still, a change in their routine eventually happened. A series of white lines manifested in front of the experts while exploring a lake suspended in the sky.

King Elbas made his companions stop, and his curiosity soon burst out of his figure. The experts had found traces of inscriptions, but King Elbas didn't manage to sense them before they revealed themselves.

****

Author's notes: I have no electricity. My laptop is literally about to turn off. I started to write the next chapter, but everything is about to go black. I will post the other two chapters tomorrow when the electricity should be back on. Maybe I should get another sheep.