Birth of the Demonic Sword

"Stop playing around," Noah ordered and interrupted the bickering of his companions. "We have learnt a lot about Heaven and Earth during the last mission. Let's make a list to make sure that we all have a clear idea about those idiots."

The few experts from the other side of the Immortal Lands who had remained around Noah during his hibernation remained speechless. Noah was openly insulting the very rulers of the world. Their gazes instinctively shot upward to search eventual black clouds, but nothing appeared among the sky.

"The others must come too," Noah announced while moving his eyes toward the locations occupied by the experts who had left during his hibernation.

Those cultivators were too far away to hear Noah, but the latter gave voice to a deafening roar that forced them to hurry toward his position. The survivors of the large army soon gathered in the destroyed area, and they created a circle as they sat on the azure ground.

"Let's start with the facts," Noah shouted once everyone sat. "Heaven and Earth have secret armies inside cities in the sky. I don't know how to reach them, but I guess that the dimensional tunnel has led us near them."

"The fairness is stronger than we initially thought," King Elbas added. "We have always known that the Tribulations had to give a chance to survive, but we have confirmed that Heaven and Earth's entire existence depends on that rule."

Noah showed his thumbs to King Elbas, but the latter ignored that gesture. He didn't answer to get his acknowledgment.

"We know that they have designated enemies," Wilfred continued. "Heaven and Earth aren't omnipotent beings. The weaker world has managed to make a mess with its will, so we can do the same."

Everyone nodded. It didn't matter if Heaven and Earth adapted to a specific counter. Noah and the others could always deploy different abilities to gain an advantage over the rulers' laws.

"Are the facts over already?" Noah asked.

"They eat laws that don't belong to their system," The Foolery announced. "Their existence must have deep flaws, but the laws absorbed forcefully end up having even more cracks. I bet that the process has hurt them."

"How do you even know so much about laws and Heaven and Earth?" Wilfred asked. "You have stopped being a magical beast only a few years ago."

"I'm a fast learner," The Foolery replied while wearing a proud expression and raising its head toward the sky.

"Nothing else?" Noah asked.

"They are weak," Robert explained. "Heaven and Earth are incredibly frail. Their consciousness must be a mass of different thoughts that handle various parts of their power. Even their duality as Heaven and Earth might be part of a traumatic event."

"Are we in the hypotheses part already?" King Elbas asked.

"There doesn't seem to be any other fact," Robert commented before turning toward Noah, who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Hypotheses part is open then," Robert confirmed.

"I do agree with part of your theory," Noah announced. "I don't believe in the traumatic event, but I think that Heaven and Earth belong to the same existence. Their current form is only a consequence of the countless years spent on the footsteps of the tenth rank."

"How can you be sure about this?" Wilfred asked.

"Earth has spoken about beings feeding on their body," Noah explained. "The tight connection with Heaven is evident, but I've also begun to think about something else. Let's say that they were once a powerful expert. Earth would play the mind, and Heaven the dantian. What about the body then?"

"Do you think the Immortal Lands are Heaven and Earth's body?" King Elbas asked.

"They have technically revealed that," Noah added. "I don't know how much I can trust them, but that's what they said."

Everyone fell silent at that point. That revelation was no small thing. The experts were basically living and improving on Heaven and Earth's body if Noah's hypotheses turned out to be right.

"What about their absorption?" King Elbas asked while moving his eyes among the three hybrids. "What can you tell us about that?"

Noah, the Foolery, and Wilfred exchanged a glance before leaving the speech in Noah's hands. He had the sharpest senses among the hybrids, and his cultivation level had also been far higher than theirs during the event.

"I felt disgusted," Noah revealed while placing a hand under his chin. "It was a strange feeling that didn't come from my conscious mind. My instincts didn't like that practice for some reason."

"I felt the same," Wilfred explained. "I didn't like what I saw."

"Same here," The Foolery announced. "I think the reason behind these feelings is Heaven and Earth's lack of style."

The group immediately started ignoring the pig to focus on the other two hybrids. Wilfred seemed still lost, but Noah was getting somewhere.

"Maybe the issue isn't with the practice itself," Noah explained. "Heaven and Earth are only killing experts with laws that they need in the end. The problem might be with the nature of the action compared to the actual ability."

Heaven and Earth might have been existences very similar to humans. Cultivators didn't naturally know how to devour other laws. They required special techniques that often lost power once their level advanced.

Noah believed that Heaven and Earth didn't initially have similar skills. Those existences could have resorted to techniques that didn't suit their law due to their inability to reach the tenth rank.

"Anything else?" Noah continued to ask, but no important news reached his ears.

"That's not much, but we have a basic understanding at least," Noah continued. "We have to decide our next move now. Do you have anything in mind before I make another crazy plan?"

King Elbas, Wilfred, Luke, and Fergie's eyes instantly lit up as their minds started to work faster than ever. They would do everything in their power to avoid another crazy journey, and plans eventually came out of their mouths.

"We can regroup with the Legion," Wilfred proposed. "We have amassed a lot of experience during the last mission. Seclusion is necessary."

"I do agree," King Elbas continued. "Moving now is pointless, especially since we have barely survived the last struggle. We need to improve before jumping in another adventure."

"I can deal with the organizations here and see if they still have a connection with Heaven and Earth," Luke announced. "Our nameless organization should be quite strong on this side of the Immortal Lands. Coercing some experts to give us answers might fill the black spots in our knowledge."

"I suggest you enhance the training method in the blue regions," Fergie added. "Going in seclusion is fine, but the best way for us to gain power is to benefit from your influence. Improving that aspect might give us a lot."

"I'm not planning on bringing you anywhere until you develop effective counters to Heaven and Earth," Noah revealed. "Only the pig and Robert can deal with the rulers properly for now."

"Your influence is still our best chance to gain access to that power," Fergie repeated.

Noah glanced toward Robert, and the latter shrugged his shoulders. It clearly wasn't the time to start another mess since they had barely survived the previous. They needed to improve a lot before gaining some confidence in handling Heaven and Earth.

"I have it," Noah eventually announced. "We'll regroup with the forces here and understand how the political environment has evolved. Then, we'll hunt the members of the secret organization to find connections with Heaven and Earth. Let's move!"