Birth of the Demonic Sword

The main issue with the void was the lack of energy. Hybrids and magical beasts had it better since they could rely on the large stash of energy contained in their bodies to keep fighting, but the same didn't apply to the cultivators.

Flying, exploring, and overcoming struggles forced the group to deplete energy that they couldn't refill through natural methods. They had to rely on their items or King Elbas' tools to keep their centers of power full, but they would eventually end.

The consumption accelerated depending on the struggles that they had to overcome. The battle against the jellyfish had forced them to use a lot of energy, which would require them to rely on their stashes. The mission wasn't even over, and they also had to consider the return in their calculations.

Learning that the mission had to last for a few more decades naturally spread doubts among the four cultivators. They understood that the reconstruction of the higher plane had the priority, but they would be close to reaching a critical point after those years. There was a high chance that their stashes would vanish, and that without considering other dangerous hindrances on their path.

Each battle that required the experts to use their full power would shorten the mission by entire years, and they didn't have a way to solve that issue. The environment simply lacked energy.

"Do you ever not risk your lives during your missions?" Elsie asked, but she received only shrugs and laughs as answers.

Noah remained inside the massive black hole while the experts discussed in the distance. The intense energy absorbed from the jellyfish ran through the waves of dark matter and fused with them to increase their power.

The dark matter at the center of the singularity became solid. It transformed into a proper black material that Noah could reshape at will. Still, the situation didn't work in his favor since the process was consuming part of his gains.

'This won't do,' Noah thought while he remained still in the middle of the solid and liquid dark matter.

The black hole was evolving, but Noah didn't want it to reach the superior level since he would have to endure the fall of its power afterward. He had empowered the organ because he needed a better method to contain and absorb energy, but the situation was escaping his control.

'I can't let it condense on its own,' Noah thought while spreading his arms and summoning Duanlong and Shafu.

The dark matter didn't hinder his movements. It didn't matter if the higher energy around him had become one of the toughest materials in the entire world. That blackness was part of him, so his arms could pierce it at ease.

The black hole understood Noah's intentions and began to help him push power toward his flesh. Duanlong and Shafu activated their pulling force from inside his body and started to drag energy toward the same target.

The organ tried its best to purify the energy before it reached Noah's flesh, but part of it remained in its original state anyway. The improved power fused with his flesh, muscles, bones, and organs, while the rest remained attached to the outsides of his figure.

Noah even activated the workshop. Using that technique inside the raging waves of dark matter was troublesome and required his full concentration, but he managed to affect part of the powerful energy like that.

The workshops transformed part of the primary energy that he didn't manage to purify into darkness for his dantian. Noah didn't need to perform his usual cultivation session in that situation since his surroundings overflowed with energy, so the technique could do a better job at improving his level.

Noah felt as if he had fallen into a container filled with a scorching substance. Every inch of his body was on fire. He had energy inside and outside his flesh, but power never stopped flowing toward him.

'It's not enough!' Noah shouted in his mind before cutting away part of the improvements given to the black hole.

Its gravitational pull had already gathered all the energy in the environment, so he could remove it from the list of features improved through his abilities. The same went for the part that handled the suppression of the foreign energy since the dark matter and his companions were handling it.

The empowerment focused only on the purification and the workshop at that point. Noah's flesh and dantian still had some space left, so he filled them before changing approach again.

Going through real breakthroughs now wasn't the right move. Noah knew that the drawbacks would eventually arrive, and the lack of energy in the environment could make the whole procedure quite dangerous. Moreover, he would need years to face that process, but he couldn't spend that time in the middle of the void before making proper preparations.

He had to find a way to contain that energy and give time to his centers of power to absorb it. The black hole also had to return to its original state to control the whole evolution and make sure that he reached the best possible version of himself.

'Shafu!' Noah shouted in his mind, and the dragon quickly absorbed part of that energy.

The separate space that didn't generate separate dimensions became too heavy for the creature in a matter of minutes, but Noah quickly moved to his next plan.

The parasite stretched its branches out of Noah's body and began to feed on that energy. Its power rose quickly, and the same went for its requirements, which Noah didn't hesitate to accept after leading the plant away from that power.

'Duanlong, Snore, Shafu, Night, eat something!' Noah ordered through the mental connection, and his companions didn't hesitate to materialize in the middle of the black hole to relieve some pressure from his constant absorption.

That turned out not to be enough even after the Demonic Sword joined them. There was a lot of power left to absorb inside the black hole, and Noah was starting to run out of options.

His centers of power were full, and the same went for his companions. Storing energy inside his mind didn't help either since the quantity that it could endure was inferior to the body and dantian.

The workshop began to produce suitable meals for Night while the other companions simply absorbed the raw energy that arrived around them. Their power rose quickly, and it slowly reduced the expansion of the black hole.

Noah started to store part of that energy inside his separate space, but it became too heavy soon too. It was clear that those methods weren't solving the issue, but delaying the black hole's breakthrough gave Noah enough time to develop other solutions.

Noah eventually took a gamble. He deactivated his empowering abilities completely. The black hole shrunk to return to its previous state, and it carried with it most of the energy left untouched.

The internal pressure returned and threatened to make Noah's body explode, but the drawbacks eventually arrived and forced the black hole to use some of it to fix them. The process was long, but he couldn't think of anything else to solve the issue.

The drawbacks vanished at some point, but his body continued to tremble. His centers of power shook, and an almost unbearable pressure spread from his c.h.e.s.t. However, he felt able to remain stable for now.

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Author's notes: I need a bit more for the last. It should be ready in less that 30 minutes.