Birth of the Demonic Sword

The experts returned to their respective training areas after a short conversation. They didn't have much to say. King Elbas was only worried about the potential consequences that their actions could have, but he was also aware that they were out of option.

Letting the world continue to move on its previous path would have only led to Heaven and Earth's victory. Noah's decisions might have worsened the situation and put the higher plane on a worse road, but the experts had to prefer it over an inevitable defeat.

The old rulers might regain their original power, but that was a possibility that Noah and the others had to accept. It didn't matter if the world ended up obtaining two threatening versions of Heaven and Earth. Everything was better than a loss caused by a lack of time to improve.

It didn't even matter that the old rulers seemed to benefit a lot from Noah's influence. They wouldn't only regain their previous power with that trend. They would even remove the weakness that had led to their defeat, but that was another risk that the experts had to accept for the sake of obtaining more time.

A faint pressure landed on Noah's mind after he returned to his training area. He could almost feel the world advancing toward its final act, and he could see how his existence wasn't part of it.

Still, that feeling didn't bring new options. Noah remained the peak rank 8 existence that he was before. He was only more anxious about how fast everything around him was moving.

His focus inevitably moved to his mind. Noah had a center of power ready to advance. He could sense his mental walls touching the edges of the higher realms, but they didn't want to move forward. Even the many training methods available inside the city didn't make them take the last step required for the breakthrough.

His mind wasn't actually stuck at the same level. The organ continued to enlarge. It simply did it so slowly that Noah struggled to keep track of its improvements.

The issue ended up making Noah angry. He had the chance to obtain an important improvement, but his center of power seemed to oppose it. The problem didn't even involve his existence. There appeared to be an invisible force locking it into the eighth rank and keeping breakthroughs away.

Noah connected the issue to the unique place that the breakthrough to the ninth rank held in the cultivation journey. Bringing an existence to that realm involved the creation of a new center of power that contained the special fuel generated by the laws. The process was personal and differed depending on the true meanings, but the talk with Alexander had confirmed that what they learnt from Lord Lewis was generally correct.

Noah liked to be prepared for the breakthrough, but he didn't think that those requirements would turn into an actual limit. The only explanation he could think of for his mind's situation was that his other centers of power still required some time to reach the absolute peak of the eighth rank. That prevented a join advancement to the ninth rank, which seemed a requirement in the cultivation journey.

Noah initially felt the need to play by the rules. He didn't want to mess things up when it came to such an important event in his cultivation journey. After all, his problems didn't come from a bottleneck. He only had to wait for his other centers of power to reach the peak of the eighth rank before worrying about his situation.

However, the slow and steady study of the dragons' spheres and his failures in developing new techniques slowly made his desire to approach the breakthrough to the ninth rank through the proper paths crumble. Also, the old rulers provided the experts with regular updates about the packs sent into the storms, which only intensified Noah's urge to be part of that mess.

"This was the first species capable of containing three different elements. It's a pity that Heaven and Earth's lightning bolts destroyed most of them."

"These snakes had dragon's blood in their fabric. No wonder they managed to defeat a giant avatar armed with middle tier sparks."

"We need to do better with these wolves. Their power is decent, but they need to obtain a proper resistance to Heaven and Earth to survive these regions."

Similar reports reached Noah's training area every year. The old rulers' voice seemed to grow livelier as time passed. He could hear their excitement toward those experiments grow. It was as if the old Heaven and Earth were loving creating a special army meant to fight the corrupted fairness generated by their new version.

Noah felt the need to join those battles. The dullness of the training area grew unbearable as the years passed. The city gave him everything he needed, and he knew that those benefits were rewards for his feats. Yet, he grew unable to accept them as happily as before after seeing the world changing right in front of his eyes.

Sword Saint and some of his companions shared his feelings, and even King Elbas ended up experiencing the same emotions after many years passed. In theory, the city was a paradise for King Elbas since it gave him the chance to follow countless experiments at the same time. However, he also started to feel the monotony of that environment.

The group had yet to realize that, but their existences had grown addicted to the defiant influence that they spread. Their power benefited from how their laws affected the world, especially now that they were close to the ninth rank. It almost felt like a necessity to be outside and transform the environment.

'I can't do that,' Noah found himself thinking whenever his boredom reached its peak. 'I have the chance to do everything without facing any risk this time. I can't be stupid.'

'My dantian is too close to face risks,' Noah happened to think another time. 'My body still requires a lot, but that only proves how I should give myself some time.'

'Why would I even need the night rank anyway?' Noah wondered a few years later. 'My power can already affect existences in the ninth rank. I am a rank 9 existence even if my cultivation level has yet to reach that point.'

'What's with this rush even?' Noah tried to convince himself after a few more years. 'Steadiness brings the best foundation. Do I really want to risk everything I went through to get my mind to the ninth rank sooner?'

'What can I even gain with a rank 9 mind?' Noah cursed. 'I might understand the spheres quickly, but that's it. I should even become able to develop better techniques. I guess understanding the overall nature of the sky is another benefit. Maybe I should stop thinking about this.'

The situation inside his mind worsened so much that Noah found himself requesting more materials he needed without being aware of that. His existence tricked him into failing to calculate his requirements and necessities until the matter became too obvious. That trend became impossible to ignore after Noah saw countless drugs meant for his mind, Kesier runes, and other resources created tall piles inside his training area.

'Fine, I'll do it!' Noah eventually let go of his restraint when he accepted that he couldn't go against his existence. 'I'll force my mind to reach the ninth rank!'

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Author's notes: I didn't forget about Chaos' Heir. I'll explain the issue better once I release the chapters there. I'll need a few hour, but I won't skip today's release.