Birth of the Demonic Sword

Noah couldn't describe the pressure that he felt. His companions pressed on his mind, but that center of power could take their weight. However, the rest of his existence suffered. His dantian shrunk and his body felt sluggish as he endured the innate force radiated by six beings in the ninth rank.

Night, Duanlong, Shafu, and Snore could somewhat control the pressure that their existence sent toward Noah, but the Cursed Sword and the parasite couldn't do anything about that. The blade's bloodlust and the plant's constant absorption worsened his condition and forced his law to shrink back when those features fused with what the rest of his companions released.

"Can you even move in that condition?" Axia asked in a mocking tone that didn't hide the slight worry that had started to spread in her mind.

The experts in the sky had long since committed Noah's power to memory. Heaven and Earth had a whole catalog with his growth and incredible feats that the cultivators in their system could inspect. Axia could immediately understand what drawbacks Noah's current condition would have, but he didn't show any regret.

That passage was necessary and almost mandatory due to his current situation. Noah had probably gathered enough energy to push his body into the ninth rank during the journey in the sky, but that breakthrough would require a long period of hibernation inside a chrysalis. Axia and the other cultivators wouldn't just wait for him to complete the process.

Instead, his companions were part of his existence and independent beings at the same time. They could take the prisms' energy and benefit from the unique environment inside the separate space to complete their breakthroughs in no time.

That advantage was the very reason behind the force currently pressing on Noah's existence, but he didn't care. He could always deal with the consequences of his reckless actions after escaping that awful situation, but he couldn't solve his problems without those breakthroughs.

Noah didn't answer. He limited himself to reveal a cold smile before pointing the roots in his left hand toward Axia. The parasite immediately stretched forward until flowers grew on its structure.

The parasite drained an immense amount of energy from Noah's body to give birth to a series of seeds that created copies of its main structure. Axia inspected the various branches of the plant that grew on the battlefield calmly, but she quickly noticed that something was off. The fiendish armor around her opponent had remained intact after that display of power, which didn't match what Dinia had experienced.

The explanation for that odd event wasn't hard to find. Axia had initially been too caught in the six rank 9 auras, but she eventually noticed how the sky around her was falling apart at an unfathomable pace. The previous clash had already expanded the battlefield, but the current destruction almost made the light radiated by the white material fail to reach that area.

Duanlong and Shafu couldn't let Noah bear the cost of the parasite on his own. Actually, they wanted to exempt him from any price. The two dragons gave their everything to enhance their suction forces and affect the sky around them to gather masses of energy that could satisfy the plant.

'That's how it should be,' Noah thought as he bathed in the echoes of his power. 'My power feeds on the sky to defeat my opponents.'

Axia didn't miss how Noah's ambition had intensified after his companions had stepped into the ninth rank, and that didn't only come from the successful theft of many valuable resources. Night, Snore, the parasite, Duanlong, Shafu, and the Cursed Sword now radiated his iconic law on their own. The harmony that they had reached after stepping into the ninth rank had allowed them to gain their master's power.

Of course, the ambition that the companions could release wasn't at Noah's level. The difference in their potential was immense, but those gaps seemed to vanish when the six of them radiated that power at the same time. Also, Noah could even add his own law to the process and create something that went far beyond his usual might.

Heaven and Earth could do something similar. They were stronger among the sky, avatars, and cultivators that echoed their power. The rulers were a proper system since their featured living beings, but it seemed that Noah had reached the same state.

A sudden realization dawned upon Axia when she understood that Noah was getting close to Heaven and Earth's state without relying on the absorption of a proper world. She knew that she would have had no chances against him if his dantian or body had stepped into the ninth rank. She felt sure that his current might was close to hers.

The parasite and its branches expanded throughout the battlefield and filled it with a dark-purple liquid that instinctively flew toward the white walls in the distance. The plant wanted to devour every trace of Heaven and Earth, and the three cultivators weren't an exception. King Elbas, the dragon, and Sepunia had started to fight with the two liquid stage experts, but the arrival of the roots and corrosive substance forced them to retreat.

Axia remained calm as roots stretched toward her. Those pointy items launched dark-purple liquid toward her, but a shield intercepted those attacks. However, the corrosive substance destroyed the weapon in mere seconds.

The roots could shoot toward Axia without finding hindrances, but the expert remained calm and still. It was hard for her to accept that someone could be far more monstrous than her. After all, her world had survived Heaven and Earth's study for a long time. Yet, it was clear that Noah was above her.

The corrosive pressure radiated by the roots almost began to affect her skin, but a shockwave suddenly flew out of her figure. Axia took a step forward before stopping in front of the branch of the parasite that had reached her. She blew on the plant, and everything crumbled.

The roots that had almost reached Axia belonged to one of the last branches. Its seed was still trying to stretch them, but the destruction caused by the cultivator spread until it reached that core. The whole plant fell apart, and its pieces lost their corrosive power before falling downward.

Noah's eyes sharpened. He didn't see Axia's attack, but he had managed to inspect the true meanings that had destroyed the parasite's branch. She had released sharpness, brute force, precise cuts, and much more in a single blow. She didn't even summon weapons to apply those effects.

"Do you believe in the existence of a final weapon?" Axia asked as she advanced fearlessly toward the area occupied by the parasite. "What form do you think it would have?"

The parasite didn't hesitate to release dark-purple liquid with all its roots. The whiteness of the sky almost vanished as a sea of corrosive substance fell toward Axia and tried to devour her in mere seconds.

"Something like this doesn't exist," Axia announced while another shockwave shot out of her figure and made the corrosive sea freeze on its spot. "Many cultivators have tried to reach such perfection, but that's impossible without complete knowledge of every path that involves weapons. Unless you are me, of course."

The corrosive sea crumbled, and part of the roots behind that suffered the same fate. Noah didn't see Axia's attack again, but he was starting to understand what was happening. The cultivator was releasing all the possible effects that her weapons could generate at the same time and in a single blow.