Birth of the Demonic Sword

Noah had reached similar conclusions during his long travel. Sure, a lot of what he had accomplished had ended up putting Heaven and Earth on a better path. However, that was the nature of flaws and hindrances. Overcoming them led to benefits. It was true for him, and the same went for the rulers.

"What's your plan?" Noah eventually asked. "Heaven and Earth's reserves of energy surpass yours. You'll eventually have to hide for real or go for something bold."

"We have to expand our influence," The old rulers revealed. "Stopping isn't an option, but we admit that Heaven and Earth are getting annoying."

"You should go into seclusion," Noah suggested. "Take your improved magical beasts and city and leave. You can't fall in Heaven and Earth's hands."

"Would you hide like a rat if you were in our place?" The old rulers questioned, and Noah even felt able to hear a faint laugh at the end of the line.

"You aren't me," Noah tried to convince them.

"No one is you," The old rulers continued, "But no one is us either. Even Heaven and Earth can't be us. That's why they fight us, and that's why we must improve faster than them. That's how the cultivation journey works."

Noah knew that the old rulers were right, but the situation remained troublesome. Heaven and Earth would eventually defeat them, and he didn't know if he could become strong enough by that point. He couldn't even remain with the orange city all the time either since he had his path to follow.

"We don't need your protection," The old rulers announced as if they understood what was happening inside his mind.

"Still, you need to do something," Noah stated. "I don't want the final battle to arrive too soon."

"We have a plan already," The old rulers replied. "We didn't focus only on escaping during these years. We have almost found a way to gaze on the arrays of laws past the sky."

Noah snapped out of his worries and thoughts. His eyes lit up with pure interest after hearing those words. Part of him even believed to have misheard the old rulers.

"How can you even find that with the sky all around the world?" Noah asked.

"By using the sky, of course," The old rulers revealed, and Noah sensed tinges of pride in their voice.

"I want in," Noah immediately exclaimed.

"We thought you didn't trust us," The old rulers replied.

"Don't pretend to negotiate," Noah scoffed. "You told me because you want me to join the mission. Don't worry. I'm in."

"Are you sure?" The old rulers teased. "We would probably need to destroy the place only to take a glimpse at the path past the ninth rank. Heaven and Earth will definitely go all-out against us afterward."

"Stop insulting me," Noah sighed. "Show me the plan."

The old rulers went silent as the drop of higher energy spread and transformed into a map of the higher plane. Noah could see the oval world filled with weak sky and the white layer all around it. The image also depicted a few known Mortal Lands hidden past the white edges.

"You have learnt a lot in these years," Noah commented.

"We have initially tried to reach some Mortal Lands to infect their "Breath"," The old rulers explained. "We have ultimately abandoned that project to stop living in the past."

"What's the plan then?" Noah asked as his eyes inspected the map. "I can also make a similar picture, but I don't claim to know where Heaven and Earth keep their important structures."

"We can understand that because we used to be them," The old rulers announced. "Besides, gazing directly at the arrays of laws is impossible, but we used to know where we could inspect their effects. That can't change just because Heaven and Earth wish so."

Noah didn't feel surprised that the old rulers had started to search for the effects of the arrays when they still had control over the world. No one would give up on the chance to gaze at the path past the ninth rank if they had the opportunity. Still, he didn't share their confidence.

"So, you aren't certain," Noah said. "You don't really know if you have found the right place."

"We must take risks to uncover the path forward," The old rulers declared. "You understand, right? How many times have you relied on your instincts to find truths that you couldn't possibly know?"

"You can understand Heaven and Earth due to your previous connection," Noah continued, "But the opposite is also true. What if your plan is part of a greater trap?"

"It probably is," The old rulers admitted. "Heaven and Earth have long since understood that we are aiming for the arrays, but they can't hide them. Part of their current aggression probably comes from their realization that we are ready to start the plan."

Noah didn't need to ask how the old rulers intended to cross the sky. He had traded away the black metal during the apocalyptic event, so they definitely had something capable of digging through that white material.

"There won't be simple avatars waiting for us," Noah complained. "Cultivators who have been able to preserve their worlds for entire eras will try their best to stop us. Also, why would we need to destroy the place?"

"For those exact reasons," The old rulers explained. "Heaven and Earth will do everything in their power to prevent our possible inspection. That's why we must force everything to fall apart and exploit the chaos."

Noah started to gain a vague understanding of the plan, but that only revealed the many variables that could make it fail. First of all, the old rulers didn't know the exact spot from where Heaven and Earth gazed at the arrays. Then, they didn't explain how they intended to overcome the privileged cultivators.

The last part of the plan was also quite troublesome. Noah liked the idea of blowing away part of the sky, but that only made everything unclear. The purpose of the mission was to gaze at the arrays, so the chaos could potentially go against that.

"Is it worth it?" Noah wondered. "Why are you doing all of this for a simple glance? I'm not underestimating the benefits of the arrays. I just don't think that spending so much to obtain so little is worth it."

"Don't compare ourselves to those cultivators," The old rulers said after understanding the source of Noah's doubts.

The privileged cultivators and Heaven and Earth had access to those resources for entire eras. They had even searched for specific arrays and understood where their influence was more intense.

A simple glance was nothing compared to the eras that those experts had spent in front of those resources. Noah wanted to understand what stood beyond the ninth rank, but he wasn't willing to create such a mess for something that might not give him anything.

The old rulers understood those doubts, and they didn't hesitate to reassure Noah. "The idea behind the single glance isn't in the actual contents of the scene, but in the feelings that it expresses. We want to experience the path past the ninth rank with our new existence, but we would understand if you were to refuse."