Birth of the Demonic Sword

Maribel's understanding came from thousands of years spent among the storms. Noah had lived there for a long time, but he couldn't match the cultivator's expertise in the field.

Noah had tried to inspect the chaotic laws and the weak sky, and he had even found hidden meanings in the former. However, it was nearly impossible to develop an actual method that could make him understand what that energy would generate since Heaven and Earth hid part of their plans.

Formations could help, but Maribel didn't rely on them either. Her ability to understand the environment's purpose came from instincts developed throughout countless years spent living inside Heaven and Earth's world.

Noah's understanding of instincts made him accept that he probably wouldn't be able to reach Maribel's level. He lacked time to develop proper habits, and his connection to the magical beasts' world actually worsened his potential in that field.

Still, Noah felt sure that his anger would be able to compensate for that flaw at some point. He only had to push his world further on the cultivation journey to obtain a similar ability.

Maribel did her best to explain the details behind her experience. Her life had been long and full. She had been a core member of the human society in the Immortal Lands before leaving her force to pursue the higher ranks inside the storms. In Noah's mind, that journey was the standard path that most rank 9 experts crossed.

Noah could see Maribel's value in that background. A normal journey usually led to regular cultivators that Heaven and Earth could suppress easily. Instead, the woman had managed to escape from the rulers' clutches until the last struggle had forced her into long seclusion.

The two began to learn to know each other during the journey across the sky. The long time required to reach the destination gave the two experts many moments when they could share opinions about the world, exchange eventual funny stories, or talk about events that they couldn't know due to the difference in their age.

Noah didn't know a lot about the old human society or the experts that had populated it. Instead, Maribel had missed a lot about recent developments, especially those connected to issues that involved the entire higher plane and the sky.

"There isn't anything," Maribel exclaimed after stopping flying forward. "I'm pretty sure the Tribulation happened here, but I can't sense any trace of the event."

"I can't either," Noah admitted as he tried to find something that could lead him toward the landmass.

The weak sky didn't show anything at all. It didn't even have tunnels connected to the area, which explained how Heaven and Earth had a lot of time to close them.

Maribel wasn't sure about the landmass' general direction. She had glanced at the formations used by the troops living in the area, but she couldn't know whether they had decided to change their path after facing the Tribulation.

Another possibility existed, and Noah couldn't help but consider it after thinking about Dinia's revelations. June and his old friends might have died after they met with Maribel. The timeline was tight, but it was possible that she might have found them right before Heaven and Earth's final attack.

Needless to say, Noah felt annoyed about the situation. He could dive into mindless anger if June and the others were dead, and he could experience deep relief if they were safe. However, that middle ground full of uncertainties was starting to irritate him. The lack of paths that led to answers was even worse.

'Is this a failsafe that Dinia has created in case he died?' Noah began to wonder. 'Did he instill this doubt inside me in the hope of ruining my journey?'

Noah couldn't answer that doubt either, but the guess made sense. The current state of the higher plane was ideal for that kind of mental torture. Still, a big issue remained. Dinia's perfect self wouldn't have prepared for a potential defeat, which removed a lot of hope from Noah's mind.

"Oh," Maribel gasped. "There has been a mess far away from here."

"How can you know?" Noah asked.

"That part of the sky is carrying the aftermath of a battle," Maribel explained.

Noah tried his best to study the spot pointed by Maribel, but his eyes and consciousness didn't see anything. The ethereal blackness helped a little, but it only allowed him to notice faint vibrations in the sky's insides. They also appeared random and without any clear meaning, so he couldn't find proper answers.

"The battle isn't recent," Maribel explained. "It must have happened many centuries ago since these effects are on the verge of vanishing."

"Can you find the source?" Noah questioned.

"Of course," Maribel announced, "But it will only lead us to another abandoned location."

"That's fine enough," Noah responded. "We might find something else there."

Maribel couldn't add anything since Noah expanded the range of his destruction and started affecting even larger parts of the sky. Heaven and Earth didn't seem happy about that dark world showing its power so abruptly, but they didn't send anything after it.

The cultivator resumed leading Noah across the sky. Maribel had to accelerate to remain ahead of her companion, and the journey eventually transformed into a sprint that forced her to deploy a few techniques to keep up.

Noah didn't think much in that situation. He evaluated the possible threats and the chances that Maribel was a spy, but he didn't care about that. Heaven and Earth could set traps for him every day, so changing his position didn't affect their dangerousness as long as he remained inside the weak sky.

The two flew almost at full speed through the weak sky until Maribel stopped again. She had been right. The location was empty, but she could see stronger traces of other Tribulations from there, and they all came from different directions.

"So?" Noah asked when he noticed that Maribel had fallen silent.

"Different Tribulations," Maribel explained, "From different positions. I can't be sure that they have descended for the same target, but it would make sense due to their different intensity."

"Why aren't we moving then?" Noah asked.

"The meanings are resonating among each other," Maribel stated. "I need to go further to find the different sources before picking the weaker tremors."

"Why weaker?" Noah questioned.

"Because the others won't vanish so quickly," Maribel uttered. "We'll have time to readjust our position if we pick the wrong road."

Maribel eventually found what she was looking for and shot forward. Noah followed her, and the two sprinted across the sky, stopping only when the cultivator had to study the area again.

That part of the journey turned out to be messy. Maribel often changed direction to chase leads on the verge of vanishing. She didn't know if their current state depended on the distance from their source, but she couldn't risk losing them forever.

The messy travel culminated into a black spectacle. Noah couldn't help but wear a proud smile when he saw the familiar landmass moving through the sky and creating tunnels that Heaven and Earth fixed quickly. It seemed that the rulers didn't have any problem dealing with the area's influence.

Clouds were surrounding the landmass, and lightning bolts fell on a golden shield that seemed on the verge of breaking. That scene wasn't inspiring, but it only made Noah perform his movement technique to reach the area quickly.

The clouds turned their attention toward Noah when he arrived on the scene, and the same happened for multiple stares coming from the landmass. Still, he didn't reply to those admiring gazes and focused his attention on the Tribulation.

"Leave," Noah growled in a chilling tone that generated dark-red shockwaves. They expanded throughout the Tribulation and destroyed some clouds in the process.

Heaven and Earth's true energy seeped inside the Tribulation and inspected Noah, but they eventually ordered a full retreat. He remained alone in the sky, with Maribel politely waiting in the distance. Multiple figures shot out of the landmass at that point, but Noah couldn't find his lover among them. He couldn't even see the usual lightning bolt that June threw at him whenever he spent too long away.