Birth of the Demonic Sword

Heaven and Earth could counter multiple existences at the same time, but they still had to contain their consumption of energy. They could develop perfect methods to take care of Noah and other powerful existences, but they would have to ignore other weaker beings due to their limits.

Noah didn't have much proof about that matter. He could only vaguely guess it from the current situation in the Immortal Lands.

The various organizations had multiple cultivators in the higher ranks who opposed Heaven and Earth. That was the common approach to the cultivation journey. Existences would normally fight against the rulers to push their law forward.

However, in general, Heaven and Earth decided to create counters for those experts only after they reached the ninth rank. They would start by making the world reject their existence before moving to punishments that targeted their laws.

Noah could think about different explanations to the matter, with the simplest involving the actual ability of those cultivators. Still, experts capable of reaching the ninth rank had to be special and worthy of punishments even before the actual breakthrough.

The explanation could involve other topics, like a lack of energy on Heaven and Earth's side, which sounded more reasonable. The Immortal Lands had too many experts, and the rulers couldn't take care of all of them at the same time. They could only target the most troublesome existences and let their followers deal with the others.

Another interesting possibility saw a lack of suitable rank 8 tools on Heaven and Earth's side. After all, the rulers had made Noah's group defeat a powerful defense only to trigger a stronger punishment in the ninth rank.

At last, Noah guessed that Heaven and Earth needed some of those existences to grow stronger and fulfill their laws to gain more after an eventual absorption.

Noah didn't have a solution for most of those hypotheses. He could only try to work around one of them, but the process would be far from easy.

His plan involved gathering many different existences and force their laws to evolve through his ambition. Noah wanted to create more monsters like him, but the process obviously had issues at its core.

Noah had used his ambition to affect the members of his organization and Legion for years already, but only a few existences had managed to go beyond the limits of their laws with that help. Some had even required a thorough transformation, which he couldn't apply to every expert.

King Elbas and the others evaluated the plan in their minds and reached similar conclusions. In theory, that approach was doable, especially since gathering more troops would help their situation anyway.

Yet, it was clear that obtaining other monsters would take a while, and it would even require existences who already had enough talent to step on those realms. Noah's ambition couldn't perform miracles just yet. It was enough to inspect his old companions from the Mortal Lands to understand that even his law had limits.

"Heaven and Earth would only create a massive punishment if we gather so many defying existences together," Robert announced.

His past connection with Heaven and Earth granted him a greater understanding of the rulers. The same went for Steven, who limited himself to nod to express his agreement with the expert.

"It's fine as long as they don't choose something meant to counter us," Noah explained. "We have already defeated a rank 9 punishment. Doing that again will force Heaven and Earth to waste a lot of energy."

"Did you face a rank 9 punishment?" Steven asked as astonishment filled his face.

"Heaven and Earth were ready for us," King Elbas summarized. "They had created a trap inside a trap to put us against a stronger defense."

"How did you even survive that?" Steven continued to ask.

The expert respected the group's might, but the ninth rank was a completely different realm. Even the weakest being at that level would be enough to wipe out hordes of rank 8 cultivators.

"We are strong," King Elbas sighed, "But we must be stronger to survive the next Tribulation. Noah might be right. We can use other experts to force Heaven and Earth to ignore the counters."

"Where can we find other experts?" Robert asked. "It is my understanding that most of the human organizations on this side of the Immortal Lands are still going through internal fights."

"We have one of the leaders of the secret organization on our side," Noah growled. "I think it's time that he makes himself useful."

The entire group turned toward Steven. Even the bored Sword Saint glanced at the expert to join that mass stare.

"I have information on all the human organizations currently living in the Outer Lands," Steven revealed in a calm tone. "We can definitely exploit your power to gather underlings."

The experts didn't nod nor show any happiness. Steven had hinted at something that they didn't expect.

"Where are the others?" Wilfred asked. "I thought the humans had flooded the Outer Lands after the Legion expanded, and they only have stormy regions past them. Where can they even go?"

"There is an organization capable of sealing pacts with the magical beasts," Noah explained before Steven could say his piece.

"The Crystal City has disappeared for a long time," Steven added. "Even the secret organization doesn't know the new locations of its castles. However, we do know that they are recruiting."

"How do they even recruit without alerting your spies?" Noah asked. "Isn't this area under your control?"

"I honestly have no idea," Steven replied as a hint of helplessness appeared on his face. "I tried to keep track of some organization, but experts kept disappearing without triggering any reaction in my sensors. I can't find more about it if I can't see it happening."

"We'll deal with the Crystal City later," Noah eventually announced. "That force will prepare us for the fight against the true followers, but we have more impending matters now. Heaven and Earth are only a few steps away from countering my existence, so we need to move quickly."

"Do you want to unite them now?" Steven shouted when he understood Noah's plan. "We don't have enough power to deal with their defenses and cultivators."

"That's up to us to discover," Noah snorted. "I don't care if you don't want to fight. Just point us toward the nearest organization with many internal fights. Our arrival should be enough to start an internal war."

Steven didn't know what to say. Noah was giving him complete freedom, even if they were allies. He didn't request any favor. He was willing to go on his own if his companions failed to understand his reasons.

"I'll join the fight," Steven announced. "The hybrids might have roamed through the Outer Lands for far longer than humans, but you know nothing about their current layout. I'll be your guide and companion during the battle."

"Let's move then!" Noah shouted, and the entire group soon moved.

Steven took the lead of the group and flew across the regions while making sure that his companions were following him. A deadly battle was waiting for them at the end of that path, but none of them appeared worried about that.

King Elbas even managed to seize some time alone with Noah. The two had a similar mindset, so they could guess what was passing through the other's mind.

"That wasn't your only plan, right?" King Elbas whispered while flying next to Noah.

His words seemed unable to spread through the area. Their sounds vanished as soon as they reached Noah's ears.

"I have something else," Noah revealed while keeping his voice down, "But that approach is suicidal."

"Is Noah Balvan backing down from crazy plans?" King Elbas scoffed.

"Well," Noah hesitated before deciding to explain his idea. "Heaven and Earth take a lot of their power from weaker worlds. We might sever the connection with those Mortal Lands and take care of their source of energy, but the feat requires stepping into the void past the sky."

****

Author's notes: I woke up with 38, but the fever eventually vanished in the afternoon. It has yet to reappear, so I can only hope for the best. Anyway, I will still stick to this schedule for another day to make sure that my body is fully healed.