Birth of the Demonic Sword

Noah and King Elbas couldn't miss that feature. The blinding environment past the crack in the void was hard to inspect, and the whiteness even tried to hide part of its insides, but the traces of life inevitably tainted that unnatural cover.

The mental waves spreading through the whiteness inspected every faint trace of life and tried to understand their sources. That process ended up being relatively easy. King Elbas and Noah couldn't fail to recognize the familiar energy radiated by magical beasts, humans, and hybrids.

"Why can we sense it so clearly?" Noah asked.

"I think you don't realize how powerful we are compared to these weaker worlds," King Elbas explained.

Noah gained a clearer understanding of that area after King Elbas' explanation. The whiteness acted as a protective layer, but its power barely reached the divine ranks. Heaven and Earth had no reason to invest more energy in those zones since they only featured human and heroic existences.

'No wonder Divine Architect managed to see other Mortal Lands,' Noah realized in his mind. 'No wonder King Elbas and Second Prince succeeded in creating the dimensional tunnel.'

It would have been impossible for rank 6 cultivators to ignore Heaven and Earth's restrictions if they used their full power. The knowledge concerning other Mortal Lands and the higher plane would have been untouchable for heroic experts otherwise.

Instead, Heaven and Earth seemed to have limited the power of the barriers among the weaker worlds. The rulers didn't bother to deploy a lot of energy for that task, which probably hinted at their indifference.

Learning about the different Mortal Lands and the higher plane was an important matter for existences. A greater understanding of the world could give insights on the whole cultivation journey and would allow them for the dangers ahead.

Still, the same wasn't valid for Heaven and Earth. The rulers had no reason to care about that knowledge. After all, every expert in history had failed to use the structure of the system to their advantage. The best they could do was migrating toward different Mortal Lands, which didn't cause any problem for the white sky.

The secrets hidden by the whiteness slowly revealed themselves as the two experts continued their inspection. Its nature grew clearer and allowed King Elbas and Noah to understand Its true purpose.

The light appeared more intense, but that was a trick. The areas past the void respected different rules where the seventh rank was the peak. Noah and King Elbas perceived that glow as blinding because it carried the highest available power in that isolated environment.

The cover created by the whiteness wasn't even a proper effect of that radiance. It was only a consequence of its task. The light was dividing the various weaker worlds into different separate dimensions that contained multiple Mortal Lands.

It turned out that King Elbas, Divine Architect, and Second Prince had never pierced those barriers. They had only seen the Mortal Lands contained in the separate dimension that included their world.

"These targets are useless," King Elbas eventually revealed. "It feels incredible to finally learn about the entire structure of Heaven and Earth's system, but the Mortal Lands can't help us. A single rank 8 existence can turn them into dust in a mere training session."

Noah didn't need King Elbas to explain that part. He had already noted those features in his mind, but he didn't lose hope.

The Mortal Lands couldn't do much for his organization. They contained too little power, and their energy even belonged to weaker realms. Noah's dark matter could consume them in less than an instant.

However, his targets had never been the Mortal Lands. Noah wanted the worlds that even Heaven and Earth saw as worthy nutrients. He desired something with the same power as the plane that had given birth to the Devils' crisis on the other side of the Immortal Lands.

"We must look deeper into these dimensions," Noah exclaimed. "The power of the light should give us hints about the nature of the separate dimensions. Let's find something worthy of our time."

"We shouldn't, not right now," King Elbas complained. "Let's do a proper and systematic exploration once we gather the entire team. Getting lost now would be a pity."

"Your items are working, right?" Noah asked as a canny smile appeared on his face.

"These cover only a quarter of all the preparations that I want to complete before the mission!" King Elbas snorted. "Also, what do you mean by work? My items always work!"

"Your golden rocks failed to isolate the sky many times," Noah said in a mocking tone while shaking his head.

"I would have killed Heaven and Earth already if I could counter the sky without performing any test," King Elbas scoffed. "You won't trick me this time. Continuing now is too dangerous. The flags, the bracelets, and the dimensional blades work. I need to polish them and create other stuff."

It was rare to see King Elbas suppressing his curiosity, but that made Noah realize how dangerous the situation actually was.

Truth be told, Noah was almost perfect for those types of missions. His innate awareness allowed him to keep good track of his position. His understanding of space could make him ignore the need for special items to pierce the void. Moreover, his higher energy could create a trail that even that emptiness couldn't destroy.

Yet, Noah understood King Elbas' worries. The environment had too many unclear variables. Preparing was mandatory, especially since they had a bit of time before the situation on the black landmass became critical.

'It would have saved us a lot of time,' Noah sighed before taking his head out of the crack.

King Elbas did the same, and he also heaved a deep sigh when he saw the crack in the void closing. The connection to the whiteness soon vanished, and the experts returned immersed in the complete blackness.

"We should go back," King Elbas suggested. "You also have to prepare. Don't tell me that the breakthrough is still far away."

"We both know that you'll get there first," Noah snorted. "I won't be able to advance until I find a valid source of energy. I need to steal from Heaven and Earth for my cultivation journey."

"Everyone inside the sky needs that," King Elbas replied, but his eyes suddenly sharpened.

Noah's instincts also sensed that something was off, and his eyes immediately went on the hole in the sky. The whiteness radiated by that blinding layer almost prevented him from seeing that passage, but he eventually managed to confirm that everything was ok.

However, that realization revealed another issue. Noah had clearly sensed that something dangerous was happening in his surroundings, but he couldn't understand the nature of that feeling.

Both Noah and King Elbas glanced at the hole again before exchanging a meaningful stare. They had silently decided to remain there and find out the reason behind that sensation instead of retreating.

The two experts descended closer to the hole before waiting for the danger to hit them. The sensation seemed to intensify from time to time, but nothing moved or happened in the emptiness of the void.

'How can I sense danger without the slightest fluctuation of energy?' Noah wondered, but the void soon gave an answer.

The two experts had unfolded their minds, and something eventually alerted them. The void seemed to bend in a spot near Noah. Part of its fabric stretched and gave birth to a pointy weapon that flew toward his head.