Birth of the Demonic Sword

The skeleton shattered after losing his existence. The dust that came out of his already destroyed body flew toward Noah and helped fix his injuries.

The effects were barely noticeable, especially as Noah deactivated his empowerments. The unstable substance, Isaac's ability, and ambition left him with a deep sense of weakness that slowed down his requirements and forced the black hole to invest more energy in dispersing stress. Still, he didn't face any deepening of his injuries, and his body remained stable.

Those drawbacks appeared unable to affect Noah deeply. His body was advancing slowly, but each step taken forward consisted in a massive increase in power. The same went for the black hole due to its connection with his dantian. The latter's improvements would multiply after reaching the fourth center of power.

Noah's potential increased after that victory. He had gone from succeeding in forcing his breakthrough and expanding what his centers of power could achieve to fighting a middle tier puppet and a solid stage cultivator in a relatively short time. He didn't actually defeat the expert at his full power on his own, but the battle had been so out of his range that his achievements had still fueled his ambition.

'I need a bit more for my dantian,' Noah concluded in his mind after inspecting the state of his centers of power.

The experiments with his copies had shown him how his centers of power could reach the ninth rank. His dantian could technically follow a regular path and expand as energy flowed in its insides and his influence intensified. Yet, most tests saw the organ using the accumulated potential to jump into the superior realm.

Noah had already seen how much his dantian would normally need, so he had to go beyond that to achieve the same results obtained with his mind. The ethereal blackness had enough space to make it grow after the breakthrough, but Noah wanted to establish a good foundation instead of improving it once it became a proper rank 9 center of power.

It wasn't hard to get a vague idea of how much Noah would need to execute that plan, but it was definitely scary. Truth be told, his existence was ready to step into the superior realm. Spending some time cultivating would be enough to bring him to a level where his current potential could close the gap that separated the dantian from the ninth rank. Still, his ambition didn't allow him to settle for perfection. He needed more.

'I need to fight middle tier and liquid stage opponents from now on,' Noah sighed when he thought about how steep his requirements had become. 'And I still need to use the energy in the ethereal blackness to make the last push.'

Going past his monstrous potential was only the first step. Noah's ethereal blackness had the last word on the matter. His dantian had to experience the same double empowerment as his mind and reach levels of power that even he didn't know how to describe.

Noah didn't even want to think about his body. All his copies had struggled to make it advance, and filling the requirements for the chrysalis had always required materials at an insane level.

'The closer I get, the longer the path stretches,' Noah thought as he let his mind drift away in that moment of peace, but his memories didn't let him remain in that state for long.

'And more blood gets spilled,' Noah continued his previous thought before pointing at the spot where the cultivator had died.

Dark matter seeped out of his fingers as the dark world expanded. Workshops appeared to help transform the higher energy and creating a simple structure.

Noah knew that King Elbas would have to modify that building later on, but he wanted his dark matter to stay at its core. Robert had been a good underling and companion, so Heaven and Earth needed a reminder that could resist the storms. Noah wasn't even afraid that the rulers would try to take it down since they had already shown how busy they were.

The dark matter transformed into bricks that carried the specific features dictated by his mind. Noah wanted to replicate Robert's existence while applying some modifications to prevent it from killing those who couldn't resist his toxic abilities. Ambition, anger, corrosion, and the ability to mutate Heaven and Earth's matter took the shape of walls, floors, ceilings, and roofs as a large obelisk grew from the ground and stretched toward the sky.

Familiar presences entered the dark world as Noah continued to build that monument. He recognized his companions, and King Elbas slowly approached him from the side.

King Elbas appeared fine, but his complexion was pale. He had been at some distance from the detonation of the three immense swords, but he had still suffered injuries that even his unique body couldn't hide.

The cultivator frowned and widened his eyes whenever Noah committed what he considered to be errors. However, he forced himself to remain silent, especially since the ambition radiated by each brick, tile, and wall eventually fixed everything and even surpassed what King Elbas could do with a single energy.

"We need to stop and recover," Noah stated once the building reached its completion. "It's the perfect chance to create a lasting reminder of Robert's life."

All the experts had gathered by then, and Noah had sensed King Elbas arriving with Steven and Divine Demon. He had to know that Robert had died.

"He might have cheated death more than you," King Elbas commented. "Can you even say that he died when his existence still lives through you?"

"Steven sure talks a lot," Noah scoffed.

"Did you miss that spot on purpose, or do you like to make me angry?" King Elbas asked while pointing at one of the bricks on the obelisk.

"Everyone likes to make you angry," Noah replied, "And I didn't miss anything."

"Do I really need to sho-?" King Elbas started to make an arrogant remark, but Noah's ambition fixed the flaw during his line and forced him to fall silent.

King Elbas' expression eventually turned serious before an obvious statement came out of his mouth. "We weren't ready for so much. Do you think the other breakthrough will cause something similar?"

"I hope they do," Noah replied. "Do you have any idea of how much Heaven and Earth have lost because that madman managed to touch structures that go beyond worlds?"

"I definitely need to hear that story again," King Elbas responded. "Also, that will only bring more threats that we can't handle."

"Then someone else might die," Noah explained before turning toward his companion. "I know you like to be prepared for everything, but Heaven and Earth have devoured laws for ears. We are literally against everything, so you have to accept the risk of the unknown."

"I'm not Divine Demon," King Elbas snorted. "You can't push my power forward through challenges."

"My underling died today," Noah sighed. "Heaven and Earth lost a dying pawn while we lost a pillar. We still don't know how much Sword Saint has affected them, so we will consider this as our loss. Let's avoid it next time."

"You are already pushing your existence past what your centers of power can handle," King Elbas responded. "What more can you do? What more can we do? Our opponents are simply strong."

"I have a few ideas for myself," Noah declared. "So, you all should get some."

"You are going for something crazy again, aren't you?" King Elbas asked.

"We should start classifying the levels of crazy," Noah suggested. "Though I wouldn't know where to put this anyway."