Birth of the Demonic Sword

Spells needed mental energy and "Breath" as their fuel.

The "Breath" was the power source, while the mental energy had to trace the diagrams needed for the activation of a spell.

A complex system of lines made a diagram, each line carried a specific meaning that produced the desired effect once they were linked together.

To put it simply, a spell was a set of lines that carried different meanings, and that was fueled by mental energy and "Breath".

Noah had been able to understand those meanings in the past and reproduce those that interested him through his body, creating a martial art which produced similar effects.

Yet, he had never been able to create a spell, he didn't know where to start on that field.

His Elemental forging methods needed materials and wills while the diagrams needed to copy the natural language of the "Breath" in the world, something that he couldn't hear nor read.

He had always thought that he couldn't create spells since he didn't know how to forge a diagram, but the new enlightenment proved him wrong.

'Diagrams are just conduits that force the "Breath" to work in specific ways, they act as laws, they just set a meaning.'

Noah thought as he followed his group past the dark gorge, their slow flight gave him all the time that he needed to ponder about that issue.

'Of course, they aren't just one meaning but a set of them that can create amazing effects once combined. They are even more complex than the will that handles my cultivation technique.'

Noah's attention briefly went on his low-waist, where his small half-transparent figure floated in front of dantian.

Noah had to continually refill the reserves of mental energy of his will to keep it active.

Still, its role was relatively simple, it just regulated the absorption speed of his rank 4 cultivation technique.

The new enlightenment had improved his growth once again, more laws of the darkness element fused with his dantian, favoring the absorption of "Breath".

That forced Noah to slow down his cultivation through his will.

His dantian enlarged continuously, Noah had to limit his cultivation technique if he wanted to preserve the health of its center of power.

Yet, even if he forcefully slowed down the absorption of "Breath", the speed at which his dantian enlarged continued to grow.

It couldn't be helped, the nourishment of the laws of the darkness element improved the status of his center of power, increasing what it was able to endure.

Because of that, Noah's cultivation speed continued to increase even though he restricted his cultivation technique.

'I need to create a complex will if I want to create a spell. Such a will should express the effects that I wish for once I fill it with my "Breath". It is doable.'

Noah had finally understood why he couldn't forge a spell through his inscription method: Because it was the wrong approach!

The Elemental forging method imbued meanings in items, transforming them in the process.

Instead, spells needed understanding, cultivators could either copy the work of Heaven and Earth or invent something equally complicated.

Of course, that wasn't something that Noah could do right now, he needed time and a safe environment where to test those ideas, and the enemy territory didn't meet those requirements at all.

Days passed without encountering any heroic cultivator, even the elders would take weeks to cross those territories at that speed.

Then, two huge shapes took form on the horizon.

The first one was another obelisk identical to the one in the middle of the plain filled with Spiked roots, a city had been built at its base too, it seemed that the Royals had invested a lot in the colonization of the piece of Immortal lands.

The other one was a giant tree with a thick silver trunk and a vast yellow crown.

The tree stood at some distance from the obelisk, and a forest made of smaller trees of its same species expanded from its base.

The sight was quite peculiar, humans and magical plants had created two similar environments so close to each other.

"These are Silver-yellow woods, and that one is a rank 5 specimen! Careful, they are a carnivorous species of magical plants."

Elder Laurel spoke as soon as she recognized those trees.

'The obelisk must scare the rank 5 plant, I don't see why it didn't expand the forest otherwise.'

Noah thought while he analyzed the scenery, the city and the forest were quite close, but there wasn't any sign of battle on the terrain between them.

"What should we do? This is already the second city, and the assault on the Empire must be almost over by now, I think we should just destroy an obelisk and retreat."

Elder Jason expressed the same idea as before.

The group was deep in the enemy territory, and weeks had passed since the mission started, something was bound to happen at that point.

Yet, Elder Austin didn't contact them, it seemed that even the Papral nation wasn't sending information to him.

'Killing human cultivators feels so useless, but advancing even more can only cut our path to retreat, we must be halfway through the eastern coast after all.'

Noah analyzed in his mind.

He felt conflicted about the current situation, the lack of reports from the Papral nation didn't make the situation clear, he couldn't decide which one was the best approach.

Then, as if answering their doubts, a blue light shone in the distant north, far away from their position.

The light was so bright that the group from the Hive could clearly see it, it was as if a pillar of light had enveloped the territories in the distance.

The sound of an explosion followed, and a shockwave chased after the sound.

The ground trembled, and the air shattered, even the robes of the cultivators in Noah's group fluttered when the shockwave reached the air around them.

The pillar of light released so much power that even Noah and the others could feel part of its effects.

"Don't tell me, the light comes from the territories of the Empire!"

Elder Hope shouted as her mouth opened in surprise, she couldn't imagine how a shockwave could travel for almost half of the eastern coast!

The group was so shocked that it didn't notice that runes lit up on top of the obelisk.