Birth of the Demonic Sword

The Elders wanted to discuss the matter further, but Noah had already made his mind. Of course, their doubts didn't concern Noah. Instead, they were worried that pointing out inevitable mistakes could put him in danger.

However, Noah knew far too well how troublesome it was to obtain the advantages of a magical beast. Imitating wasn't enough. Only a complete fusion could create a being similar to the ancestors of the natives.

That was merely impossible for entities that had already started to discover their individuality. The personalities of the cultivators would become something more than unique at that point, making it impossible to find a suitable match for a fusion.

Also, there was the issue of the instincts, which couldn't be ignored. After all, that problem had been the reason why they had managed to defeat the natives rather easily.

There wasn't a solution to those problems. For example, Noah had been able to find a match with the Cursed Dragon because he could use his personality as a standard. Yet, he couldn't find any species that suited his individuality.

As for the instincts, only a powerful mind could control and wield them. There wasn't a way around them.

There were also problems concerning the inscription method to use and the various calculations to make before proceeding with the fusion. Noah had managed to complete the testing phase rather quickly due to the Divine Deduction technique. Instead, the other forces would have to sacrifice a lot of assets just to obtain acceptable results.

The way Noah saw it, fusing with a magical beast once walking the path of the individuality was just impossible, which meant that no heroic asset would be able to obtain that power.

The only method that he could think of was to trigger the transformation and then return to a human form. There would be other issues connected with that procedure, and the outcome would be a bit weaker than him, but there didn't seem to be any other solution.

The Elders left the tent after deciding with Noah how the trades would work. The three factions could only send one envoy at the time and have private discussions with him at a price that had to be agreed beforehand.

Of course, the powerhouses weren't allowed in the meetings. Only cultivators with a similar or lower level to Noah could be envoys.

Noah resumed his meditation as he waited for the first envoy to arrive.

It took a while for the organizations to prepare questions and set a price with the Elders. Many even expressed complaints about how the Hive wanted to handle the situation. Nevertheless, that was the power of a monopoly, and a few resources were a small investment if they helped to avoid issues in the upcoming experiments.

A few days later, the Shandal Empire decided to send its envoy.

Noah lowered the defenses of his tent only to find a tall man at the peak of the fourth rank crossing the entrance while failing to keep a proud expression. Even the citizens of the Empire felt lacking when in front of a monster like Noah.

The idea of the Empire was quite crude. Its experts wanted to purify the compound and turn it into a core material for a body-nourishing method.

Noah listed a series of issues after he thought about that approach for a while. The biggest problem was that the cultivators training in that method would remain human beings, which meant giving up to the devouring properties of the beasts.

"You can't hope to obtain huge results with a non-invasive approach. Also, the quantity of compound necessary in the fifth rank would be immense." Noah explained, trying not to reveal more than he should.

The envoy left after his answer. It seemed that the Empire had paid a small price just to test if it was going in the right direction. Its experts would gather again now and request a meeting after they thought about something different.

A week later, Noah found himself lowering the defenses of his tent for Faith.

"I know. Even my superiors think that something is going on between us." Faith said as she sat on his same mat and revealed a playful smirk.

Noah put that matter in the back of his mind and focused on Faith's explanation.

The Council wanted to use the hybrids as a material to create formations on the bodies of its cultivators. Such formations would grow alongside them and feed on magical beasts as if they were some sort of parasites giving strength to its hosts in exchange for food.

Noah had to admit that the idea was interesting, even if it seemed impossible to accomplish due to various issues. However, he wasn't an expert when it came to formations, so he simply listed the problems that the Council could encounter if it used that approach.

First of all, a formation able to grow was akin to a living being, even if only in a form reliant on its host. Something like that was bound to have a will, and it could act against the cultivator in a desperate attempt for freedom.

Also, it appeared unstable as a method. The Council would need to develop a second formation to contain the parasite and force it to work according to the host's will. When considering the fact that the cultivators would still need a different body-nourishing method to improve, that approach seemed feasible only by a small number of elites.

Faith left after his answers, and Noah had to wait a month before another envoy knocked at his tent. The Empire had sent someone again, but it had a more precise idea at that time. Its experts wanted to create organic inscribed items from the hybrids and transplant them in their cultivators.

Noah felt shocked to hear that. He didn't even know that such inscription methods existed. Yet, there was a problem with the rejection of foreign tissues. Also, the hybrids weren't an infinite resource, which made that approach elitist.

After that meeting, the Elbas family finally decided to send someone, and Noah stood up when he saw June crossing the entrance of his tent.

"They said that you would just trick anyone belonging to the Royal family," June said.

Noah sealed the tent, and June pushed him on one of the couches available there when she sensed that they were finally divided from the outside world.

The two of them didn't have the chance to say goodbye when they returned from their mission due to the battle between the rank 6 existences. Yet, they made sure to fix that in that fortuitous moment of intimacy.

"Noah," June said as she turned to face her lover laying under her, "They want to use the Elemental Forging method. You knew that they would have made that connection."

Noah nodded and couldn't help but caress her cheek when he saw her worried expression.

Then, he abided to the terms of the meeting by pointing out the flaw of that method. "It's impossible to find suitable creatures for heroic cultivators."