Chapter 2299

Sure Chapter 2299.Sure Decumia didn't counter the Foolery's offensive. She didn't stop the mindless charge or the intense hunger. Her approach carried power and secrets that Wilfred and the pig didn't completely understand. Of course, the Foolery didn't care about the event or the details behind it. The pig studied glanced at the shallow cuts on its body before lowering its head in preparation for its next charge. Instead, Wilfred had a more careful approach. He needed to be the mind of that team, but he felt pretty lost when he reviewed what had just happened. Decumia didn't do anything special. She had detonated her technique to generate energy that could hurt the Foolery. The severing of any connection with the explosions was the only unique aspect of the attack. The lack of connections had allowed the energy to ignore part of the Foolery's advantages. Yet, the chaotic storm that had formed after the explosion retained aspects belonging to Decumia's world. Wilfred and the Foolery's hunger couldn't sense them, but those gales had been too violent to be part of a natural event. Wilfred tried to compare the storm to Divine Demon's earthquakes. The two attacks had similar natures, but the latter carried Divine Demon's unmistakable influence. Instead, the gales that had hurt the pig resembled a natural catastrophe. 'It would make sense,' Wilfred accepted in his mind, 'But can she really do something like this? It should be impossible to achieve so much power without relying on worlds.' Wilfred knew that his understanding of the word "impossible" didn't express the reality of the final battle. The higher plane had seen many experts ignoring its general meaning, and his companions were mostly to blame for that. The Foolery was a perfect example of that topic. Steven had allowed it to achieve an unreasonable ability that even a leader from Heaven and Earth's army couldn't oppose. Still, Decumia wasn't the Foolery. No matter how insane they sounded, her ability had to follow general rules, which didn't happen during the last exchange. 'The storms weren't as strong as the earthquakes,' Wilfred thought, 'But we aren't as strong as Divine Demon or his opponent either.' The Foolery launched its offensive while Wilfred was busy reviewing the previous exchange. The charge was even faster than before, but Decumia decided to remain still once again. The pig slammed on the privileged cultivator, but the impact didn't send her away since the sky remained intact. Decumia saw her flesh being squashed on the white layer as power left her body, but a laugh continued to leave her bleeding mouth. "Still laughing?" The Foolery asked. "I can do that too!" The Foolery gave voice to a loud laugh that mixed with its squeals as farts came out of its limbs and butt. The smelly gas gave birth to another powerful sprint that squashed Decumia even more. Decumia's figure seemed about to turn into a gory mess, but a blinding purple radiance suddenly came out of her shattered body and filled the area. The smelly gas, shockwave, and overall energy released during the sprint fused with the purple light to transform into a colorless wave of power. Part of that fuel put some distance between the Foolery and Decumia, allowing her to rebuild her body. Decumia stretched her arms forward without interrupting her laugh. The vast sea of colorless energy churned and condensed in her palms before transforming into a violent current that pushed the Foolery away. The pig couldn't oppose the current. Its superior strength couldn't defeat the sheer violence slamming on its body, but that wasn't enough to stop it. Anger and hunger exploded out of the pig's body and took control of the area. The violent current became unable to touch it even if it was standing right in the middle of its raging energy. The Foolery didn't turn ethereal. Its power had actually reached new depths, which added weight to its presence. The space didn't seem to like that process, but the changes in that space-time array remained too faint to gain any meaning. "Hitting you doesn't necessarily lead to injuries," Decumia announced while interrupting her laugh. "You don't need to dodge to avoid an attack." "Did you finally acknowledge my superiority?" The Foolery proudly asked while rising its head, uncaring that the wild energy was still flowing around it. A pillar made of invisible energy fell on the violent currents and interrupted its flow. The colorless fuel lost its momentum and dispersed into the void, but Decumia didn't bother to glance at the source of that attack. Her eyes remained on the pig, and her expression grew happier with each passing second. Wilfred frowned when he inspected his fuming hands. Injuries had opened on his knuckles due to the remote contact with the violent current. Drawbacks had happened again, confirming that Decumia had obtained a new power. "Your power makes no sense," Decumia exclaimed as she suppressed a new laugh. "That makes it limitless in terms of abilities. How interesting." "Even Heaven and Earth's leaders accepted my might," The Foolery sighed as a single tear left its right eye. "Steven, Xavier will be our next target." "Your idiocy makes you troublesome," Decumia stated, "But I'm the most troublesome expert in the entire higher plane. My chaos always finds a way." Decumia shot forward to reach the Foolery, but she failed to touch it. Her hand seeped through its skin as if it wasn't really there, but everything changed when her arm ended in its mouth. The Foolery allowed Decumia to touch it again only to eat her arm. The limb couldn't survive the pig's teeth, but a purple cloud came out of the maimed spot. The cloud didn't affect the Foolery. Actually, that purple energy began to rotate as the pig ate it. Yet, Decumia laughed again, and a colorless spot appeared among that gas before expanding to remove any trace of the purple color. The pig's eyes widened in surprise as a violent cough took control of its body. It had absorbed part of the transformed gas, which turned out to be toxic for its world. Decumia's smile widened as she pressed her hands on the Foolery's head. Her body emitted a purple light that turned colorless before focusing on the pig's mind. The attack seemed to work on the Foolery. The pig rejected any form of control that Decumia was trying to apply to its mind, but it remained stuck in that position. A mere suppression couldn't keep the Foolery immobilized for too long. Intense hunger soon resumed to seep out of its skin, and anger also fused with that feeling to hurt Decumia and eat her energy. Still, Decumia didn't seem to care about the energy leaving her body. She wanted to inflict a lasting injury on the Foolery, and she appeared able to succeed. She only needed to endure the next blow. Decumia suddenly disappeared. The Foolery regained control of its body only to wear a frown. It didn't understand what had happened, but the shockwave that exploded before it solved that mystery. A loud noise expanded from the spot previously occupied by Decumia and spread in every direction. The Foolery didn't summon any defensive ability, and a superficial layer of its skin turned into a fuming mess that hid some burns. "I had her," The Foolery complained. "I won't risk losing you," Wilfred stated while teleporting next to the Foolery. "Your power is too useful." The Foolery's eyes lit up when it saw that Wilfred's massive arms had greatly suffered during the last exchange. His muscles were in the open, and smoke came out of those injuries. "We will be unbeatable now!" The Foolery squealed. "What?" Wilfred casually asked without moving his eyes from his opponent. "We can both exploit the smoke to get faster and stronger!" The Foolery proudly announced. Wilfred glanced at the Foolery while trying his best not to show any emotion. He didn't know how to react to the pig's excitement, so he limited himself to a simple "sure". Chapter 2300. Scuffle "Alexander's weaker version," Decumia called while straightening her position to stand on the sky. "You wouldn't belong on this battlefield without the help of your far stronger companions." "How many of you wouldn't be here without the sky's protection?" Wilfred responded. "The weakest of us is as strong as hundreds of you." "My, my," Decumia laughed. "You speak arrogant words for someone hiding behind a corpse. I wonder, will you also sacrifice yourself to give power to the pig?" Wilfred didn't take those words well. He had shared Steven's situation in the past. Supreme Thief had to save their lives and add aspects to their worlds to pave the path toward the ninth rank. Seeing how Steven had to give his life to make his power effective didn't promise anything good. Wilfred also knew that he was finding chances to attack only because the Foolery had become strangely reliable. Still, those opportunities weren't leading anywhere. Wilfred could push Decumia away and interrupt her attacks, but he couldn't hurt her deeply. He even struggled to open wounds in her already weakened figure. Questions on how to act piled on in Wilfred's mind. He wasn't the type to think during a battle. He preferred the straightforward approach that tested the limits of his physical strength, but it was clear that he couldn't defeat Decumia like that. Wilfred couldn't even expose himself since Decumia's chaos was too scary without the Foolery's influence acting as a defensive layer. Long-range attacks that exploited his new techniques were his only real option, but they couldn't help the pig too much. 'She has yet to understand how to counter the Foolery,' Wilfred thought, 'But she is getting there. If she learns how to ignore its influence, we might be in trouble.' Those thoughts ruled out the slow and ineffective long-range attacks from his options. Wilfred couldn't allow his opponent to become a problem for his companions. He wanted to ensure the Foolery's victory, but that might require a price, and he was willing to pay it. "Do you know how she is doing this?" Wilfred whispered as he tried to come up with a plan. "Doing what?" The Foolery asked. "Going past your power," Wilfred explained. "Her power is stretching past the limits of her world while remaining bound to it." "When did that happen?" The Foolery questioned. Wilfred couldn't help but glance at the Foolery. The pig appeared utterly clueless, but that didn't stop Wilfred from voicing another question. "Didn't you notice anything strange at all?" "I'm still eating her," The Foolery stated. "What changed?" Wilfred gave up on the matter. That idiocy probably favored the Foolery's new power, but it also made it unreliable when it came to plans or strategies. Wilfred had to handle that part on his own, so he came up with something relatively simple. "I'll distract her," Wilfred uttered. "Her chaos is troublesome, but she probably can't defend against you and me at the same time. I should also hurt her pretty badly if she decides to focus on you. We can do this." Wilfred was quite confident in his guess. Decumia had always needed to sever her energy from her existence to create abilities that could pierce the Foolery's defenses. His plan sounded beyond reasonable. Wilfred would be able to land a direct attack if Decumia didn't stop him, and the Foolery could do the same in the opposite situation. Of course, Wilfred's life would be in danger if Decumia decided to focus on him, but he didn't care about that. The Foolery would be able to deliver a clean blow through his sacrifice, and the lack of valuable defenses would probably make it reach Decumia's world. Both options would lead to positive results if Decumia didn't have anything surprising, which sounded reasonable since she had just learnt how to handle the Foolery. That was enough to push Wilfred in that direction. "What are you doing?" The Foolery asked when it saw that Wilfred was ready to charge ahead. "I'm preparing for the plan," Wilfred stated. "What plan?" The Foolery asked while tilting its head to its right. "Are you even listening to me?" Wilfred sighed. "I have a plan!" The Foolery squealed. "Let's go!" Wilfred had no idea what the pig had in mind, and he soon discovered that no amount of thinking could affect that situation. The smoke coming out of his arms suddenly grew violent and made him shoot toward Decumia, who could only laugh at that scene. The Foolery also used the smoke coming out of its damaged skin to accelerate. The pig flew in a straight line with Wilfred at its side, and both of them ended up leaving a smelly trail along their path. Wilfred didn't understand what was happening. His body sprinted on its own, and it even adjusted its path and momentum to match the Foolery's speed. Decumia let the two converge toward her without summoning any technique, so Wilfred had the chance to make a point of the situation. He connected that unreasonable development to the Foolery's ability, which forced him to move his thoughts to the next step. He had to attack. Wilfred closed his eyes and joined his hands above his head. His whole body tensed up, and his muscles bulged as they prepared themselves for the inevitable backlash. A long-range attack had reflected injuries to his body, so it was very likely that a direct blow would cause even more damage. Wilfred knew all of that, but he pressed forward and mustered as much strength as possible, uncaring that his limbs could explode during the impact. The Foolery limited itself to a simple charge, and its body landed on Decumia together with Wilfred's joint fists. A massive force fell on the privileged cultivator and ran deeply into her existence, but storms suddenly came out of her and sent everything flying away. The energy inside Decumia, Wilfred, and the Foolery saw an unstoppable force sending them away. The power released by their previous attacks acted as a shield, but their bodies suffered injuries anyway. It didn't take long before Wilfred and the Foolery reunited somewhere among the void. Their attention was still on the laughing Decumia, but their stances were quite different. "We almost had her!" The Foolery squealed. "Let's go again!" The Foolery had every intention to charge ahead right away, but Wilfred promptly wrapped his legs around its thick neck to stop it. The pig instinctively thought that Wilfred wanted to jump on its back, and anger burst out of its figure. Nevertheless, that anger waned when the pig noticed that Wilfred lacked his arms. He couldn't grab the Foolery with other limbs, and his condition actually created a problem. "Hurry up and regrow them," The Foolery ordered. "I can't so quickly," Wilfred complained as he kept pulling to express his intentions. "Give me some of the energy you have taken from her." "I didn't take anything," The Foolery snorted while tilting its head. Wilfred's legs were still bound to its neck, so the gesture ended up waving him around. "Don't copy Defying Demon," Wilfred scolded while crouching forward and headbutting the Foolery on its forehead. "I know you are eating under all that skin." "That's a complete lie," The Foolery declared before tilting its head on the other side. The gesture separated the two and slammed Wilfred on the pig's belly. "I can't fight like this!" Wilfred voiced an annoyed remark before bringing its legs back on the pig's neck. "I can't do anything about that," The Foolery squealed. "I'm almost done absorbing her energy. You can't take it at this stage." "You lied to buy yourself some time!" Wilfred shouted as he began to kick the side of the pig's head. "It's my energy!" The Foolery complained. "I took it! My belly is my domain!" "I am close to approaching the breakthrou-! AH!" Wilfred said before the Foolery bit his leg and forced him to interrupt his line. "You dumb pig!" Wilfred cried. "At least make one of those awful plants. They should have improved too, right?" The Foolery froze before slowly moving its head toward Wilfred. His leg was still in its mouth, but it didn't press on it anymore. "You forgot that you could do that, didn't you?" Wilfred sighed, recognizing the guilt behind the Foolery's expression. Chapter 2301. Confusion "I recall that ability," Decumia announced once the scuffle in the distance ended. "Go on. Make it. I want to see how it changed after your breakthrough." The Foolery and Wilfred turned toward Decumia to show their cold expressions. The privileged cultivator was underestimating them, and the pig couldn't let that go. "I only need a fraction of my power to defeat you!" The Foolery squealed. "We won't use my creat-!" "Shut up!" Wilfred scolded while pulling the pig from its neck. "Make that damned plant already." "But she is insulting us," The Foolery complained. "We'll get back at her by destroying her world," Wilfred declared. "That's the best form of revenge." "I don't know," The pig sighed. "Taking a dump on her would be more satisfying." "Do that after giving me some energy," Wilfred ordered as he tried his best to keep his cool. Decumia snickered while she admired the argument. Her laugh carried her complete lack of concern for her opponents' plan. She wasn't even trying to hide how little she cared about that strategy. "I'm going to take a dump on her now," The Foolery snorted, but Wilfred tightened his legs around its neck to stop its reckless charge. "She is taunting us!" Wilfred shouted. "I'm really not," Decumia responded. "I'm simply curious." "Your curiosity will be your doom!" The pig proudly announced while lifting its head, uncaring that the gesture flung Wilfred above it. "How?" Decumia wondered. "Your power is interesting, but your companion fails to qualify as a worthy opponent. A breakthrough won't change the shallow essence of his world." The second insult was more personal, even if Decumia had no mean intentions behind it. She was merely stating the truth, and Wilfred knew that she was right. Still, the insult succeeded in ending the argument. The Foolery couldn't stand hearing Decumia belittling its companions. The pig lowered its head, and a deep fart came out of its butt. Wilfred let go of the Foolery as smelly gas accumulated behind them. He wore his cold expression again as he waited for something worse to come out of the pig's butt, but nothing similar happened even after a few seconds passed. "Aren't you doing your thing?" Wilfred eventually whispered. "What thing?" The Foolery asked. "Aren't you creating your plants?" Wilfred specified. "What?" The Foolery exclaimed before understanding what Wilfred meant. "No, I was only expressing my anger." The fart suddenly stopped, and Wilfred found himself speechless. He finally experienced what King Elbas had to go through whenever he was with the Foolery, and he couldn't wait for that situation to end. "Can you do your thing now?" Wilfred almost begged. "I'll kill her on my own if you aren't fast enough!" The Foolery declared as if the previous interaction didn't happen. Decumia laughed, but she let the two complete their preparations. The Foolery released a louder and longer fart that stretched behind it and condensed to take the form of a smelly environment. The Foolery didn't stop there. It retreated to immerse half of its body in the smelly environment before lifting its head. The dense gas hid the results of its efforts, but both Wilfred and Decumia knew what was happening. "It's ready," The Foolery stated in a deep tone. "Don't be late." Wilfred struggled to take that statement seriously. Disgust and a tinge of fear appeared in his expression while he inspected the smelly area. The Foolery had created a proper domain, but the place resembled a poisonous trap rather than a technique meant to benefit Wilfred. "It can't be worse than being useless," Wilfred sighed before stepping toward the smelly domain and disappearing inside it. The Foolery nodded while inspecting the scene, but its gaze soon moved to Decumia. The privileged cultivator didn't even bother to suppress her grin, which enraged the pig even more. "Prepare yourself!" The pig ordered. "Why would I do something so boring?" Decumia giggled. The Foolery couldn't take that mocking anymore. It flapped its wings, farted, and used the smoke around its figure to create an incredible sprint that Decumia couldn't follow at all. The charge resembled a teleport due to how quickly everything happened. The Foolery left behind after-images as it appeared before Decumia to slam the entirety of its momentum on her. The impact pushed Decumia on the white layer, but the Foolery noticed how nothing about her figure broke. Injuries opened, and blood flowed out of her mouth, but she remained mostly intact. Moreover, her grin widened after the crash. "You don't get it, do you?" Decumia laughed as her injuries closed and her complexion improved. "Well, that's why you are so interesting. When paired with intellect, your unreasonable ability might actually fail to express so much power." The Foolery didn't care about Decumia's statements. It lowered its head and charged ahead again. Decumia welcomed the attack and let the pig attempt to squash her on the sky, but her body held strong. "I will thank you once I turn you into my pet," Decumia announced while the Foolery continued to push. "You showed me a field that my chaos had yet to affect. I'm confident I'll be able to defeat Divine Demon once this battle is over." An expanding purple halo followed Decumia's words. Her light stretched past her figure and tried to envelop the Foolery, but the latter appeared immune to that influence. It didn't take long before that power flowed toward it in the form of nutrients. The light abandoned its shades to become colorless and transform into the toxic gas that Decumia had summoned before. Yet, the Foolery continued to eat without showing any suffering. "Right," Decumia laughed. "Who said that something poisonous can affect you? Did you turn yourself immune to my technique?" The Foolery didn't reply. Its full attention was on Decumia's energy. It kept eating and absorbing as much as possible, but the privileged cultivator didn't show any reaction. "No," Decumia exclaimed. "You altered the nature of my attack. Anything is possible with you, isn't it? Defeating you is almost a pity." The Foolery's eyes widened in surprise when Decumia placed her hands on its head and pushed it away. She wasn't relying on any special technique. Her sheer physical strength seemed able to overcome the pig, which didn't make any sense. "To be clear," Decumia stated, "You are hurting me. My condition is far from ideal. I need to sacrifice something to push my chaos into your realm, but your reaction makes it worthwhile. I can feel my power growing stronger by watching your confused face." "This must be a trick," The Foolery claimed. "Sort of," Decumia giggled as she patted the Foolery's forehead. "It's nothing special. I'm turning my chaos into pure energy by cutting it away from my world. Your companion did something similar not too long ago." The Foolery couldn't connect that behavior to Sword Saint's previous achievements. It barely understood what was happening, but the situation was more than clear. Its power failed to overcome Decumia. Decumia's arms broke as soon as intense anger shot out of the Foolery's figure. Its power intensified, and its influence deepened as it summoned more of its unreasonable power. Decumia's skin withered under that deeper influence. The energy inside her fabric vanished and left behind flesh that turned into dust. Her bones and organs suffered the same fate, and the turn of her world soon arrived. An uneven, bright sphere appeared once the entirety of Decumia's figure vanished. The Foolery didn't hesitate to bite down on that world, but its mouth broke when its teeth stabbed its edges. The Foolery didn't give up, but its determination couldn't stop what was happening. Violent storms came out of the openings dug by its teeth and pushed it away, destroying vast chunks of its flesh in the process. The storms were so massive that the Foolery had the chance to seize control of its body only after slamming on the sky and rolling over it for half of the higher plane. The attack heavily maimed its figure, ripping away two legs and one wing, but its wounded face carried no pain. The pig felt only confusion. Chapter 2302. Technique The openings in Decumia's world didn't release her usually purple energy. They had directly unleashed powerful storms that didn't carry any connection to her, which was obviously surprising due to their source. Decumia's world seemed to have energy that didn't belong to her existence, but that was theoretically impossible. Yet, her ability to create chaos could stretch into strange realms, and the Foolery had gotten a taste of them. The Foolery didn't care about its injuries, but the last exchange forced it to study the situation. Decumia didn't only overcome its physical strength. She had also placed defenses in her very world, which required a more strategic approach. Yet, the Foolery had never been the intelligent type. Its ability had remained simple even after absorbing Steven. Its idiocy could create unreasonable wonders, but Decumia seemed able to predict them. The damage on Decumia's world vanished in no time, and purple energy soon seeped out of its edges. Her body quickly materialized and hid the source of her power. The Foolery soon saw that annoying grin again, but it didn't give in to its anger at that time. "Are you trying to think?" Decumia mocked. "That's so unbecoming of you." The Foolery didn't answer. It explored the depths of its mind in the hope of finding something that could end that battle. Still, the process didn't lead anywhere. The pig actually felt the arrival of a headache due to that unusual behavior. "You are so funny," Decumia laughed when she saw the pig's frown. "Don't worry. I'll explain it to you. I don't want to ruin your power." Decumia raised her arms, and purple energy gathered between her palms. That power took the shape of tendrils that stretched into the void and tried to affect its functioning, but they turned out to be too shallow for that deeper realm. "You can counter this," Decumia announced. "You can eat it easily even, but chaos has its way of finding unexplored paths." The tendrils exploded and generated massive colorless storms that tried to disperse into the void. Decumia summoned more purple power to contain them, and a spherical cage soon filled the space between her palms. The energy generated by the detonation became easy to study. Decumia had created a half-transparent item that could condense those raging storms. Their immense power was almost in the open, but they remained pretty mysterious due to their peculiar nature. The storms expressed Decumia's chaos without having any connection to her world. She appeared able to make her power pass for a natural calamity without lowering its overall might. Of course, the Foolery couldn't understand much, even after studying the scene for a while. The pig relied on its instincts to get an idea of what Decumia was using, but it failed to place that power into a specific category. Doing that wouldn't help it either since its ability didn't rely on its knowledge. "My state as a privileged cultivator allows you to counter me," Decumia declared. "However, I still have more power than you, and my world is far deeper. I can get access to better energy. I only need to transform it before using it against you." Decumia opened the sphere, and the storms didn't hesitate to shoot out. The hole in the cage pointed toward the Foolery, so most of those gales flew toward it and captured its figure in raging winds. The Foolery was injured, but that didn't prevent it from summoning its power. Its hunger spread and turned the gales into nothing more than nutrients. Yet, its influence failed to match the wind's speed. The pig managed to eat, but the gales remained too fast and powerful. Decumia had created something that the Foolery couldn't match even after the breakthrough. Its absorption speed couldn't keep up with the amount of power falling on its body. That difference in power put the Foolery in a pickle. It loved to eat, so it didn't dare to use its ability to escape that situation. However, injuries opened and closed on its body due to the fury of the storms and the absorbed energy. Decumia shook her head at that scene. She enjoyed seeing the Foolery immersed in its instinctive urges, but that situation had to end. After all, she also knew that Heaven and Earth were about to return. "This transformation costs me greatly," Decumia admitted while stepping forward to fly toward the Foolery. "I need to sever that energy from my world while spending power on reinforcing its nature. I basically maim myself whenever I launch something that can hurt you, and I retain no control over it." Decumia took a while to reach the Foolery, but the storms still raged there by that time. The energy invested in that attack had been immense, so seeing it alive wasn't surprising. "An ordinary expert would have already died by now," Decumia announced while covering her figure with purple light to enter the storms safely. "Yet, my chaos deepens whenever it stretches into untouched realms. You are the reason I'm growing stronger." Decumia flew through the storms until she arrived in front of the Foolery. The pig's cheeks and belly had inflated due to how much unabsorbed energy ran through its body. It was so busy eating that it had forgotten to digest. "How cute," Decumia giggled. "I think it's time to end this. I should be able to affect your mind without hurting you too much." Decumia took a deep breath before placing her hands on the Foolery's forehead. She couldn't use her normal energy to affect its mind, but she couldn't generate random storms either. The previous exchanges had allowed Decumia to gain some experience in that new field. She wasn't entirely confident, but she didn't want to waste more time. The Foolery would probably suffer major injuries during the process, but she was okay with that. Purple energy accumulated on her fingertips before generating small explosions. Thin gales came out of those detonations and seeped through the Foolery's skin, digging deep holes in it as they tried to approach its mind. The process was probably painful, but Decumia didn't see any suffering on the Foolery's face. The pig was too busy eating to care about anything else, and Decumia didn't mind that. Decumia couldn't control the thin gales diving into the Foolery's mind. They didn't belong to her world, so she could only improve the initial orders imparted before the severing while the process continued. "I reached your mind!" Decumia eventually exclaimed. "I wonder how simple it will-! What is happening?" The thin gales inside the Foolery's head suddenly disappeared, and the same went for all the storms in the area. Everything became peaceful, but Decumia came next. The energy inside her body vanished, and a foreign force tried to reach her world. "I get it now," The Foolery whispered. "I can finally understand the true source of my hunger." Decumia didn't know what had happened, but she didn't panic. Her new technique was nothing more than an experiment. It was almost normal to see it fail after so few attempts. "What's the source of your hunger?" Decumia asked while she studied the recent events to understand what could have gone wrong with her technique. "The source of my hunger is my unparalleled might!" The Foolery squealed. The answer was so idiotic that Decumia gave a spontaneous response. "No, it's not that." "Then it's my unparalleled intelligence!" The Foolery continued. "Definitely not that," Decumia replied. "My unparalleled beauty!" The Foolery shouted. "You are a pig," Decumia pointed out. "My unparalleled might!" The Foolery repeated. "You just said that," Decumia laughed. "Did you even get enlightened?" The Foolery had lifted its head, but it lowered it to inspect its opponent. Decumia saw pure seriousness in its gaze, and the line that followed that gesture generated evident traces of fear in her mind. "Who said that I need to be enlightened to add depth to my world?" Decumia wanted to say something, but an unstoppable force suddenly landed on her back and sent her back on the sky. Her body lacked energy, so her world appeared in the open again. Chapter 2303. Unstoppable Decumia knew that something had changed even before the destruction of her body. Her world appeared in the open when she touched the sky, but energy came out of it to rebuild her figure. Her eyes moved toward the source of the unstoppable force as soon as they reformed. The scene triggered a laugh that Decumia couldn't suppress, but her reaction didn't reflect the seriousness of her mindset. The smelly domain had remained still during the fight between the Foolery and Decumia. Its poisonous nature had also prevented the advance of mental waves in its insides. The battlefield had experts with minds that could pierce that gas, but everything stank so much that none of them had dared to inspect that area. Moreover, Decumia was the only expert involved in that battle, and she didn't care about Wilfred, so she didn't bother to check the smelly area. Yet, something had changed while she was attempting to subdue the Foolery. Currents had formed among the smelly domain. They had shrunk due to their loss of energy, and azure shades had also appeared among their brownish color. An immense tunnel had eventually cut through the whole domain to deliver an unstoppable blow on Decumia's back. The attack had destroyed her body and had pushed her away, but it didn't reveal the culprit. "Come out already," Decumia announced while keeping her eyes on the smelly domain. "I want to see if you have finally become interesting." The smelly domain exploded after those words. Currents carrying the awful scent of the Foolery's farts expanded through the higher plane, but all of them dispersed into the void quite soon. The explosion left nothing but void and a fuming figure at its center. Wilfred became visible again, but his expression was far from happy. He didn't seem to care about his new cultivation level. "That wasn't worth it," Wilfred sighed as he blew over his left shoulder to remove the last trace of the Foolery's fart. The gust of air spat out of Wilfred's mouth expanded and transformed into a rotating storm that cleaned his body. Those winds grew violent during their spinning motion, but the void eventually claimed them. A heavy aura unfolded once the storm disappeared. The power that only a solid stage expert could carry expanded through the area and revealed Wilfred's new level to the entire higher plane. His time inside the smelly domain had allowed him to reach the peak of the cultivation journey. "Now I must kill you," Wilfred exclaimed. "I need to give value to that torture." "I wonder if you can reach me at all," Decumia teased. Wilfred inspected his body and tightened his fists. The muscles on his arms bulged until they reached an inhuman size, and the process soon spread through the entirety of his body. "No wonder my old law couldn't reach these heights," Wilfred sighed. "No punch can make use of this power efficiently." Decumia waited for Wilfred to get used to his new level, but boredom soon took over her. She opened her mouth to say something, but an explosion abruptly resounded behind her and forced her to turn. "Movement techniques," Wilfred cursed while straightening his position on the white layer. "They are so annoying. I'm far better with arms." "You are fast," Decumia smirked. She didn't see Wilfred approach her, but something told her that his technique wasn't anything special. "Where is your chaos?" Wilfred asked while walking on the white layer to approach Decumia. "I wanted to give you a free attack," Decumia laughed. "I changed my mind." The whole area suddenly turned purple. Decumia filled that chunk of space with her aura in an instant, and her energy immediately started to condense into an array of tendrils that shot toward Wilfred. Wilfred found some tentacles already on him. Those limbs slammed on his body but failed to inflict any damage. Yet, purple patches appeared on his skin after the impact, and some of his veins also popped out to show similar shades. Decumia's chaos knew that physical prowess wasn't the answer against Wilfred. Her attack had instinctively targeted his energy and limbs, but a surprised expression appeared on her face when she established a connection with his body. "What is that?" Decumia gasped. Wilfred was too annoyed to answer. His muscles bulged, and the purple infection left his body. Faint clouds gathered around him, but they dispersed as soon as he raised his arms. That simple gesture generated violent gales that shot in every direction. Decumia had to use some of her tentacles to avoid getting flung away, but that gave Wilfred the chance to shoot forward. The momentum carried by Wilfred's sprint created a hole in the barrage of tentacles and allowed him to reach Decumia. His palms landed on her chest, and the power released during the attack touched levels that even Decumia struggled to comprehend. Wilfred was by no means a complicated expert. His world had gained techniques thanks to Supreme Thief, but he had kept sheer physical strength as his core. In theory, something so simple would fail to affect mighty privileged cultivators who had touched profound meanings. Yet, that exchange taught Decumia that anything could work as long as there was enough of it. Wilfred's physical strength didn't belong to the realm of hybrids. It simply made no sense, and Decumia didn't know whether her mind could even begin to understand its limits. It could be bottomless for all she understood. Simple martial arts also enhanced that sheer might. Wilfred had turned himself into an unstoppable force, and Decumia didn't need to put much thought into it. She knew that his attacks couldn't be blocked. The energy released by the palms dug a hole through the layers of purple energy and reached the world behind them. Decumia's core remained fine, but her whole existence trembled, and her body directly disappeared in the shockwave that followed. The pure violence carried by the impact slammed Decumia's world on the sky again. Her existence remained intact since Wilfred's attacks couldn't reach her deep realm, but he turned her powerless for a second nonetheless. Decumia didn't hesitate to expand her aura in every direction once the tremors ended. She knew how to handle Wilfred. She only needed to stop his attacks before he could complete them, and her chaos could do that easily. However, her energy disappeared before it could get too far. A heavy influence replaced it, and a big figure materialized before the maimed pieces of her body that she had managed to recreate. "I allowed him to act cool," The Foolery announced. "It's my turn now." The Foolery opened its mouth, and a pulling force came out of it. The few rebuilt chunks of Decumia's body vanished, and the edges of her world started to tremble under that influence. Decumia willingly created an opening in her world to create a storm far bigger than anything launched before. The Foolery's head would probably disappear if those gales landed on it, but Wilfred handled the attack. Wilfred teleported before the Foolery to place a hand right above the opening. The storms landed on his palm but failed to push back his arm. He even managed to condense them by closing his fingers. "Eat her up," Wilfred ordered. Chapter 2304. Mocking King Elbas sighed as he patted his clothes to remove the white dust that had accumulated after the last exchange. He and Divine Architect had gone through a series of casual attacks that involved inscribed items again, and she had come out on top, even if only slightly. Everything was going according to King Elbas' predictions. He was extremely arrogant, but that never affected his judgment. Divine Architect probably was one of the few experts who could claim to be his match, and he was okay with that. He would actually feel disappointed otherwise. Nevertheless, the evolution of the battlefield was adding pressure to that casual and laid-back behavior. King Elbas knew that something had to change soon, and Divine Architect also realized that. The two were simply holding back to see who would be the first to give in. "Are you scared?" Divine Architect announced when the silence became too dull to bear. "Did I overestimate you?" "Why would I be scared?" King Elbas snorted. "All the other major battles are reaching their breaking point," Divine Architect commented as her crystal eyes released a white flash. "Heaven and Earth are also about to come down. I thought you'd try your best to kill me before that. Did you start doubting yourself?" "Your arrogance limits your imagination," King Elbas sighed. "You think that I got scared because I'm still playing around. You can't even imagine the possibility that I only need one attack to defeat you." "Bluffing doesn't suit you," Divine Architect coldly replied. "You aren't bad, but you'd need to deconstruct all my work only to create the chance to hurt me." "To kill you," King Elbas corrected. "That's impossible," Divine Architect stated. "You would have already made your move if you had any confidence. Instead, you are hesitating. Even your inferior mind can't close itself to the truth. Isn't that why you tainted my castle with your influence during the past exchanges?" "I knew you noticed that," King Elbas casually acknowledged. "I was wondering why you didn't do anything about it. Is my influence too hard to stop?" "Don't overestimate yourself," Divine Architect declared. "Studying is a core aspect of all inscription masters. You chose to face me for a reason. The least I can do is find out why." "Don't search for a complicated answer," King Elbas mocked. "I came here because I'm better than you." "Go ahead then," Divine Architect challenged. "I let you infect my castle. You can destroy it by snapping your fingers." "Why would I do that?" King Elbas asked. "To seize some imaginary advantage," Divine Architect explained. "I'm in control of the battlefield now, but that will change if you destroy this castle. At least, that's what you think." "I never wanted to destroy this castle," King Elbas snorted. "I was only searching for your stash of materials. I never thought you would use separate dimensions to hide it." "I bet you will somehow connect this behavior to a weakness," Divine Architect guessed. "I'm hiding my stash because I fear someone might reach it, am I right?" "I wouldn't insult you like that," King Elbas reassured. "Well, I would have done it, but you ruined the joke. It lost style after coming out of your mouth." "You are so childish," Divine Architect sighed. "Your stay within that lousy organization tampered with your potential deeply. You are only a shadow of what you could have become." "That lousy organization is giving yours a hard time," King Elbas chuckled. "Maybe you should give some credit to those idiots." "We both know that all of this will become pointless once Heaven and Earth arrive," Divine Architect explained. "Go ahead. Defeat the other leaders. That won't change the outcome." "You are one of the leaders," King Elbas pointed out. "I can't be defeated," Divine Architect declared. "Let me guess," King Elbas voiced, but the battlefield suddenly captured his attention and made him interrupt his line. Divine Demon's insane burst of power, Sword Saint's crazy battle, and other significant events happened almost at the same time. The battlefield was changing again, and King Elbas knew what would happen next. "How can you hope to win against me when your companions distract you so much?" Divine Architect mocked. "I agree," King Elbas stated. "I've developed bad habits after looking out for those idiots for so long." "You can go if you want," Divine Architect uttered. "Our fight is pointless anyway. I'll preserve your energy and mind to study them once everything is over." "Are you praising me now?" King Elbas laughed. "If you consider that a praise," Divine Architect sighed. "Sure, you'll be the best guinea pig in my collection." "Funny how our minds work," King Elbas commented. "We really are perfect expressions of our field. You lack flexibility but do not worry. I'll put your energy and collection to better use." "Your mind can't even comprehend the limits of my power," Divine Architect stated. "How would you even improve on that?" "A true master never reveals his secrets," King Elbas scolded. "I'm sorry. You'll die without getting answers." "This is getting boring," Divine Architect uttered. "You voice threats without staying true to them." "We both know that you are doing the same," King Elbas joked. "Admit it. You still can't accept that I surpassed you." "You didn't," Divine Architect corrected. "Your current power comes from Heaven and Earth. You would have died without stealing their understanding." "But I didn't die," King Elbas pointed out. "A meager achievement that anyone can imitate," Divine Architect replied. "Why didn't you then?" King Elbas wondered. "I am arrogant, but I also know when something is truly amazing. My final energy is a masterpiece that even you envy." "I do desire your energy," Divine Architect admitted, "Just like I desire any precious material hidden in the universe. You are no different from a rare chunk of metal in my eyes." "I'm glad we agree on that," King Elbas stated. "Though I don't care about you. I only need your stash to improve myself. Your existence can't give me anything." "An inscription master doesn't need a superior existence to stand at the peak," Divine Architect declared. "As I said before," King Elbas laughed. "You lack flexibility." King Elbas snapped his fingers, and a series of spears came out of his body to fly toward Divine Architect. The latter didn't bother to move since tiles separated themselves from the balcony to appear in the weapons' trajectory. However, golden light appeared at the center of the tiles and forced them to explode. The detonations weren't violent, but the event cleared the path for the spears, which accelerated to take Divine Architect by surprise. Divine Architect found herself unable to react. The spears landed on her body and tried to dig through her skin, but they failed to leave any injury. Even her robe remained intact while the weapons continued to express their momentum. King Elbas snapped his fingers again, and the spears took fire. Golden flares shot out of those weapons and added power to their thrust, but they remained unable to pierce Divine Architect's robe. The spears eventually lost their power and turned into golden dust that dispersed on the balcony. The attack had been pointless, but Divine Architect appeared pissed nonetheless. "See," King Elbas exclaimed. "You noticed my influence, and you also found the three different types of infections that I sent through the castle. Still, you didn't see the fourth, fifth, and sixth." "I don't look out for ants," Divine Architect claimed. "You didn't create something that can ignore my senses. My defenses didn't react because your items were too weak." "That sounds like a victory to me," King Elbas pointed out. "A useless victory," Divine Architect sighed, "Like the entirety of this battle." "Please," King Elbas mocked. "It must burn. This is the second time I came out on top. Maybe you aren't as unbeatable as you think." Chapter 2305. Armies Divine Architect had never lied during her conversation with King Elbas, and the latter knew that. Divine Architect was better in countless fields. Yet, King Elbas had shown that he could beat her. Rank 9 cultivators could survive apocalyptic events and world-shattering attacks, but they had weaknesses, especially when it came to those at the very peak of the journey. Those experts had founded their power on years of training and firm faith in themselves, so insecurities and similar feelings could create massive flaws. Divine Architect didn't belong to that group. Her world was vast and deep, but she used her knowledge as her source of power. That made her the perfect inscription master, but it also exposed her to dangers that she found unrealistic. The matter was truly simple. Divine Architect believed to be the most knowledgeable cultivator in the higher plane, but King Elbas had shown how her understanding of the world had gaps. They weren't huge or significant, but they remained flaws nonetheless. "Only ants would rejoice at such a shameful achievement," Divine Architect announced. "Stop lying," King Elbas laughed. "I can feel the chaos in your mind. You didn't expect my last victory. It's clear that I can touch you." Silence fell between the two, but Divine Architect and King Elbas could sense the heavy meaning among that absence of words. Something was about to change in their battle. They were only waiting for one of them to make the first move. "Very well," Divine Architect exclaimed while standing up. "You seem desperate to test my power. I will indulge you." "How kind of you," King Elbas mocked. "We both know that you aren't doing me any favor. You are merely pissed that my attack escaped your understanding." "You are correct," Divine Architect acknowledged as her dense aura came out of her figure and filled the void past the castle. "You have succeeded in affecting my emotional state. You can find some comfort in this once death looms over your mind." "Let's not fight here," King Elbas stated, ignoring the threat. "I don't want to ruin my loot." "I won't fake arrogance just to play along with your joke," Divine Architect snorted. "No style at all," King Elbas sighed before snapping his fingers. A golden light suddenly came out of multiple tiles and other pieces of the castle. The radiance expanded until a net covered the structure and transformed it into an ethereal building. King Elbas then waved his hand, and the castle followed his gesture. The ethereal structure flew past the two and stopped in a random spot between the sky and the landmass. "I knew that you knew," King Elbas pointed out. "Why did you even try to take me by surprise then?" Divine Architect wondered. "I wanted to see your reactions," King Elbas revealed. "You wouldn't have gained anything even if I had an emotive reaction," Divine Architect stated. "I would have had fun teasing you afterward," King Elbas declared. "Fun," Divine Architect repeated. "Such a waste of my time." Divine Architect raised an arm to point it at King Elbas, and her aura immediately reacted. The white radiance coming out of her figure condensed until hundreds of portals opened on its surface. King Elbas couldn't help but smile in front of the army of inscribed items appearing around Divine Architect. He could see avatars, strange creatures, weapons, and far more while everything came forth and occupied specific spots. That deployment ended in a mere second. Divine Architect showed her true might to King Elbas. An army occupied the areas in front of her, weapons floated above it, and strange crystals hovered under it. Moreover, many ethereal mirrors floated around Divine Architect and reflected different shades depending on their targets. They tuned gold whenever King Elbas' reflection appeared inside them, but various colors came out once they pointed at the void. "Interesting," King Elbas exclaimed while inspecting the mirrors. "Are they?" Divine Architect asked before tapping on one of the mirrors to make it spin faster. "These are mere tools meant to enhance my senses." "You created items to inspect the meanings hidden in the void," King Elbas uttered. "Were you planning on leaving Heaven and Earth?" "Depending on Heaven and Earth was never part of my plans," Divine Architect revealed. "It's only normal to seek alternatives when dealing with such a powerful existence." "You improved on what you created in the Mortal Lands," King Elbas commented. "You built an item to gaze at higher worlds back then. You have done the same now." "Are you surprised?" Divine Architect wondered. "I wouldn't insult you like that," King Elbas replied. "The entire higher plane is aware of the level of your expertise. Still, you remain disappointing." "You couldn't do any better," Divine Architect stated. "I was busy preparing a war against a quasi-rank 10 existence," King Elbas pointed out. "I didn't give up and changed sides as soon as things became difficult." "You know that's not what happened," Divine Architect replied. "I'm teasing you, remember?" King Elbas reminded. "You really are no fun." "Just do it already," Divine Architect ordered. "Stop trying to surprise me." King Elbas' eyes flickered, but he eventually chose to stop playing around. He snapped his fingers, and most of Divine Architect's army exploded due to the golden infection he had applied during the conversation. The detonations were quite violent, but nothing managed to reach Divine Architect. An invisible barrier covered her figure and protected her from any wave of energy or fuming shard. King Elbas was ready to show his proud face, but his expression grew cold when he counted how many assets had survived his infection. Three-quarters of the army had turned into dust, but the rest of it was more than fine. "How often do you plan to use the same attack against me?" Divine Architect asked. "Your existence can give birth to countless iterations of the same infection, but all of them are part of my knowledge. It won't take long before I start to predict which ones you are going to use." "You will remain defenseless by that time," King Elbas declared. "Will I?" Divine Architect asked before her crystal eyes released a blinding flash. The light radiated by the crystals spread through the entirety of the higher plane and affected all the items that carried Divine Architect's aura. Those creations shattered and transformed into energy that flowed toward Divine Architect to fuse with her power. The white glow expanded again and generated even more portals. King Elbas soon found an even bigger army occupying the space between Divine Architect and him. That force was only a fraction of what Heaven and Earth had unleashed, but its quality seemed to surpass that. "Do you want to infect my creations again?" Divine Architect asked. "Maybe I should make them attack before that." Those words worked as an order that the army didn't hesitate to follow. The various avatars, weapons, creatures, and crystals began to radiate white glows as the energy inside them fueled their best attacks. King Elbas didn't even need to think. He knew that he didn't have the time to take out the army stealthily. Attacks started to fly toward him even before he could come up with a proper plan, but that didn't make him powerless. Countless white rays with various shapes and natures shot out of the army and converged toward King Elbas, but a golden light soon filled the area and overwhelmed Divine Architect's offensive. Roars that carried nine different tones resounded in the area as a giant figure replaced King Elbas. A massive nine-headed hydra expanded in the void while the white offensive fell on its body and failed to inflict any damage. Chapter 2306. Truth The nine-headed hydra appeared immune to the white attacks that fell on its body. Actually, part of their energy even fused with the golden radiance to add fuel to that giant creature. Divine Architect didn't falter. Her emotionless eyes flickered while she inspected the hydra. The creature was expanding and growing stronger, but its level remained unworthy of her worries. The hydra roared, and each head voiced a different cry. Some expressed pride, others pure arrogance. A couple even carried disdain toward the inferior life forms that dared to stand on their path. "Nine main meanings," Divine Architect concluded after her short inspection. "How do you hope to win against my diversity?" "You should land an attack before getting arrogant," King Elbas' voice came out of the nine heads. "The density of your creation is exceptional," Divine Architect admitted. "Still, its incredible features aren't the result of advanced inscription fields. You are merely relying on your superior energy." After those words, the army attacked again, but the offensive was clearly different. The many rays took the shape of rotating pillars that converged to create a massive, pointy figure that crashed on the hydra's belly. The golden fabric of the hydra endured the attack for a while, but the pointy weapon eventually created a path. The creature didn't voice any cry of pain, but its body still ended up with a giant hole at its center. The hole didn't take long to close, but the outcome of the attack was undeniable. Divine Architect could hurt the hydra without even going all-out. "Is my arrogance still misplaced?" Divine Architect asked. "Of course," King Elbas spoke through the heads before the hole in the hydra's belly reopened to launch an identical pointy pillar that turned golden during its flight. Divine Architect's army had items meant to protect her from incoming attacks. Some avatars and tens of four-legged creatures with wall-like heads stepped forward to stand in the pillar's path, but the power released during the impact surpassed Divine Architect's expectations. Golden light took control of the area and forced Divine Architect to rely on her mirrors to inspect the situation. The exchange had caused an explosion that destroyed her defenses and sent part of its violent energy everywhere. Needless to say, many of her creations crumbled in the process. The destruction didn't end there. The golden light ravaged many creations during its expansion, but it soon turned into a series of currents that targeted specific inscribed items. Moreover, the hydra roared to spit nine pillars that carried different natures. Some were dense and slow, while others were nothing more than a rain of needles. The new attacks fell on the army and joined the golden currents in their violent flight. Divine Architect's creations seemed powerless in front of that offensive, but King Elbas didn't feel any pride in that apparent victory. He knew that Divine Architect was allowing that to happen. The nine heads didn't limit themselves to simple attacks. Their mouths remained open as more energy came out of them and fell on the army. King Elbas changed the nature and density of the attacks while they continued to fly. He could alter everything from his position inside the hydra, and the army suffered in front of that incredible power. Divine Architect remained still until the entirety of her army became nothing more than dust hovering through the void. King Elbas' offensive didn't stop even at that point. The gales and pillars converged toward Divine Architect, but she ended everything by taking a step forward. King Elbas couldn't help but feel surprised when he saw all the energy carried by his attacks failing to pierce Divine Architect's palm. The privileged cultivator had come out of her barrier to stop the offensive with her hand. Still, disappointment filled her face when she saw that her gesture had been enough to protect her. "Your inscription methods are outdated," Divine Architect announced while closing her hand into a fist. The giant mass of energy imitated her fingers and condensed into an unstable golden line. The attack seemed on the verge of exploding, but Divine Architect used her other hand to tap on it. White shades expanded through the golden fabric until everything turned into dust. "I'm not even comparing these methods to mine," Divine Architect continued. "The higher plane featured inscription masters with advanced schools. Did you ignore all of them?" "You know that I didn't," King Elbas spoke through the nine heads. "I simply don't need to use those advanced methods." "That's your limit then," Divine Architect declared before going back among her mirrors and clapping her hands. Her aura expanded, and hundreds of portals appeared. An even bigger army soon occupied the areas in front of Divine Architect. Her stash of creation seemed countless, but King Elbas had expected something like that. After all, Divine Architect had spent numerous years inside the sky. Laughs came out of the hydra's heads once the army created battle formations. Divine Architect ignored that reaction, but her eyes lit up once she understood that something was wrong. However, Divine Architect ended up being one step too late. Golden lights appeared inside each member of the army and destabilized their structure before forcing all of them to explode. The ethereal barrier shielded Divine Architect from the energy and shards flying toward her, but she barely cared about that. Her whole attention was on the hydra. She almost couldn't believe that King Elbas had tricked her again. "Three," King Elbas spoke through the hydra. "This is my third victory." "You lied," Divine Architect cursed. "How?" King Elbas laughed. "I said that I didn't need advanced methods. I never promised that I wouldn't use them." Divine Architect had to admit that she couldn't read King Elbas. Her fighting style involved inspections and reactions, but her opponent didn't allow her to come up with proper countermeasures. The situation wasn't simple. King Elbas couldn't beat Divine Architect when it came to sheer knowledge, but he had a significant advantage. His final energy allowed him to turn obsolete inscription methods into fearsome weapons. King Elbas was turning Divine Architect's knowledge into a flaw. She relied on her long and thorough studies to predict King Elbas' behavior, but he followed different laws. His final energy made that possible. "It must burn," King Elbas mocked. "How is your world doing? How does it feel to lack the means to understand my power?" "You underestimate my resilience," Divine Architect replied as her mirrors reflected different areas of the space that divided her from King Elbas. "I simply don't know enough about your energy to develop a complete evaluation, but I'm getting there." "I'll explain this only once," King Elbas stated. "Even if you learnt every secret of my energy, you won't be able to understand my full potential." "Every living being is predictable," Divine Architect declared. "Rank 9 cultivators are extremely complicated, but they aren't exceptions." "I am," King Elbas laughed. "Well, do you plan on losing until you seize that understanding? You might die before that." "Defeating disposable items must feel like an incredible achievement for you," Divine Architect sighed. "Do not worry. I'll show you my true collection. If I fail to understand the final energy before your death, I'll take the truth from your corpse." Chapter 2307. Six King Elbas knew that he didn't face anything special. The previous armies had mainly featured inscribed items in the upper tier with special effects. Yet, none of them had been incredible. Divine Architect wasn't a random privileged cultivator. Heaven and Earth had chosen her for her talent in the inscription field, which had given her the chance to build wonders freely for countless years. King Elbas disagreed with that approach to the cultivation journey, but he could see its advantages. He could imagine what kind of wonders he would have created in Divine Architect's place, so he knew she had yet to show her true power. Of course, Divine Architect was very different from King Elbas. The latter couldn't predict the nature of her next attack. He only knew that she wouldn't give him the chance to hold back. Divine Architect inspected what remained of her previous army for a few seconds before raising her arm. Her aura accompanied her gesture and spread in her surroundings, but only a few portals appeared at that time. The portals expanded until they reached an incredible size. All of them were bigger than the golden hydra, but that alone didn't make King Elbas activate his best ability. Soon, giant figures stepped out of the portal. King Elbas could see an immense avatar that carried a flawed prototype of the final energy, a huge three-headed dog that released fuming saliva, and a thick mirror that seemed to contain unlimited power. The deployment didn't end there. A telescope flowed out and pointed its large end at King Elbas. A cloud filled with ethereal gas also left a portal, and a giant castle soon joined it. Six massive inscribed items at the peak of the ninth rank took their position around and in front of Divine Architect before unleashing their aura. The pressure generated by those weapons made the hydra's surface flicker, but King Elbas forced it to hold strong. The scene would be a true spectacle for any inscription master, and that was even truer for King Elbas. He only needed a glance to realize how exceptional those inscribed items were, and curiosity inevitably left the hydra. King Elbas' curiosity took the shape of a golden halo that stretched toward the six massive inscribed items, but the cloud didn't let that stand. Its gas shot forward and condensed to create a barrier that ate King Elbas' influence and prevented it from reaching Divine Architect. "You won't even let me study them," King Elbas complained through the nine heads. "Information is the key to victory," Divine Architect announced, "Especially in this battle. I'll learn faster than you anyway, but it doesn't hurt to widen that gap." "It almost sounds like you are afraid," King Elbas mocked. "No, it doesn't," Divine Architect responded. "This is the normal behavior of any reasonable cultivator. You simply let your companions alter your standards." "My companions are idiots," King Elbas admitted. "All of them are, but I wouldn't underestimate them. Even I had to acknowledge their power." "That only shows your inferiority," Divine Architect pointed out. "We'll see about that after the next exchange," King Elbas stated. Divine Architect snorted, and her creations understood her silent order. The giant shot through the gaseous barrier and generated enough momentum to reach the hydra in an instant.ᴘ The avatar was big enough to hug the nine long necks and attempt to squeeze them in its embrace. However, the golden fabric was too dense. It didn't budge even in front of that incredible physical strength. "You dare fight me with this inferior product?!" King Elbas shouted. Golden flares came out of the hydra's necks while its heads opened their mouths and pointed at the avatar. Energy gathered in their throats while the giant burnt under the influence of the golden radiance. The flares dug holes in the powerless avatar, but the latter endured the offensive. Meanwhile, the rest of the inscribed items reached the hydra and surrounded it before launching their abilities. The three-headed dog circled the hydra to stand behind it. Fuming rivers came out of its mouths and crashed on the golden fabric, where they created a white spot that expanded and released even more smoke. The telescope flew above the hydra and pointed its large side at it. A faint ray shot out of its lens and pierced the golden fabric without inflicting any damage. The item's purpose didn't seem to have anything to do with the offensive, but King Elbas didn't underestimate it anyway. The mirror took its place under the hydra, but it remained still. It reflected the creature without activating any ability. Meanwhile, the white gas split into countless minute currents that seeped into the golden fabric and vanished from the scene. The castle was the last to arrive. The structure turned itself ethereal before expanding and enveloping the whole battlefield. The item remained still afterward, but King Elbas didn't ignore it either. Divine Architect surrounded the hydra from every corner, but her offensive had just begun. The avatar was suffering some damage, but the three-headed dog was hurting King Elbas' creature. In those short seconds, the white spot had reached an incredible size, and King Elbas knew that instabilities were piling on. King Elbas wanted to focus on the hydra, but he suddenly noticed that a white ray had landed on his head. The golden fabric around him didn't appear able to hinder the telescope's ability, and his survival instinct soon screamed. Long and deep cracks opened throughout the hydra and revealed the white gas that had previously disappeared inside it. The castle also started to solidify, but everything turned white when the mirror released a blinding flash. King Elbas couldn't understand what was going on. He had deployed sensors inside the hydra long ago, and he even confirmed that the blinding light didn't destroy them. Yet, he couldn't see anything. He could only hear the screams of his survival instincts. The scene wasn't too different from the outside, but it revealed more details. The flash didn't immediately fill the area. The mirror released a dense pillar from its center that the castle replicated. The structure's sides generated similar attacks that covered its insides with the white light. The castle wasn't completely solid, but its edges managed to contain the immense power unleashed during the attack. The sheer might that the six items had been able to produce while working together seemed to stand at the same level as Marcella's vegetation. Yet, Divine Architect had condensed all of that into a far smaller area. Generally speaking, something so powerful could only have a single outcome. Noah and his core companions were monsters, but they had clear limits. Even they would find it hard to endure that attack without suffering serious injuries. However, King Elbas was by no means exposed. His hydra had suffered heavy damage, and his senses could only see whiteness, but he was still in control of his power and creations. Divine Architect's aloof face didn't tremble at all when a burning golden light filled her vision. Overwhelming power reached her senses, but her ethereal barrier protected her consciousness and allowed her to inspect the scene. A power that didn't seem to belong to the ninth rank unfolded in every direction before six huge figures came out of the expanding golden halo. Divine Architect's creations returned to her side and showed their damaged structures, but she ignored them. Her eyes remained on her opponent and his fake quasi-rank 10 state. Chapter 2308. Respect The avatar had deep and large holes on its torso and arms. Part of the faces of the three-headed dog had melted, and the giant telescope featured cracks on its large side. The castle appeared intact, but its ethereal figure flickered since part of its functions had suffered heavy damage. The white cloud had also shrunk. Only the giant mirror worked as intended, even if smoke came out of its edges. Any inscription master would try to fix the damage suffered by their inscribed items, but Divine Architect was different. She remained still as her eyes flashed from time to time. Her whole attention was on the fiery hydra, and nothing seemed able to interrupt her inspection. King Elbas remained calm while his world burnt. Reaching the fake quasi-rank 10 state required a heavy price, and he inevitably suffered while paying it. Nevertheless, King Elbas didn't let that pain distract him. A cold realization filled his mind while his creation burst with power. Divine Architect's inscribed items had endured part of his full might, but they had remained mostly intact. Generally speaking, quasi-rank 10 power should overwhelm peak rank 9 energy every time. Even the best creations at that level should shatter in front of something far superior. King Elbas' quasi-rank 10 state didn't reflect the actual superior realm, but it still carried enough power to be unmatched in the ninth rank. Yet, Divine Architect's creations had survived the burst of energy. The hydra condensed and shrunk. Its immense power took the shape of an unstable robe that covered King Elbas and made him illuminate the void. Flares shot out of the golden robe from time to time, but its energy always returned to King Elbas. Containing so much power was hard, but King Elbas was doing his best not to waste any of it. Golden flames came out of King Elbas' forehead before condensing into a bright crown. A fiery spear also appeared in his right palm, and the pressure radiated by its pointy tip made the void shake. Divine Architect had already seen and studied that form while she was in the sky. Still, King Elbas didn't hold back from improving it. Nine flares shot out of King Elbas' back. That unstable energy solidified to take the shape of scaled necks. Heads soon grew out of them to recreate part of the hydra, but Divine Architect could notice some differences. The creature carried far more power than before. That wasn't even the end of it. King Elbas had always been in control of the hydra, but now it shared a deeper connection with him. Divine Architect couldn't help but compare the nine heads to additional limbs, which naturally worsened her situation. "It's truly a spectacle," Divine Architect praised. "A fake breakthrough, an alteration of the cultivation journey. You might have cheated your way toward the final energy, but this remains a masterpiece." "Kowtow to me nine times, and I'll let you be my disciple," King Elbas snorted. "Maybe I'll tell you the secret behind this power once your training is complete." "I'll stick to taking that from your corpse," Divine Architect stated. "It won't take long before you burn yourself to death anyway." King Elbas showed a cold expression. The six inscribed items' resilience was off the charts, and Divine Architect probably had something else in store. It wouldn't sound odd if her plan involved tiring King Elbas out. King Elbas had understood all of that right after the previous exchange. However, Divine Architect had cornered him. He needed the fake quasi-rank 10 state to fight her on the same ground. "That avatar can adapt itself to any threat," King Elbas announced while pointing his spear at the giant and moving it toward the next inscribed item. "The dog is sturdy, but its corrosive saliva is its primary function. "The telescope is an advanced scanner. It can probably see past any defense. The castle had multiple functions, but you will mostly use it as a container since it pales in other fields compared to your other items." "Your knowledge won't scare me," Divine Architect commented. "The cloud is similar to the avatar," King Elbas continued, "But its structure allows it to perform complicated functions. As for the mirror…." "I know you will praise it," Divine Architect declared. "It is quite the masterpiece," King Elbas admitted. "It's not a container. It's an artificial source of power, infinite power." "I told you," Divine Architect reminded. "Relying on Heaven and Earth has never been part of my plans. I wouldn't mind remaining part of the sky, but I've long since been ready to leave." "Try not to use the mirror too much," King Elbas requested. "Destroying it would be a waste." "As if you had any control over this battle," Divine Architect sighed before pointing her arm at King Elbas. The scanners around Divine Architect shot toward and took their place around the huge mirror. The latter flashed to launch a massive wave of energy that the other items absorbed and reflected. A series of white rays shot toward the other five inscribed items. The energy released by the mirror perfectly fused with them and fixed their damage. It even strengthened their foundation and overall power. Nevertheless, King Elbas didn't stay still. Golden light filled the area as his figure teleported above the giant avatar. He looked at the item in disdain before lowering his spear and stabbing it on its head. The spear pierced the avatar's surface easily, and the power that came out of the fiery tip ravaged its insides. The inferior final energy couldn't do anything against King Elbas' attack, but that outcome didn't surprise Divine Architect. The mirror flashed, and the scanners spun to send the entirety of that new energy toward the avatar. The other inscribed items also moved to encircle King Elbas, but his crown shone before they could unleash their attack. The crown generated a heatwave so dense that only the cloud could pierce it without losing the entirety of its energy. Yet, its structure lacked too much power by then, so King Elbas remained untouched. Meanwhile, the spear continued to unleash its fiery power. The giant mirror flashed multiple times to send energy toward the avatar, but nothing seemed able to stop its destruction. Golden flames that made the very void churn and twist expanded inside the avatar. The item tried to use the additional energy to fix the damage, but the spear was unstoppable. Divine Architect began to raise her arm again, but she eventually halted that gesture. Her mind made her aware of an unpleasant truth. She knew that she couldn't stop what was happening. King Elbas snorted at the sight of Divine Architect's behavior, but he didn't interrupt his attack. The golden flames soon filled the entirety of the avatar and destabilized its structure, leading to a violent explosion that spread scorching heat. Divine Architect's eyes flashed as she inspected the scene. She searched for the remains of her creation, but the golden flames were burning everything. They didn't leave a single trace of the inferior final energy in the area. "I'm in my strongest state," King Elbas announced once the heatwave dispersed into the void. "Don't disrespect me with these inferior products." PREVIOUS Chapter Error Report CHAPTER ERROR REPORT NEXT Chapter 2309. Intercept A snort tried to leave Divine Architect's mouth, but she suppressed it. She wanted to reject King Elbas' statement, but he was right. His fake quasi-rank 10 state carried a force that she couldn't underestimate. The avatar vanished from the area without leaving any trace of its previous existence. King Elbas had burnt it thoroughly, and the other inscribed items couldn't do anything to stop his attack. The exchange would generally push a privileged cultivator to change tactics, but Divine Architect didn't bother to send anything else. She had lost one of the creations, but the battlefield still had five of them. Divine Architect pointed her arm at King Elbas, and her creations moved. The three-headed dog charged ahead, but three of the hydra's heads shot forward to stop its advance. The telescope remained in the backlines and released its faint white ray. However, its ability appeared unable to pierce King Elbas' body now. Its ethereal energy couldn't go past the incredible heat that surrounded its opponent. The cloud met similar problems. The item tried to surround King Elbas, but the heat radiated by his figure kept it away. The gas could only encircle him and burn while attempting to pierce his natural defenses. The castle had it easier since it didn't touch the incredible heat. The structure turned ethereal and encircled King Elbas without activating any ability. It seemed that Divine Architect didn't want it to do anything yet. The mirror remained in the backlines too, but King Elbas didn't forget it. In his mind, that item was the strongest asset in Divine Architect's possession, so he prepared himself for its imminent attack. Of course, King Elbas' preparations didn't merely involve standing still. His world was burning, so he couldn't waste time. Three of the hydra's heads had bitten on the dog's faces. The two sides appeared equally matched. The scorching golden surface countered the corrosive saliva, but things changed when fiery pillars came out of the scaled mouths. Meanwhile, the remaining six heads spat violent attacks in their surroundings. There didn't seem to be a pattern in the massive pillars of golden light coming out of their mouths, but the situation was different in King Elbas' mind. The castle's fabric flickered whenever pillars expanded in the scorching area. Cracks opened on its surfaces even if its structure was ethereal. King Elbas' power was so overwhelming that those ghostly materials couldn't help but suffer due to how close they were to the heat. The telescope could avoid suffering during King Elbas' offensive, but its faint ray retreated due to his expanding domain. His influence had taken the shape of a dense golden halo that didn't allow any foreign energy in his surroundings. The mirror remained outside that conflict, but the cloud couldn't imitate its approach. The gas was even closer than the castle, so the increasing heat burnt vast chunks of its fabric and reduced its overall size. However, the situation changed again when Divine Architect's eyes flashed. The cloud ignored its burning fabric and reassembled itself to take the shape of countless needles that pierced the scorching domain and made their way toward King Elbas. King Elbas ignored the incoming spikes and focused on the dog. The latter's heads were melting under the scorching rays spat by the hydra, but its overall structure was still holding strong. That stability didn't last long. King Elbas slightly tilted his right wrist, and the spear disappeared. The weapon reappeared on the dog's belly, where it pierced its fabric until it reached the very center of its body. There, the spear unleashed its fiery power. Blinding golden rays spread inside the dog and expanded until they filled every corner of its body. The creature stopped functioning for an instant before exploding into fuming shards. Divine Architect didn't feel any disappointment when all the shards turned into powerless dust. They couldn't survive that scorching environment in that poor shape, and she didn't care enough about her creation to save it. The needles pierced the explosion and approached King Elbas, but Divine Architect noticed something odd at that point. The hydra's head had disappeared, leaving King Elbas with nothing but his golden robe. Divine Architect realized that her cloud had walked into a trap, but she also knew that it was too late to do anything about it. The golden robe unleashed a dense shockwave that expanded through a spherical trajectory and burnt anything that dared to stand on its path. The shockwave didn't stop even after destroying the cloud. It expanded until it reached the castle's ethereal surface before morphing to imitate its shape. The golden fuel replicated the castle while replacing its position. The final energy solidified at that point, and smoke came out of its fabric. A screech eventually resounded in the area, and Divine Architect's eyes flashed again. The replica of the castle quickly crumbled and transformed into golden energy that flowed back toward King Elbas. His robe absorbed that power, and nine scaled necks came out of his back. The hydra returned, and its roar announced its small victory. The ethereal castle had vanished, and the same went for the cloud. King Elbas had destroyed both of them with a single attack, and the event had appeared effortless. Yet, Divine Architect knew how strong her creations were. She could calculate how much power King Elbas had to use to destroy them, so her confidence remained firm. She couldn't lose as long as things stayed like that. King Elbas was aware of his opponent's confidence, but he planned to shatter it with his next attack. His right arm rose to point at Divine Architect, and the fiery spear teleported in his palm. The weapon's movement generated a sharp and long trail of energy that shot forward. Divine Architect saw a giant slash flying toward her, but she ignored it while her attention moved to the telescope. King Elbas materialized on top of the telescope, where he stomped his feet. His robe, spear, crown, and hydra's heads accompanied the gesture by releasing scorching waves of energy that fell on the item and ravaged its structure. The telescope vanished in less than a second, but King Elbas found no happiness in his achievement. His speed had been incredible, and the same went for the power shown during the attack. Yet, Divine Architect had managed to follow his offensive. The long slash fell on Divine Architect, but her ethereal barrier prevented it from reaching her body. Cracks appeared on the defensive technique while the golden energy expressed its might, and the former crumbled after remaining in that clash for a few seconds. The slash tried to resume its flight and crash on Divine Architect, but its structure shattered at only one inch from her body. She didn't need to move since she had calculated that the attack would exhaust its energy before reaching her. King Elbas didn't like seeing Divine Architect learning the limits of his final energy, but he knew that he couldn't do anything about that. His focus had to remain on ending the battle, so he performed another teleport. Golden light accumulated in front of Divine Architect due to King Elbas' teleport. The movement technique was so quick that no rank 9 cultivator could react to it, but the mirror was an exception. Before King Elbas could materialize, the mirror launched a wave of energy that intercepted him. The attack wasn't dangerous, but it still pushed him away and interrupted his technique before he could reach Divine Architect. Chapter 2310. Crystals The white wave of power unleashed by the mirror could put average rank 9 cultivators in danger, but King Elbas was far beyond that level. Yet, Divine Architect didn't try to hurt him. She only wanted to interrupt his offensive. King Elbas felt powerless for a few seconds while the white attack pushed him away. The mirror's timing had been perfect. It had caught him in the middle of his teleport, which prolonged his helpless state. The wave of energy pushed King Elbas into the distance and threatened to launch him into the void, but he exploded with golden power once he stabilized his condition. The giant attack instantly burnt at that point, and a bright halo filled King Elbas' surroundings. Divine Architect snorted before pointing at a spot behind her. The mirror rotated and launched another giant wave of energy that targeted the designed area, suppressing the golden light that had begun to materialize. "I can see you," Divine Architect said without bothering to turn toward the torrent of white energy flowing behind her. Nevertheless, Divine Architect's crystal eyes released a short flash that made her sprint forward. Her perfect timing allowed her to dodge the vertical golden pillar that pierced the white river and interrupted the mirror's attack. Nine scaled heads came out of the pillars and unleashed a fiery sea that caught up with Divine Architect in no time. The latter felt forced to summon her portals, but her domain soon disappeared among the golden flames. "You are still disrespecting me," King Elbas said before stepping out of the golden pillar and landing on the sea. The energy inside the pilar crumbled into waves that fused with the fiery sea. King Elbas advanced through his scorching creation, and his spear soon pointed at a seemingly random spot in the distance. An unstoppable and blinding attack shot out of the spear and pierced the sea. Waves of flames formed as the structure opened to reveal a spherical white cage that had remained immersed among the golden flames. The cage shattered as soon as the blinding attack landed on its surface, revealing Divine Architect's intact figure. She appeared defenseless in her current state, and the spear's ability still retained enough energy to fly toward her, but she didn't bother to move. The giant mirror had spun again during King Elbas' offensive. Trembling energy had shot from its four corners and had gathered at its center, but that power shot forward once Divine Architect remained entirely in the open. The mirror launched a tiny and seemingly forgettable white needle that flew at high speed through the void. The attack was so fast that it reached the spear's ability before it could land on Divine Architect. The needle showed its true power once it fused with the blinding attack. The golden energy inside the ability lost its balance and momentum before falling into the sea. Divine Architect had stopped the spear. The event was quite incredible, but Divine Architect was far from done, and King Elbas noticed that right away. The fall of the blinding attack revealed a tiny white sphere that floated before Divine Architect. The energy contained in that small structure felt immense, so King Elbas didn't hesitate to make the whole sea crash on it. The sea roared in anger. Flares and waves shot out of its fiery surface as the entirety of its fabric crashed on Divine Architect and her tiny white sphere. The space-time fabric of the void struggled to endure the heavy pressure accumulated in the area, but it didn't break. King Elbas' offensive seemed able to get close to that realm, but it still fell short. It didn't take long before Divine Architect and her attack vanished among the golden energy. The whole sea condensed and retreated to unleash the entirety of its power on its target, and King Elbas even helped with more attacks. King Elbas pointed his spear and nine scaled heads at the unstable mass of golden energy that had surrounded Divine Architect. Attacks that didn't have a fixed form came out of his weapons and engulfed the area. The overall power contained in the offensive illuminated profound parts of the void, but King Elbas didn't feel satisfied just yet. The crown left King Elbas and flew in front of him before rising toward the nine heads. The violent pillars of golden light coming out of those mouths converged toward the circular item to fuse into a dense and piercing attack that focused even more power on their target. The uneven cage became visible again. Its unstable surface expanded as the dense attack filtered by the crown fused with its structure and increased its power. Smoke appeared all around the expanding cage. The level of power reached by the golden fabric became so high that even the void started to burn. King Elbas wasn't affecting its space-time array, but he was getting close to that realm. The shocking attack forced King Elbas to burn his world faster than before. He was going all-out without caring about the injuries suffered during the process. He only had one goal, and he would stop at nothing to achieve it. The giant mirror in the distance lost connection with Divine Architect due to the massive interference caused by King Elbas' attack. The item spun on itself a few times before accumulating power to launch a reckless attack on the expanding golden cage. King Elbas had predicted a similar outcome, and his robe reacted accordingly. The golden clothes left behind King Elbas and the hydra's necks as they shot toward the river of white energy and transformed into a vast wall that blocked that offensive. A crazy smile appeared on King Elbas' face as he pressed on with his offensive. He could feel the destruction of his existence, but he continued to burn his world to remain in his incredible state. He appeared willing to die to complete his task. Still, a humming soundwave eventually seeped out of the expanding cage. The noise flew through the entirety of the higher plane, even reaching areas of the void that almost matched King Elbas' achievements. The soundwave didn't damage King Elbas, but he interrupted his attacks when he understood its purpose. The golden cage and the remaining energy flying toward it lost their momentum and started to crumble a few seconds after the humming noise entered their fabric. King Elbas didn't even try to regain control of that crumbling energy. The humming noise had altered its fabric and turned it into something he couldn't control. The golden rain allowed Divine Architect to come out in the open, but her odd appearance left even King Elbas surprised. Her clothes had disappeared, and the same went for most of her skin, but King Elbas couldn't see muscles or blood. Divine Architect's insides were nothing more than white crystals. She didn't have muscles or organs. She actually resembled the old rulers, but her figure had far more details. Moreover, King Elbas found it hard to inspect Divine Architect's insides. Her crystal body featured layers over layers of defensive measures that hindered his inspection and made him unable to evaluate her potential. "Those are some thorough modifications," King Elbas commented before spreading his arms. The golden wall abandoned the giant mirror and transformed into a robe that flew back toward King Elbas. The crown also fell back on his head, and his dense aura expanded in the void once again. "Cultivators are flawed creatures," Divine Architect calmly explained. "Any decent inscription master should fix that issue. You did the same." King Elbas didn't answer, but Divine Architect seemed to know that the topic was over. She glanced at a fuming spot on her shoulder, but the gas disappeared when her eyes glowed. Even the small crack on the burnt crystal vanished during her stare. "Why aren't you bragging about your fourth small victory?" Divine Architect wondered while bringing her gaze back to King Elbas. "Are you out of taunts? Are you too tired to say anything?" "I might have overestimated you," King Elbas snorted. "I've already exposed your true form. I'll have loads of energy left to fight Heaven and Earth at this pace." "Predictable arrogance," Divine Architect sighed. "Well, I've studied you long enough. It's time to turn you into a corpse." Chapter 2311. Drill Divine Architect had almost sounded arrogant, but King Elbas knew that her statement had carried pure confidence. Still, the situation wasn't in her favor, and King Elbas couldn't predict what would come next. The mirror was still working as intended, but King Elbas could stop its power. Having access to unlimited energy was a significant advance, but Divine Architect couldn't benefit from it if that power didn't reach her. King Elbas was more worried about Divine Architect's crystal body. He was almost sure that his previous attack had landed on that sturdy material, but the minor injury resulting from that clash hinted at the existence of serious problems. 'How sturdy is that body?' King Elbas wondered while calculations happened in his mind. The fake quasi-rank 10 state had evident flaws. King Elbas could keep it active as long as his world remained relatively stable, and he could even stretch that limit with his creations. However, his time remained short. Meanwhile, Divine Architect probably had countless items in store. Those armies alone wouldn't have been a problem for King Elbas, but the crystal body changed everything. He might not last long enough to kill Divine Architect if she managed to surprise him a few more times. Of course, King Elbas had never expected the battle to be easy. He actually believed that he was the only one in his team who could defeat Divine Architect. Still, the situation was getting out of hand. "Turning me into a corpse," King Elbas chuckled. "You lost your best items and your fake skin. I only need to get through that body of yours, and victory will be mine." "Best items?" Divine Architect repeated. "You seem to have misunderstood me." Divine Architect's body began to shine with a white radiance that unfolded her aura. Her domain filled the void, but no portals appeared. Instead, her energy condensed until an oval structure materialized around her. The oval structure didn't carry any special features. It was nothing more than a huge white layer, but King Elbas felt unable to underestimate the power running inside it. That energy didn't wholly belong to Divine Architect. King Elbas could sense multiple natures flowing through the white structure and clashing to give birth to new power. "You should recognize this," Divine Architect announced. "One of your companions founded his world on a similar technique." "I see," King Elbas commented. "It's a workshop." "I never gave it a proper name," Divine Architect revealed. "My mind can execute the same functions without resorting to this tasteless show of power. I simply thought it was time to clarify the difference between you and me." A tremor ran through the white structure, and the waves inside it crashed on each other according to specific trajectories. The impacts gave birth to natures that King Elbas recognized, and his face turned cold when he saw giant figures coming out of the workshop. An avatar, a three-headed dog, a telescope, a cloud, and a castle left the white structure and took their position around Divine Architect. The items were identical to those destroyed by King Elbas during the previous exchange. They even carried the same amount of power. "Don't think too much about it," Divine Architect stated. "I can do this with the mirror too. I might not have your final energy, but I can still alter my materials to turn them in what I need." The white layer turned liquid, and Divine Architect absorbed it into her body. The fusion didn't lead to an increase in power. The privileged cultivator was merely showing how that technique had always been part of her. "Who is the ant now?" King Elbas mocked while pointing his spear forward. "I've already destroyed those items. I'll only do it faster now." "Go ahead," Divine Architect declared. "I won't stop you." King Elbas snorted, and a pillar of golden light shot out of the spear. The attack engulfed Divine Architect and her items, and King Elbas used that chance to teleport in the middle of the mess. "The avatar," Divine Architect sighed while enduring the golden attack with the sheer might of her body. "Of course." King Elbas heard those words, but he ignored them. He teleported above the avatar and prepared himself to stab his spear in its head, but his survival instincts suddenly screamed. The mirror had launched a tiny needle as soon as King Elbas activated his movement technique. The item had even predicted King Elbas' target. The expert found the small weapon right in front of his face by the time he lowered his spear. The attack was impossible to dodge. The needle stabbed King Elbas' forehead and fused with his body before releasing a humming soundwave that expanded through the entirety of the higher plane. The noise destabilized the golden energy, which started to lose power, but a tremor suddenly ran through it and brought new firmness to its structure. The same happened to King Elbas' body, which shone with even more might than before. That outcome allowed King Elbas to complete his attack. The spear stabbed the avatar and unleashed a torrent of power that instantly burnt its entire structure. King Elbas' offensive didn't end there. The torrent of energy flew deeper into the void before splitting into different currents that transformed and jumped into different paths. One current transformed into an arrow that teleported before the telescope's large side. The attack pierced its lens and ravaged its insides before turning it into nothing more than fuming dust. Another current morphed to take the shape of the giant nine-headed hydra. The creature reached the three-headed dog in an instant and absorbed it into its body to burn it. A rain of spears reached the cloud, and a river enveloped the castle. The two items tried to adapt to the threat, but King Elbas turned out to be one step ahead of them. They couldn't do anything while the attacks turned them into dust. The golden radiance dispersed at that point. King Elbas had cleared the area with a single attack, leaving Divine Architect in the open. Divine Architect seemed about to say something, but King Elbas didn't give her the time to speak. The hydra's heads fused back into his robe, and his crown started to shine as he dived toward Divine Architect. The void burnt as King Elbas focused the entirety of himself and his creations on a simple attack. The spear became the center of a drill-like structure that enveloped King Elbas while he dived toward Divine Architect. Divine Architect's calculations were perfect, but King Elbas stood outside them. His current offensive was faster and stronger than anything shown before. Her mirror was ready, but she couldn't use it to interrupt that charge. The spear landed at the center of Divine Architect's chest and unleashed the entirety of the accumulated power on that spot. White light gathered inside the targeted crystals, but the golden aura soon overwhelmed that radiance. King Elbas didn't hold anything back. He unleashed everything, even including the power of his robe and crown. His level went back to the liquid stage during the process, and his spear shattered due to the massive torrent of energy flowing through it. Divine Architect's body was truly incredible. King Elbas confirmed that during the clash. However, he had lived most of his life with the best hybrids in the world. His standards were incredibly high, and Divine Architect couldn't surpass them. The crystals shattered and created structural instabilities that King Elbas didn't hesitate to exploit. Golden lines spread through the hole dug by the spear and expanded the damage inflicted on Divine Architect. The energy carried by the attack was so vast that King Elbas had to remain still for a while. His presence was necessary to push everything toward the right target, and his body inevitably suffered. Still, when the attack ended, Divine Architect had turned into a maimed version of her previous self. Her crystal body carried a giant hole that ran from her abdomen to her shoulders. It was actually lucky that her arms had remained attached to her. Chapter 2312. Hole Divine Architect floated through the void. It was unclear whether she was dead or alive, but King Elbas didn't drop his guard. King Elbas felt weakness making its way inside his mind. The drawbacks of the fake quasi-rank 10 state were no joking matter. His very world had suffered severe injuries, but he couldn't retreat to fix the damage just yet. The giant mirror remained in its distant spot, but its functions appeared dormant. King Elbas studied it, but he couldn't find any ability in the making. The same went for the scanners around the mirror. They spun due to their lingering momentum, but they weren't doing anything special. They even started to separate due to the absence of orders or control over them. Everything seemed to point out in the direction of King Elbas' victory, but he knew that the battle couldn't have ended already. He felt that in his very existence. Divine Architect would be a disappointment otherwise. A dim light eventually came out of Divine Architect's crystal eyes. The radiance lasted only for a second, but it returned stronger than ever right afterward. The maimed crystal body released screeching noises as its arms and legs began to bend and move. Divine Architect's iconic aura also came out, but no portals appeared as that domain unfolded. Divine Architect's eyes went dark when she regained complete control of her body. Her detailed face remained aloof as she inspected the damage caused by King Elbas. A regular expert would show some surprise, but she appeared devoid of emotions in her current state. "Impressive," Divine Architect announced when her inspection ended. "Truly impressive." "You can sound calm as much as you want," King Elbas stated. "It won't change the truth. I know that I've surpassed your expectations." "You really did," Divine Architect admitted, "In multiple fields even. Your peak power is far higher than I expected, and the same goes for your energy consumption. You improved." King Elbas snorted, but he knew that Divine Architect had spoken the truth. His fake quasi-rank 10 state was an incredible technique, but the final battle didn't give him the time to achieve complete control over it. The margins of error were also quite vast. King Elbas had created a level of power that rank 9 experts couldn't reach. It was only normal for the technique to be partially wild. Nevertheless, King Elbas had smoothened out his use of the fake quasi-rank 10 state after the last battles. That was also his first time pushing the technique to its utmost limits. Divine Architect wasn't to blame for failing to evaluate his full potential. She lacked the numbers to calculate that prowess. "It's a pity your world has yet to reach the peak," Divine Architect continued while pointing at the hole in her chest. "I would have killed you without resorting to my technique in that case," King Elbas responded. "No," Divine Architect corrected. "Sure, you wouldn't have given me the chance to study you, but killing me is too much. I would have simply fought seriously from the very beginning." The hidden meaning behind Divine Architect's statement was quite evident, but King Elbas didn't address it. He used that silent moment to patch up his world and prepare it for the imminent exchange. Divine Architect's eyes flashed with white light. She seemed to have noticed something, but she also decided to ignore the matter. Instead, she waved her hand to make the mirror and the scanners fly back to her. The mirror took its spot behind Divine Architect and aligned its center with the hole in her chest. Meanwhile, the scanners started to rotate around her without performing any specific functions. "The mirror is an unlimited energy source," King Elbas pointed out, "But it can't heal you. Its output of energy has obvious limits." "I don't need to be lectured about my creations," Divine Architect declared. "I know exactly how much energy my mirror can produce, and I'm also aware of the complicated composition of my body. Why do you think I praised you?" "What do you have in mind then?" King Elbas directly asked in an attempt to prolong that conversation. "I don't blame you for your ignorance," Divine Architect exclaimed. "I didn't give out my real abilities during our exchanges, but you have proven yourself worthy of them." "Don't overestimate yourself," King Elbas snorted. "You won't trick me. I know that you can only have two or three trump cards able to deal with me." King Elbas' assumption was far from unfounded. His statement used the very limits of the ninth rank and added them to Divine Architect's incredible talent. "Only one actually," Divine Architect revealed. "Well, one or infinite. It can be both and more depending on how the universe feels." The announcement filled King Elbas' mind with deep fear. Divine Architect had yet to do anything, but King Elbas knew that she wasn't resorting to lies. She had mentioned the universe. The imminent exchange had to feature something unfathomable. "The higher plane is usually unsuitable for this," Divine Architect explained, "But this battle has destroyed enough of its space-time array. It's possible to create a direct connection with the universe even here." The giant mirror retreated, and the scanners left Divine Architect to spin in a seemingly random spot at her side. Energy left her crystal figure and her item to add power to her rotating tools, and King Elbas remained speechless when he tried to calculate it. Divine Architect was merely pointing at her scanners, but the energy released by her body was immense. King Elbas guessed that she had melted many of her material to provide that powerful fuel, and the absence of portals only added value to his idea. The scanners slowly turned into blinding items that accelerated to create a bright circle hovering in the middle of the void. Their speed increased as Divine Architect added more energy to their structure, and the space inside them started to bend. The event was quite hard to see. Divine Architect wasn't affecting the space-time array of the higher plane. The final battle had already shattered it. Instead, she was targeting the very void in an attempt to reach distant parts of the universe. King Elbas' astonishment increased as the process continued. He slowly understood the nature of Divine Architect's technique, and that realization almost affected his sanity. He couldn't believe his eyes as they kept staring at the churning space among the bright circle. "Creating is like breathing for me," Divine Architect revealed. "I have mastered every inscription school that has ever existed, and I've even invented many of them. Yet, I also have innate inclinations." "You gazed at higher worlds," King Elbas whispered. "That was an immature inclination," Divine Architect explained. "The ability to look at superior forms of existence is indeed worthy of praises, but it couldn't be my final stage." The scanners started to release a humming noise once their speed reached critical heights. The space-time array of the void also began to break to reveal deeper parts of the universe. An unfathomable force seeped through the bright circle once the hole in the void became big enough. King Elbas didn't need to inspect it to know what it was, but his full attention remained glued to the event. An immense stream of information flowed through King Elbas' mind, but he felt forced to shut his senses after a while. The knowledge contained in that unfathomable energy was too deep for his centers of power. It actually hurt to try to understand it. "You can understand me, can't you?" Divine Architect asked. "We both are inscription masters unsatisfied with the ninth rank. The higher levels have always been our targets. That's why we created techniques to seize them." "You can't hope to control something like that," King Elbas declared. "I won't," Divine Architect uttered. "I'll only point at you and wait for your death." Chapter 2313. Universe King Elbas experienced countless emotions while inspecting the bright circle. He felt unable to speak as curiosity, admiration, respect, and pure amazement ran through his mind and forced him to stay still. The bright circle was far from complicated, at least when it came to its core. Its nature was extremely simple to deduce for an inscription master who knew what Heaven and Earth had created in the sky. Still, that didn't make the item less astonishing. Divine Architect had created a telescope that could gaze at the Immortal Lands when she was only a heroic cultivator. Now, she stood at the peak of the cultivation journey, and she had spent most of her life submerged in Heaven and Earth's wealth. Her evolution felt unavoidable. The bright circle replicated the telescope's ability while adding a portal to its functions. The item created a connection with the depths of the universe to bring superior energy into the higher plane. King Elbas could sense an energy that couldn't belong to the ninth rank crossing the edges of the higher plane to enter the final battlefield. Deep meanings that only the universe could hide seeped through the blinding portal and leaked part of their power into their surroundings. Heaven and Earth had created an area that allowed their assets to gaze at the paths beyond the ninth rank. However, Divine Architect had gone past that. She had built something that could bring that superior energy within her reach. Of course, Divine Architect had clear limits that King Elbas had called out as soon as he understood the nature of the technique. She couldn't possibly hope to control that superior energy. She couldn't even pick the meanings that entered the higher plane. That gave birth to uneven and messy energy. Multiple natures and waves filled the power seeping through the portals, and some of them were weak enough for King Elbas' mind. He could finally study something and discover far more details. "That's not even an attack," King Elbas stated. "Energy is energy," Divine Architect contradicted. "If it kills, it's an attack." King Elbas understood that Divine Architect wasn't holding anything back. She wouldn't explain the theory behind her technique, but she wouldn't hide what it caused. Divine Architect's offensive became clear in King Elbas' mind. She was merely summoning the universe's energy to unleash it on King Elbas. That simple approach didn't take anything away from Divine Architect's fantastic performance. King Elbas actually had to admit that she couldn't do anything else with that energy. That was the maximum expression of Divine Architect's power, and no rank 9 expert could hope to fight her. "Don't give up already," Divine Architect ordered as the circle spun even faster and started to enforce some order on the superior force. "It would be a waste if I destroyed everything about you." The portal wasn't trying to affect the superior force. Divine Architect was simply creating a momentum that the deeper meanings could follow. That was the only available path to bend the universe's power to her will. The item's spinning motion reached the critical point when the colorless force in its insides flowed toward its center. King Elbas watched all of that happen in slow motion due to his incredible concentration, but his instincts eventually snapped him out of his stunned state. A violent reaction happened when the superior force gathered at the center of the portal. The different types of energy that made that power couldn't coexist, so their clash generated a colorless explosion. Divine Architect had already pointed the portal toward King Elbas, so most of the energy generated during the explosion flew in his direction. Some flares escaped in the void, but an impressive ray still approached King Elbas at high speed. Dodging the attack was simply impossible. The lack of harmony in the colorless ray lowered its overall power, but it didn't make it fall in the ninth rank. King Elbas was against a proper river that carried rank 10 energy. His death seemed unavoidable, but he wasn't a regular expert. Desperation tried to take control of his mind, but that feeling couldn't find a place among his countless plans. The colorless ray enveloped King Elbas and continued to fly through the higher plane. However, its innate instability made it split into multiple waves of energy that dispersed into the void. That behavior was predictable. That energy was too deep for the higher plane, so it flew toward a space-time array that could contain it after losing the momentum created by the blinding portal. "Impressive," Divine Architect commented before a burst of golden energy expanded from King Elbas' spot. The golden halo dimmed in the next seconds and revealed King Elbas' maimed figure. He had entered the fake quasi-rank 10 state again and had even donned his incredible items, but all of them had suffered severe damage. The robe had almost disappeared. Golden flames had replaced its edges, but smoke came out of them due to the damage suffered by the final energy. The spear was also broken. Its tip had disappeared, leaving only a shaft that released dark smoke. A few flames tried to come out of that maimed spot, but they appeared unable to express their power. A deep crack ran through the crown, and half of it fell from King Elbas' head before shattering into golden dust. King Elbas couldn't recover that energy since the attack had removed any connection with his power. The hydra's nine heads had come out of King Elbas' back, but the attack had turned them into severed necks. Pillars of dense dark smoke left the many injuries on their surface, and life abandoned them in the seconds after the clash. King Elbas' main figure was mostly intact, but his surfaces flickered, revealing the severe injuries hidden underneath. He was only pretending to be okay, and Divine Architect saw right through that. Yet, she didn't care enough to address the matter. "You are such a waste," Divine Architect sighed. "You probably are the only expert in your organization with the knowledge to block my attack." "You underestimate my organization too much," King Elbas snorted before coughing and spitting golden lumps of flames. "No one else could have exploited the strands of weaker energy to destabilize my attack," Divine Architect doubled down on her previous statement. "Still, the effort left you barely able to stand. The next blow will kill you." Divine Architect ignored King Elbas and began to add energy to her portal. She needed to fuel the ability again, and the price was exorbitant. Yet, she didn't lack resources nor minded that expense. King Elbas felt incredibly weak. The last attack had forced him to use the fake quasi-rank 10 state way too soon. His world was suffering greatly, and that sacrifice wasn't paying off. "This is so annoying," King Elbas cursed. "Are you having regrets now?" Divine Architect wondered while her attention remained on the spinning item. "That's quite unbecoming. I guess even you can't remain cool in the face of death". "Heaven and Earth will know all our trump cards," King Elbas cursed again. "So annoying." "Please," Divine Architect commented. "I know the limits of your final energy now. I'm also aware of every existing inscription field. You don't have anything left." "You lack flexibility," King Elbas coughed. "Your flaw prevents you from considering the existence of miracles." Chapter 2314. Will Divine Architect's crystal eyes flashed with white light. The radiance didn't disappear like before. Instead, it continued to shine even after a few seconds passed. It didn't take a genius to understand the meaning behind King Elbas' statement, especially for someone who had studied him for a long time. Yet, Divine Architect almost couldn't believe that her opponent had dared to mention something so ridiculous. "You are bluffing," Divine Architect eventually announced. "An inscription master can't seize that power. It goes against the very logic of their existence." "I told you," King Elbas coughed as he tried his best to stabilize his condition. "You lack flexibility." "Enough with your meaningless words," Divine Architect scoffed. "You will die now." The blinding circle spun faster, and superior force seeped through it to enter the higher plane. The deep energy was different from before due to the new meanings attracted, but its overall power remained on par with the previous attack. King Elbas stared at the superior force for a while, but a sigh eventually interrupted his inspection. An annoyed expression took control of his face as he glanced at Divine Demon and the Foolery. Part of him felt glad that they were too busy to look at him. "That's surprising," Divine Architect exclaimed. "I would have expected arrogance, not fear." "That's because you won't be alive to see what I'll go through after this," King Elbas responded. "So annoying." "Did you even hold back because of Heaven and Earth?" Divine Architect mocked. "It almost sounds like you are more scared of your companions." "You really had it easy in the sky," King Elbas sighed. "Don't worry. I'll make you understand your mistake." "I'm sure there won't be much understanding going on," Divine Architect stated. "Not from your side, at least," King Elbas declared before closing his eyes and pointing his broken spear at the spinning portal. Divine Architect snorted, but she didn't lose her focus. She even had some doubts about King Elbas' claims, but she didn't bother too much about them. It didn't matter if King Elbas was telling the truth. He was in no condition to face another rank 10 ray. That power went beyond the realm of the miracles. The portal reached its critical point when the superior energy in its insides started to fly toward its center. A clash happened, and a colorless ray shot forward. Some energy dispersed into the void due to the different natures condensed in the colorless ray. However, a big chunk of the attack remained pointed at King Elbas and reached him faster than any rank 9 movement technique. Divine Architect was utterly confident. The eventuality that King Elbas could defend against the attack didn't exist in her mind. Everything pointed toward her victory, so she prepared herself to summon inscribed items meant to dissect, analyze, and preserve her opponent's corpse. Yet, before the colorless ray could hit, King Elbas exploded with a massive burst of power that made him reach unseen energy levels. He surpassed his previous peak, and a golden radiance flashed before him to meet the enemy attack. The colorless ray was nothing more than a convoluted mass of unstable energy that featured different natures. Its sheer power went beyond anything in the ninth rank, but its stability wasn't even average. The sheer power contained in the ray could stop most rank 9 experts from exploiting its innate weaknesses. However, King Elbas had already shown that he could touch those flaws with his fake quasi-rank 10 state, and his current attack was even stronger than before. The golden flash seeped into the ray and enhanced the instabilities that affected its structure. King Elbas' attack worked as a filter that forced the different energy waves to split or clash. The ray crumbled into a series of attacks that flew in different directions and explosions. The sheer power unleashed by the detonation was immense, but it fell close to the limits of the ninth rank, which allowed King Elbas to endure it. The exchange naturally attracted Divine Architect's attention, and pure stupor filled her mind when everything calmed down enough to reveal King Elbas' figure. She couldn't believe her enhanced eyes when she saw her opponent devoid of any injury and at the peak of his power. "What?" Divine Architect couldn't help but shout. The matter was far from simple. Divine Architect would have accepted secret weapons or reckless techniques, but King Elbas didn't seem to have resorted to any of them. King Elbas had merely gone back to his peak and fixed his items. Actually, his level had slightly increased, but that outcome didn't make any sense. Divine Architect had calculated how much energy he had left after the previous exchange, which wasn't theoretically enough to produce those results. "Did you hide your enhanced final energy before the final battle?" Divine Architect asked as she regained complete control of her mind and tried to come up with reasonable explanations. "You know I didn't," King Elbas stated as he inspected his recovered figure. "I would have never allowed you to injure me otherwise." "Where did you get this energy then?" Divine Architect asked. "And don't play games. Answer me." "We are quite demanding, aren't we?" King Elbas laughed. "I told you. I performed a miracle." "Stuff like that doesn't exist," Divine Architect claimed. "Divine Demon used the assistance of the world to create his techniques, and the pig isn't too complicated either. We both can translate their miracles into actual techniques." "But you can't replicate them," King Elbas declared. "Your immense knowledge is a limit that you can't overcome. Instead of isolating yourself in the sky, you should have spent the past millennia among unreasonable idiots." Divine Architect was tired of those meaningless words. Countless items left her figure and melted before fusing with her blinding circle. She didn't need King Elbas to find answers. She only had to kill him and seize those explanations from his corpse. "You saw similarities in our paths," King Elbas announced before teleporting above Divine Architect so quickly that even her enhanced senses failed to register that movement. Divine Architect quickly decided to ignore the teleport. Her body could endure another attack, and she was also ready to sacrifice her inscribed item. It didn't matter what King Elbas did. Both options would leave him exposed. "But you are terribly wrong," King Elbas continued as he pointed his spear toward Divine Architect. "How we seize power that overcomes the ninth rank already explains the immense differences in our mindsets." "Shall I remind you that you stole from Heaven and Earth to stabilize your breakthrough?" Divine Architect teased. "I steal," King Elbas replied, "You attract. I break the rules. You create them. My quasi-rank 10 state changes the very reality of the cultivation journey. You merely build a passage where powerful energy can fly." "How does that explain your current state?" Divine Architect asked. "I can't believe I have to explain it after all of this," King Elbas sighed. "My will is simply far stronger than yours." "You dare insult me like this?" Divine Architect asked. "I wield the best energy in the world," King Elbas explained. "I have the best technique in the world. In this state, I can push my superior will into the very fabric of reality and alter it." Divine Architect's eyes shone with blinding light. She finally understood something, but she couldn't do anything about it. The imminent exchange was already set. Nothing could affect the next seconds. "According to this very reality," King Elbas continued as power accumulated on the tip of his spear, "You never injured me, and my technique has always been stronger." "These effects can remain active only if you overcome my attack," Divine Architect pointed out. "Wrong," King Elbas corrected. "Everything will depend on the might that my will forced my world to reach." After that, a pillar of golden light left King Elbas' spear. Divine Architect, the giant mirror, and the spinning item disappeared among that torrent of power, and smoke came out from deep areas of the void. Chapter 2315. Roar The battlefield as a whole had reached a critical state. Sword Saint and the old man had long since started to go all-out with attacks that left both of them injured. They were both aiming to finish off their opponent, and that moment appeared closer than ever. The Foolery and Wilfred had cornered Decumia. The latter seemed powerless in that situation, and even her world was only waiting for its opponents to launch the final blow. Divine Demon and Marcella were equally matched, but Sepunia's sudden burst of power had turned the battle in his favor. The moment of weakness she had created had left Marcella exposed to Divine Demon's massive attack. Alexander, Supreme Thief, and Great Builder had locked the Rulers' Resolve into a cage meant to absorb the latter's world. The outcome of that exchange was unclear, but the fact that the privileged cultivator had yet to break free gave the higher ground to Noah's companions. King Elbas had launched what seemed to be a final attack on Divine Architect, but seeing through his pillar was impossible. The bystanders even had to divert their senses to avoid suffering injuries due to the massive amount of power in the technique. As for Noah, he was still inside the spherical domain of destruction with Caesar. No one could see what was happening, and it was impossible to predict possible outcomes. After all, Caesar was simply too strong. However, before the results of those final attacks could become clear, a deafening humming noise came out of the sky and spread through the entirety of the higher plane. The net that had covered the sky shattered as the soundwave left the white layer and spread through the world. The noise didn't even end, and it slowly transformed into a monstrous roar as it continued to echo through the higher plane. The soundwave carried proper quasi-rank 10 power and didn't differentiate between allies or foes. It unleashed its might on anything it touched, which involved the entirety of the higher plane. The spherical domain of destruction shattered under that power and revealed Noah and Caesar. Both of them carried injuries, but their expressions hinted at the result of the clash. Caesar expressed pure confidence, while Noah showed nothing but coldness. The soundwave also destroyed Great Builder's cage and revealed the four experts involved in that battle. Supreme Thief, Alexander, Great Builder, and the Rulers' Resolve wore solemn faces, so it was impossible to understand who had won. The roar ended up dispersing Divine Demon's massive attack, saving Marcella at the last second. The blood-red energy shot in every direction and vanished into the void as the experts summoned defensive techniques to endure the soundwave. Something similar happened to the Foolery and Wilfred. The soundwave flung them away and pushed their innate defenses to their limits, inflicting severe injuries they couldn't avoid. King Elbas' attack endured the soundwave for a few seconds, but it ultimately dispersed. Still, its golden halo remained in the area and hid the outcome of the clash. Only Sword Saint and the old man continued to fight while the soundwave clashed on their bodies. The privileged cultivator let it reach his world so that his perfection could take care of the attack, while Sword Saint summoned a torrent of blades that created a hole in that formless power. The two experts resumed their battle almost immediately, uncaring of the changes happening in the higher plane. The old man prepared himself to counter the imminent attack. Yet, surprise appeared on his face when Sword Saint halted his descending arm before it could touch his opponent's head. "I found it," Sword Saint announced. "Your time is over," The old man exclaimed. "No," Sword Saint responded. "We were one step above you." "We?" The old man repeated, but a second roar suddenly reached his ears and explained the nature of the situation. The soundwave shattered some of Shafu's scales and damaged the landmass, which only forced the two to reach an agreement. The immense dragon roared its anger as it put strength in its arms, and the giant sword replied with a deep growl. The landmass let Shafu control its immense power. The dragon swung the blade toward the sky, and a vast black cloud shot out of it before filling an entire quarter of the higher plane. The cloud condensed into a slash during its flight, and Sword Saint couldn't help but laugh at its sight. His voice grew even louder when the old man tried to fly away. "Where are you going?" Sword Saint shouted as he grabbed the old man and kept him still. "You-!" The old man exclaimed before the big slash engulfed him and his opponent. The attack continued to fly forward, uncaring of the unfortunate experts who happened to be on its path. Noah and the others decided to dodge it, and the same went for the beings fast enough to avoid the slash. Some fear spread in the privileged cultivators' minds. The slash carried peak rank 9 power, but there was something else to it. Its energy was too deep, and the same went for its anger toward the sky. It almost seemed that the attack could hurt the white layer. Nevertheless, the slash never managed to touch the sky. A white radiance spread through the landing area before the attack could reach the white layer and stopped its advance. The event only made Shafu and the landmass angrier. The dragon thrust the immense blade forward and released a piercing slash aimed at the center of that white radiance. The attack was fast and landed on the first slash in an instant. The two abilities fused to create an incredible technique, but the white radiance didn't budge. Actually, it began to apply its effects on the dark energy. The entire higher plane remained speechless when the two massive attacks started to condense. The white radiance shrunk together with the slashes until it completely engulfed them. The disappearance of the slashes revealed the figure hidden among the condensing white radiance. A big, humanoid figure with lightning bolts instead of skin hovered before the sky and inspected the entirety of the higher plane with its pissed eyes. Noah, King Elbas, and all the other experts who had dealt with Heaven and Earth instantly recognized the figure. The avatar was slightly different compared to their previous encounters, but the power seeping out of its body was unmistakable. The rulers had finally stepped into the battlefield. The privileged cultivators didn't hesitate to abandon their position. Many weaker experts who had survived the soundwave also ignored their battles to fly toward the humanoid figure. Soon, a small army surrounded the figure and kneeled in front of it. Caesar, Marcella, and Decumia were in the lead, and Caesar didn't hesitate to voice a line that his companions echoed. "Your throne is almost ready." "Your throne is almost ready!" The rest of the army echoed. The figure didn't care about its underlings. Its eyes released a crackling noise when they moved toward specific spots of the battlefield. The avatar glanced at the Rulers' Resolve's immobile figure, but the pressure radiated by its gaze revealed its true state. The privileged cultivator's body shattered and turned into dust that didn't carry any power. The crackling figure then pointed its eyes at a fuming spot near the center of the higher plane. The smoke dispersed as soon as pressure fell on its area, revealing a smiling Sword Saint who stood along among the void. At last, the figure gazed at an area under King Elbas. The golden halo instantly vanished, revealing a series of broken scanners and nothing else. Chapter 2316. Final battle "Pitiful," The figure announced, and its voice spread in every corner of the higher plane. A heavy pressure also filled the world and made many weaker experts unable to fly through the void. The appearance of the crackling figure changed the final battlefield once again. The few weaker experts still roaming through the higher plane went into hiding using the many secluded locations planted by the golden buildings. Only the modified magical beasts and the main players remained in the open, but they also moved. Noah, King Elbas, and the others didn't hesitate to abandon their position to regroup. "You lost so many assets against a bunch of ants," The figure continued. "A least we removed the worlds too weak to stand on their own." The figure waved its hand, and a crackling noise filled the higher plane. The gesture affected every lingering wave of energy in the world and turned them into rivers that flew toward the avatar. The rivers condensed into the figure's left palm before fusing with its fabric. The event didn't bring an increase in energy, but the matter was far from pointless. Heaven and Earth were too strong to improve with that weak power. "Our opponents turned out to be stronger than we had predicted," Caesar responded while breaking his kneeling position and standing up to perform a bow. "However, they are too weak to pose a threat against your might." "They have always been too weak for that," The figure responded. "Still, this doesn't make them less annoying." Noah and the other leaders gathered above the landmass during that conversation. They all wore cold expressions, but King Elbas eventually broke that silence. "Did you manage to hurt Caesar?" King Elba asked. "Who knows," Noah sighed. "That guy is so problematic." "I almost killed Decumia!" The Foolery squealed. "We almost killed her," Wilfred corrected. "Heaven and Earth came in clutch." "They really did," Sepunia cursed. "You had the guts to interrupt my battle," Divine Demon scolded. "That's how a true demon should act, isn't it?" Sepunia giggled. "No wonder Xavier likes you," Divine Demon laughed. "Let's avoid this now," Noah ordered. "Who can fight?" Silence inevitably fell among the group. For the most part, everyone had kept track of each other, so it wasn't hard to figure out who could face Heaven and Earth. Yet, no one seemed willing to announce the opposite. "I made this breakthrough through my imagination," Sepunia eventually spoke. "It's far from stable." "I can fight," Maribel announced. "Same here," Emperor said while pointing at Queen and Vesuvia to include them in that statement. "I've never been so strong!" The Foolery shouted. "You can count on me," Wilfred exclaimed. "I won't back down either," The odd dragon growled. "Don't even think about leaving me behind," June snorted. "I can help," Great Builder commented. "You are exhausted," Supreme Thief pointed out. "You are too stupid to fight on your own," Great Builder scolded. "Who saved your ass before?" Supreme Thief complained. "I did," Alexander joined the conversation. "Enough," Noah growled before the trio could say something else. "I'll decide who's in or out." Many wanted to complain and come up with their usual jokes, but everyone remained silent. Their opponent was too strong to waste time discussing. "Maribel, Sepunia, the dragon, Great Builder," Noah called, "And Elbas are out. Go help Cursed Reality and Pellio." "Wait a moment," King Elbas declared. "You won't decide where I die," Great Builder stated. "I can use my life to buy you some time," Maribel commented. "My companions are fighting," The odd dragon complained. "I won't remain behind." Only Sepunia remained silent since her current power was unstable. She wouldn't feel confident unless she spent time learning how to use it. "It's useless to deploy you," Noah explained. "You will be in the way. Heaven and Earth can kill you without wasting time at all." The harsh words were on point, but King Elbas and Great Builder didn't find them fair. After all, they had proved themselves in the previous battles. "Great Builder," Noah spoke before his companions could argue. "You have already helped, haven't you? Go back and help preserve as many lives as you can." Great Builder wanted to say something, but Alexander and Supreme Thief suddenly nodded at him. They were the living proof of Great Builder's efforts, and denying that would only insult them. "Elbas," Noah continued, "You need to absorb Divine Architect's stash. Stop complaining and get to a level where you can affect the battle." King Elbas groaned, but he eventually showed his cards. The broken scanners and Divine Architect's ethereal castle materialized behind him. He had picked them up before grouping with his companions, and he had even started to sort everything out. "You are also injured," King Elbas pointed out. "And you failed to achieve your breakthrough." "I'll manage," Noah reassured. "I probably am the only liquid stage existence in the world who can join this fight." "I'll make it quick," King Elbas sighed. "You idiots will only die if I don't come back soon." "Go away already," Noah snorted. "And don't think for even a second that we missed your performance earlier," The pig exclaimed. "As your master," Divine Demon continued, "I can only be proud of your acceptance of my teachings." Golden light flashed while Divine Demon was in the middle of his joke. King Elbas, Great Builder, Sepunia, Maribel, and the odd dragon vanished from the area and teleported near the ethereal array of inscriptions. A series of laughs resounded among the group due to King Elbas' behavior, but June remained silent. Noah didn't tell her to retreat, but he had also silently said that she had no place in the imminent battle at her current level. "You two," Noah eventually continued. "I hope your new level isn't just for show." Supreme Thief snorted before unleashing his azure aura. Proper solid stage power came out of his body and filled the void, revealing a superior level compared to his previous state. Alexander also decided to reveal his power. His aura didn't carry any unique energy, but it filled the area with a pressure that only a solid stage existence could wield. The situation became clear even to those who had ignored their battle. Supreme Thief and Alexander had succeeded in stealing the Rulers' Resolve's power and achieving complete breakthroughs. "We are leaving you behind," Supreme Thief joked. "Get into position," Noah coldly ordered. "They are coming." The entirety of Heaven and Earth's army stood up and turned to face Noah's group. It almost seemed that those experts would attack them, but none of them moved. Instead, the crackling figure raised its hand and released a series of lightning bolts that shot toward the sky and covered its surface. An immense storm took control of the higher plane, and that was only the beginning of the final battle. "It's time to end this," The figure exclaimed. "We will turn into dust any being who dares to oppose us. We are Heaven and Earth, and we will show no mercy." The noises released by the storms intensified, and countless lightning bolts left their surface to converge toward the landmass. Holes and cracks opened on the immense creature, which tried to attack on its own. However, Shafu roared and diverted that violence toward Heaven and Earth. Shafu swung the landmass, which launched a massive slash. The attack flew at high speed toward the army, but Heaven and Earth teleported in front of their underlings to interrupt that blow. "Your time will come soon," Heaven and Earth announced before condensing the entirety of the slash into a dark sphere that shattered under their pressure. Countless roars filled the higher plane as the pack of dragons led by the time dragon flew toward Heaven and Earth. Their mindless rage couldn't be stopped, and the rulers didn't wait for them to arrive. Heaven and Earth teleported right in the middle of the pack. Their movement technique was too fast for those creatures' enhanced senses, and what came next ended up being too powerful for them. A series of lightning bolts left the crackling figure and filled its surroundings with a massive storm that forced everyone outside of it to retreat. As for the dragons in its range, they crumbled into dust. Chapter 2317. Future The storm consisted of lightning bolts that shot in every direction before splitting into countless sparks. The latter expanded and created an oval area that allowed the many attacks to bounce on its edges. Heaven and Earth had created a domain of destruction that had enveloped the entirety of the pack. Lightning bolts flew and ricocheted inside it while piercing anything in their path. Most of the dragons were mere middle and lower tier creatures. King Elbas and the old rulers had improved their innate defenses to turn them into proper weapons that countered Heaven and Earth. Yet, those magical beasts couldn't do anything in front of that immense difference of power. The lightning bolts turned the dragons into dust. Only the upper tier creature managed to last for more than one attack, but that didn't help. The storm didn't launch a single attack. The lightning bolts in its insides seemed to have infinite energy as they kept flying left and right. The time dragon endured the first attack, survived the second, but the third shattered its body. In a matter of seconds, only lightning bolts and dust remained inside the storm. Heaven and Earth shone at the center of that domain, but no satisfaction appeared on their humanoid face. The crackling figure waved its hand, and the dust started to flow toward its chest. Heaven and Earth absorbed the energy of the entire pack, but that didn't lead to any improvement. The storm shattered to send multiple flares across the higher plane. The lightning bolts fused with the sparks lingering above the sky and intensified the global offensive. Even stronger attacks converged toward the landmass. Shafu did its best to absorb and deflect them, but its power remained limited. It couldn't do too much against quasi-rank 10 techniques. Heaven and Earth turned toward the landmass at that point. The gesture revealed their new target, but their crackling body suddenly froze. A series of golden and orange lights shot out from their insides and hindered their movements. Noah, Sword Saint, Alexander, Wilfred, Divine Demon, the Foolery, Supreme Thief, Emperor, Queen, and Vesuvia teleported into the area and encircled the crackling figure. They had planned that outcome, so they had been ready to retaliate. Giant attacks shot out of the experts. They all launched their best techniques in the hope of exploiting that moment of weakness, but Heaven and Earth turned out to be too strong. The crackling figure burst with massive energy that shot in every direction and fended off the incoming attacks. The offensive even removed the orange and golden infections from Heaven and Earth's body, freeing them of that hindrance. "Did you think a mere magical beast could have affected us?" Heaven and Earth asked, and their voice launched precise soundwaves that flew toward their opponents. Noah couldn't focus on his companions in that situation. The soundwave carried a monstrous roar that threatened to break his mind, but a torrent of potential flowed toward Duanlong and allowed it to deal with the attack. Immense energy filled Noah's body. A power that he should have never absorbed flowed through his veins and centers of power, pushing them toward their structural limits. Noah couldn't help but voice a deafening roar, and black flames accompanied his cry. A sea expanded before his mouth, but that fire condensed and rotated as soon as he pointed his blades forward. Destruction, hunger, and greed fused as Noah used the absorbed energy to launch an incredible offensive. Cracks opened on his arms and hands due to the immense pressure that fell on them. He was using Heaven and Earth's power, and his body could barely withstand that. His companions dealt with the soundwaves in different ways, but only Divine Demon, Alexander, Sword Saint, and Supreme Thief managed to send back attacks on their own. Emperor required Queen's help to help in that offensive. Heaven and Earth prepared to send another shockwave, but a series of abilities clashed with some of the incoming attacks before they could do anything. Purple tendrils appeared in front of Alexander's dense fire and Supreme Thief's azure flare. The ability forced the two attacks to change direction and clash with each other. The impact created an immense explosion, but Heaven and Earth's innate pressure prevented it from reaching their crackling figure. Plants of different sizes and forms grew on the other side of the battlefield, hindering the path of Divine Demon, Emperor, and Sword Saint's threatening attacks. The vegetation shattered under that offensive, but nothing reached Heaven and Earth. The two defensive techniques ignored Noah's attack, but that didn't help his situation. His piercing slash unleashed everything it carried on the crackling figure, but it failed to shatter the lightning bolts that made its body. The straight slash and the flames around it shattered as soon as they touched Heaven and Earth. They appeared unworthy of living so close to that superior existence. "Did you forget about us?" Decumia laughed as she materialized next to Heaven and Earth. "Heaven and Earth can deal with your tactics," Marcella stated, "But wasting time is pointless." "Is he coming down as well?" Noah asked as dark matter came out of his injuries and closed them. Decumia and Marcella glanced at Caesar. The latter had remained near the sky, behind the storms, and he seemed to have no intention of joining the fight. He showed a smile, but he didn't bother to answer. "Caesar served us well," Heaven and Earth ended up responding. "His task is almost over. We only need to reap what he sowed now." "The mighty Heaven and Earth relying on someone else's fate," Noah mocked. "What a pitiful sight." "You have witnessed our power," Heaven and Earth announced. "You would also give some credit to an existence who resisted us for so long." "You almost sounded like a magical beast," Noah chuckled. "I guess you didn't hate them so much in the end." "How dare you!" Marcella shouted before pointing her arm at Noah. Multiple spiky plants came out of Marcella's hand and grew rapidly toward Noah. Her attack behaved like a spear ready to pierce his chest, but that vegetation withered before it could reach its target. "So much to eat!" The Foolery squealed as it landed on the vegetation and unfolded its hunger. "It's so tasty! Give me more!" "Piggy!" Decumia shouted from the other side of the battlefield. Purple energy gathered around her figure as she tried to teleport, but a wave of blue energy fell on her and destroyed that power. "You deal with chaos, am I right?" Vesuvia asked as she teleported in front of Decumia. "That's nothing we can't handle," Queen stated as she reached Vesuvia's side. "Isn't the other guy coming?" Decumia wondered. "Did he launch that attack just to piss me off?" "Probably," Vesuvia giggled. "Don't listen to this vixen," Queen sighed. "And you, hurry up already." "You are so cute when you are angry," Vesuvia joked before tapping on the armchair of her throne and creating an ethereal domain that engulfed Decumia. "Do you really think that a prison can hold me?" Decumia asked as complete darkness filled her senses. "That's not a prison," Vesuvia explained. "I'm humanity's future, and you are part of it." Chapter 2318. Anger Decumia expanded her aura, but even her chaos felt lost. She wasn't trapped, but she had no other words to explain her situation. Vesuvia seemed to have sent Decumia into a different void, a part of the universe far away from the higher plane. Yet, Decumia knew that her current situation was the result of a technique. She only had to wait for her chaos to affect it. Of course, the other experts didn't wait for Decumia to break free. Emperor glanced at Vesuvia and Queen before teleporting toward the surviving cultivators who had yet to join the battle. Decumia and Marcella had the guts to act on their own, but their weaker companions didn't share their confidence. Most of them actually felt relieved that Heaven and Earth had finally stepped forward, but Emperor's arrival brought back the tension. "Come," Emperor announced after reaching the army. "None of you deserves to hide behind your master's power." No answer came from the army. The various cultivators had Caesar among them, and they could even use the storms as a form of protection. They had no reason to step forward and face Emperor. "It's better if you come to me," Emperor exclaimed. "Isn't that right, puppet master?" "He is right," Caesar smiled before turning toward his underlings. "We can't have our opponents messing with Heaven and Earth's plans." Caesar had privileged cultivators all around him, and they couldn't help but show confused expressions at those words. Some even tried to beg Caesar with their eyes, but he didn't want to hear reasons. "If you can't help Heaven and Earth," Caesar continued, "They have no reason to keep you alive." The statement explained the situation perfectly. A few unwilling privileged cultivators straightened their position before all the other experts followed. The entire army turned toward Emperor and left the storms in the next seconds. "I can leave the rest to you, right?" Emperor shouted. Emperor didn't receive any answer, but that felt normal. He couldn't expect his companions to mind him when they were against the strongest existence in the world. Marcella inspected her surroundings before wearing a frown. She sent more plants forward, but they also withered in no time. Moreover, squeals never stopped accompanying her attacks, which only intensified her annoyance. Truth be told, Marcella was far from okay. She felt very emotional due to the recent events. Sepunia's sudden burst of power would have killed her, but Heaven and Earth had freed themselves just in time to destroy Divine Demon's attack. Nevertheless, that didn't change the reality of the situation. Marcella would have lost, and she knew that far too well. She couldn't remain calm after going through that experience. Heaven and Earth were the only reassuring aspect of that situation, but that didn't help Marcella. She was aware of the bigger picture and knew part of Caesar's predictions, but that only triggered bigger worries. After all, something had already changed. "This plant is tasty!" The Foolery shouted. "Ooh! What's that flower? Let me eat it!" The Foolery's cries forced Marcella to ignore her worries and focus on the battle. The pig probably was one of her greatest counters, but that didn't make her powerless against it. "I'll give you as much as you want," Marcella calmly stated as dozens of roots pierced her figure and gave birth to an immense array of magical plants. The Foolery couldn't help but halt its reckless offensive to stare at that magnificent technique. The pig obviously didn't care about the vast diversity of plants. Its attention mainly was on the immense amount of energy it could eat. "It's a banquet!" The Foolery gulped before diving into the middle of the vegetation to radiate its hunger. Marcella's vast technique kept the Foolery busy and allowed her to focus on other opponents. She couldn't deal with Divine Demon when numbers weren't on her side, but that didn't prevent her from finding suitable targets. A series of roots, trunks, branches, and flowers stretched out of the array of magical plants and flew toward Wilfred. Noah also saw vegetation flying toward him, and the event made him livid. Noah was barely paying attention to Marcella. In his mind, some of his companions would take care of her. However, she had decided to target him over a few of his allies. "Do you think I'm not qualified to fight your leader?" Noah roared as waves of dark matter came out of his figure. The vegetation flying toward Noah pierced the dark matter, but something inside it stopped its advance. Soon, hundreds of six-armed dragons wielding swords left the black rivers and launched themselves against the magical plants. The dragons' offensive was beyond reckless. They didn't care about the injuries that the plants inflicted. They only wanted to cut and destroy, and they didn't mind exploding once their stability reached a critical point. "The last true dragon just died," Noah roared again before placing his swords on his forehead and filling his centers of power with potential. "I'm not in the mood to deal with underlings." Marcella couldn't believe her senses. Noah's roar carried something deeper than hatred and anger. His fury brought forward something hidden in the depths of his bloodline, which fused with his unfolded consciousness. Marcella's survival instincts screamed when Noah's mental waves landed on her. She could summon unique plants to fend them off, but she was one step too late. A rain made of immense slashes materialized through the entirety of the vegetation and around Marcella. Those attacks didn't hesitate to fall on their targets to create a destructive domain that released a dragon's roar. The six-armed dragons echoed that roar before diving into the destructive domain. The intense sharpness that filled the area destroyed most of those creatures, but they happily died as they unleashed their power on the vegetation. Marcella saw the entirety of her vegetation falling apart. The same technique that had kept Divine Demon at bay appeared useless against Noah. His ability carried too much destruction, but that wasn't the main issue. Noah had put his superiority into the attack, and Marcella's plants seemed to bow toward it. 'What kind of being is he?' Marcella shouted in her mind before giving birth to flowers that shielded her from the slashes falling on her figure. The flowers shattered, but Marcella managed to remain safe. A few injuries opened on her body due to the intense destruction in the area, but her immense energy reserves dealt with them quickly. Still, things didn't end there for Marcella. A big figure suddenly appeared in front of her and sucked her body dry of energy. Her world immediately sent more fuel, but the issue remained. "Noah is quite angry," The Foolery announced while tilting its head to stare at Marcella. Multiple injuries had opened on the Foolery, and smoke came out of them. Marcella realized that the pig had also suffered due to Noah's offensive, but the creature didn't seem to mind it. "I guess I can't play with you," The Foolery sighed. "Besides, I'm also quite angry." Marcella's eyes widened when she sensed her energy leaving her body once again. The process was even faster now, and the Foolery used that chance to bite on her. Still, magical plants came out of Marcella and protected her from the Foolery's threatening teeth. She was still losing energy, but she had enough of it to create her vegetation. "Do you think I need to close my mouth to eat you?" The Foolery exclaimed even if it couldn't move its mouth, and a chunk of Marcella's chest suddenly vanished. She could even see the bite marks on her new injuries. Chapter 2319. Kill Noah ignored Marcella right after his attack. A sense of weakness filled his entire being, but the destruction of the immense array of magical plants forced his world to produce more potential. The weakness vanished quickly, and Noah barely minded that phase. He had long since grown used to that process. The entire final battle had been nothing more than a cycle of exhaustion and power for him. Noah's eyes quickly fell on Heaven and Earth. The crackling figure had ignored the encirclement and had focused on the landmass. Power was also accumulating in its palms, but its opponents didn't let it go so easily. Sword Saint, Alexander, Divine Demon, Wilfred, and Supreme Thief had launched massive attacks toward Heaven and Earth while Noah dealt with the magical plants. Techniques that would make any rank 9 cultivator escape in fear converged toward the crackling figure, but the latter barely minded them. A shockwave came out of the crackling figure and split into multiple lightning bolts that flew toward the incoming attacks. Divine Demon and the others had done their best, but Heaven and Earth's offensive was overwhelming. Their abilities stood no chance. Divine Demon and the others saw the lightning bolts piercing their attacks and continuing to fly toward them. They all had to resort to evasive maneuvers to dodge the incoming offensive, but the latter didn't stop moving even after missing its targets. The lightning bolts flew past the encirclement until they reached different areas of the sky to fuse with the storms. Loud cracking noises resounded after the event, and more attacks shot toward the powerless landmass at the center of the higher plane. Heaven and Earth began to turn ethereal at that point, but their fabric suddenly solidified again. They raised their right arm, and a black torrent fell on it. "You are a fool," Heaven and Earth exclaimed before their entire body shook to send a powerful shockwave toward the black torrent. The black energy instantly shattered. The destruction spread through the entire torrent, revealing Noah pressing his blades on Heaven and Earth's arm. The thundering noises released by Heaven and Earth's body intensified while Noah tried to pierce their arm. The destruction carried by the crackling skin began to affect the swords, and cracks even opened on them. Noah had to face the truth at that point. Everything slowed down in his eyes and allowed him to inspect the rapid destruction taking control of his swords. Heaven and Earth didn't suffer any damage even after enduring a melee blow fueled by as much potential Noah could gather. Their crackling skin was too firm, and the impact on their body allowed Noah to gain a vague understanding of the power flowing inside it. Deep fear filled Noah's mind. He tried to suppress that feeling, but his instincts overruled his will. His very world was telling him that he couldn't hurt Heaven and Earth, and he couldn't ignore that warning. "We'll deal with you soon," Heaven and Earth announced as a buzz ran through their voice. "Stay put for now." Noah instinctively absorbed his blades inside his world and crossed his arms. Dark matter came out of his figure, and potential flowed into his body to enhance its defensive properties. Another shockwave shot out of Heaven and Earth at that point. The attack wasn't wide like the previous. It focused on Noah and destroyed most of his defenses while pushing him away. Entire patches of Noah's body vanished as soon as the dark matter crumbled. Some lightning bolts failed to reach him, but the few sparks that landed on him were enough to leave serious injuries. Duanlong worked at the best of its capabilities to reduce the attack's offensive power, and the same went for Noah's aspects. The entirety of his world focused on enduring Heaven and Earth's offensive, but he still had to fly until the edges of the higher plane to disperse its power. Once the attack lost its energy, Noah found himself far away from the encirclement. The storms raged behind him, and his body showed deep holes in multiple spots. Yet, his eyes never left the crackling figure in the distance. 'Did they just spare me?' Noah couldn't help but wonder when he became aware of his condition. His chest, abdomen, arms, and legs had deep holes, and the edges of those injuries retained Heaven and Earth's destructive power. Noah could even feel sparks trying to make their way through his body, but that wasn't too much to handle for his incredible resilience. Noah felt sure that Heaven and Earth could have been far harsher in their offensive. He would have probably still managed to preserve his life, but that preferential treatment made no sense. A strange but familiar feeling eventually landed on Noah's consciousness. He turned toward the source of that sensation, and Emperor's battle unfolded in his vision. Emperor was going all-out, unleashing his overbearing power on any expert who dared to approach or attack him. His life wasn't in danger, but he couldn't move freely. The numerical disadvantage even forced him into a defensive stance. Nevertheless, Noah's reptilian eyes went past the battlefield to gaze at a smiling figure hovering behind the storms. Caesar was looking at him while wearing an expression that explained more than enough, and Noah couldn't help but replace the entirety of his feelings with anger. 'Are they treating me like some sort of sacrificial pawn?' Noah roared in his mind as his world exploded with power, but he quickly calmed down. Noah could understand Heaven and Earth's behavior. Caesar had basically explained that in the past too. The rulers needed stepping stones, so killing Noah in his current state would be a waste. 'They are waiting for me to reach the peak,' Noah thought, but that conclusion didn't bring peace. It felt beyond demeaning to have his final opponent treat him like nothing more than cattle. That approach was a proper insult toward Noah. It was as if he wasn't worthy of proper attacks. The anger slowly condensed and fused with many other feelings. A cold smile appeared on Noah's face, and a tinge of craziness filled his eyes. The Demonic Sword and the Cursed Sword reappeared in his hands as dark matter patched them up. He had made up his mind about the situation. 'I just need to force them to take me seriously,' Noah concluded, and a roar left his mouth before echoing through the entirety of the higher plane. Heaven and Earth didn't stay still while Noah was immersed in his thoughts. Their other opponents had restored the encirclement and had almost finished preparing new attacks. Yet, Heaven and Earth had other plans. The crackling figure teleported to reappear above Shafu and the landmass. The movement technique was predictable, but it remained too fast for Noah's companions. Everyone started to fly toward Heaven and Earth, but the latter used that time to raise their hands and accumulate energy. The storms grew wild and sent even more lightning bolts toward the landmass. The rulers seemed set on destroying that giant creature in one blow. An explosion resounded on Heaven and Earth's back before they could complete their attack. The sheer violence of the event made the void shake, but the crackling figure remained in one piece. It only lost one spark. "You really want to die," Heaven and Earth commented without bothering to turn toward the fiendish figure on their back. "Yes," Noah laughed as growls mixed with his voice. "Kill me already." Chapter 2320. Overwhelming "That was your best attack," Heaven and Earth commented. "Such pristine destruction, such intense rage. You got so far, but you can barely scratch the surface of our being." Noah laughed. His expression showed nothing more than cold madness, but his mind was calm. That peace allowed him to confirm that Heaven and Earth were right. His swords couldn't pierce the lightning bolts no matter how much he pushed and tilted. "We must have hurt your pride," Heaven and Earth continued while Noah struggled to push his blades deeper into their body. "Good. An ant should know its place." The lightning bolts seemed to react to Heaven and Earth's mental state. They grew stronger and louder according to their intentions. The Cursed Sword and Demonic Sword were barely hanging on while being so close to the lightning bolts. Noah had to constantly replace the dark matter around his blades to prevent them from suffering damage. However, his efforts became useless once Heaven and Earth grew serious. Sparks left the lightning bolts that made Heaven and Earth's body and stretched through the protective dark matter. The defensive layer shattered in no time, and damage soon expanded on the blades. The Cursed Sword and the Demonic Sword were sentient weapons. They felt pain when those sparks ran through their structures and left large cracks behind them. However, the two blades didn't give Heaven and Earth any satisfaction. They didn't cry in pain. The rules could only hear a defying roar and a loud, high-pitched noise coming out of them. Heaven and Earth seemed confused about that development. They turned their head to glance at Noah, but they didn't notice anything strange. Yet, everything changed when Noah exploded with even more power than before. "Do you have any idea how much potential I get from hurting you?" Noah growled. Heaven and Earth finally realized what was happening. The spark Noah had previously cut away was insignificant for the rulers, but Noah was a mere liquid stage expert. The sole fact that he could make a dent on a quasi-rank 10 being deepened his very world. New potential flowed through the two blades, allowing them to fend off the sparks. Dark matter filled the cracks while they expressed even more power. Noah's physical strength also reached higher levels and made him push the swords slightly past the crackling figure's surface. The new damage was slightly more than nothing. Noah had merely forced his blades into already unstable areas of Heaven and Earth's body. Yet, two sparks left the crackling figure, and more power filled Noah's world after the event. Noah didn't hesitate to deploy that potential. Part of it went to his mind to fuel violent thoughts, while the rest went to his centers of power, weapons, and companions. Duanlong did its best to absorb superficial layers of energy from the crackling figure. Part of the dark matter in Noah's fiendish armor transformed into violent gales that crashed on Heaven and Earth. Night even added its power to the blades to open a path through the lightning bolts. Meanwhile, Noah's destruction, pride, greed, hunger, sharpness, and anger reached incredible levels of power and added different natures to his attack. He didn't want the slash to be a mere expression of his physical prowess. He needed to add depth to his offensive. Heaven and Earth budged. The force pushing on their back made them bend forward slightly, but the event didn't actually change the current balance. Nevertheless, the sole fact that Noah had improved in a matter of two exchanges revealed a new truth. Unleashing everything he had while remaining on Heaven and Earth could kill him, but it could also accelerate his growth. Heaven and Earth didn't want Noah to die just yet, and, most importantly, they couldn't allow him to use them as a training dummy. The rulers had to take care of other matters first, and they weren't willing to lose face in the meantime. Four sparks left Heaven and Earth, but the edges of Noah's ethereal blackness expanded far more than he expected. He had managed to make the rulers move. He had forced his will on a superior existence, and his world reacted to that. Potential beyond Noah's wildest expectations filled his world before flowing into his centers of power. He felt stronger than ever, and even his incredible body started to struggle to keep up. He had long since surpassed the limits of the liquid stage, but he was now reaching a far higher level. Still, a thick lightning bolt shot out of Heaven and Earth's back and interrupted Noah's offensive. He had to divert most of his new power into his defensive measures and resilience, but he couldn't stop the attack from sending him flying away. Heaven and Earth watched Noah being pushed toward the storm for a few seconds before moving their focus back on the landmass. Lightning bolts gathered on their palms and condensed to create crackling white spheres that illuminated their surroundings. Most of the higher plane turned white due to the immense power radiated by Heaven and Earth's spheres. It was unclear how much damage the rulers could inflict with those attacks, but everyone understood that letting them act freely was too dangerous. Divine Demon and the others struggled to make their way through the blinding radiance. The sheer pressure radiated by the spheres was too heavy for them. Yet, they eventually gave up on crossing the light without suffering injuries. Alexander, Divine Demon, Sword Saint, Wilfred, and Supreme Thief reached the rulers, but no one could see them among that blinding light. Only Heaven and Earth could notice the many injuries on their bodies, and they made sure to open even more of them. Heaven and Earth let go of one of the spheres, which exploded right after leaving their palm. The energy inside the item fused with the blinding radiance and added electric properties that the various experts couldn't hope to oppose. A series of multicolored lights flashed among the blinding domain before the white glow vanished completely. The void regained its natural color, revealing five fuming figures flying toward different areas of the storms. The battle appeared utterly one-sided. The best experts in Noah's organization couldn't do anything against Heaven and Earth, but that was quite normal. Actually, it was beyond surprising how mere rank 9 experts had survived so many attacks launched by a quasi-rank 10 existence. Heaven and Earth were partially to blame for that, but they had never planned to let their opponents retain so much strength. It was clear that Noah's core team wasn't only above Heaven and Earth's expectations. It was also improving during those one-sided exchanges. The rulers could conclude that they wouldn't be able to act so freely forever, but they wouldn't mind that as long as they completed their preparations. Heaven and Earth's second sphere had condensed its radiance inside its structure. Its behavior resembled a bomb that the rulers launched toward the landmass as soon as the area was clear. The sphere descended at high speed, and Shafu felt powerless at that scene. It tried to change the trajectory of the item, but its influence couldn't affect it at all. Still, the sphere slowed down anyway, and chunks of its power even left its structure to fly in a seemingly random direction. Soon, more and more rivers of energy formed until the bomb transformed into a messy mass of lightning bolts. The lightning bolts weren't dense enough to resist that external influence. They quickly shattered and fused with the rivers to fly in a single direction. Their colors even started to change and turned completely orange right before landing on June's chest. Chapter 2321. Teamwork Heaven and Earth had mostly ignored June. They were aware of her peculiar power, but she was simply too weak to participate in that final battle. The attack launched toward the landmass had also been too powerful for a single rank 9 existence. Heaven and Earth didn't expect June to be able to affect it, but that outcome didn't worry them too much either. The battle stopped while June absorbed all the lightning bolts in Heaven and Earth's offensive. Holes opened on her body, and flares came out of them due to the overwhelming amount of energy she was stuffing into her Perfect Circuit. Everyone could see that June couldn't handle so much power. Her flesh and world had innate resistance toward Heaven and Earth's lightning bolts, but she had clear limits, and the process had already pushed her past them. The move was nothing but suicidal. June couldn't hope to survive the process, but even Heaven and Earth couldn't predict the limits of her maniacal behavior. June ignored the many injuries and forced Heaven and Earth's energy to improve her body. Most of her flesh didn't survive the process, but a few chunks reached new levels of power and strived toward a complete evolution. The evolution was far from painless, and June turned into a gory figure with only a few patches of skin left on her. Even most of her muscles had shattered during her attempt to use that superior energy to improve, but she appeared fine with the damage. June diverted part of her attention toward her flesh while the absorption continued. The few patches of skin that had survived the process had turned into materials that could endure higher levels of power, and she didn't hesitate to rely on them. The Perfect Circuit generated energy that went far beyond June's normal limits, but her new flesh endured it perfectly. Other parts of her body weren't so lucky, but she didn't care about them. The new energy shattered and added power to her influence, allowing her to stretch it until the closest area of the sky. June had already affected the dense sphere, so forcing the storms to fly toward her turned out to be pretty easy. Lightning bolts left the storms and shot toward June. The attacks crashed on her body and joined the torrent of energy that she had previously absorbed. The process resumed at that point. June forced the absorbed energy to improve her body before using the few remaining patches of flesh to expand her influence even further. June's plan became clear to everyone. She wanted to affect the entirety of the storms with her influence. Removing the lightning bolts before the sky wouldn't provide any tactical advantage, but it might provide her with what she needed to advance. Understanding the plan didn't change the nature of June's actions. Heaven and Earth still believed that she was killing herself. Seizing a small chunk of the storms had already almost destroyed her body. It sounded impossible to absorb all of them. However, Heaven and Earth had already confirmed that the entirety of Noah's group was surpassing their expectations. It didn't matter how unlikely an event might be. June had a chance to succeed, and the rulers couldn't let her do as she wished. "Enough with ants hindering our plans," Heaven and Earth announced before pointing two fingers at June. June's situation was so frail that a single unexpected wave of energy could destabilize the balance she was struggling to preserve. Her body even contained too much power, so a negative influence would surely lead to an explosion. Still, as energy gathered on Heaven and Earth's fingertips, a torrent of black energy teleported above them and slammed on their head. The contact with the lightning bolts destroyed most of the torrent, revealing Noah donned in his fiendish armor. The tips of his blades tried to pierce Heaven and Earth's head, but they failed to go past the superficial lightning bolts. However, the Demonic Sword and the Cursed Sword had slightly pierced Heaven and Earth, so potential filled Noah's world. The power-up gave new strength to his thrusting motion and pushed the crackling figure slightly downward. The crackling noises released by Heaven and Earth grew louder, but Noah didn't let go even as sparks left his opponent and pierced his body. Yet, that slight push didn't distract the rulers from their main target. Heaven and Earth's fingertips brightened, but an unstoppable force suddenly landed on their hand and pushed it slightly away. The rulers had to realign their arm with June, but the figure that materialized at their side stopped them. "I can't hold them for too long," Wilfred announced as he grabbed Heaven and Earth's arm and pulled it while giving fuel to everything he had. The muscles on Wilfred's arms bulged until they reached an unreasonable size. Still, his hands and forearms suffered by being so close to Heaven and Earth. The sparks that left their body pierced Wilfred's skin easily and left severe injuries. Heaven and Earth initially tried to point their arm back at June, but they soon discovered that Wilfred wouldn't move. The sheer physical strength expressed by his pull was almost too much, even for the rulers. "You'll burn if you keep at it," Heaven and Earth said before pointing their free hand at Wilfred. "Why don't you burn first?" Alexander's voice resounded in the area before he teleported to Heaven and Earth's left side. Alexander unleashed an oppressing aura before condensing it in his right palm. The expert pressed his hand on Heaven and Earth's shoulder, and liquid flames seeped into their body. The scarlet liquid flames worked like an infection that tried to hinder Heaven and Earth's control over their free arm. Of course, that condition was less than temporary. The rulers only had to intensify the power of their lightning bolts to free themselves. "I feel your resolve," Supreme Thief exclaimed as he materialized before Heaven and Earth. "Why don't you give it to me?" Supreme Thief's figure transformed into an azure vortex that destabilized Heaven and Earth's lightning bolts. Energy left their body without affecting their overall form, but something quickly became evident. The rulers were losing power. Heaven and Earth seemed about to speak, but a torrent of silver energy suddenly fell on their face. Sword Saint stood on the other side of the attack and thrust it forward, but his efforts only managed to destabilize the rulers' fabric a bit more. "A demon is no ant," Divine Demon declared while materializing above Noah and pointing a finger downward. A waterfall of blood-red energy dived toward Noah and the others without affecting them in the slightest. Yet, when the attack reached Heaven and Earth, it fused with their lightning bolts and slowed down their motion. Heaven and Earth felt to have lost control of their body in that situation, and the matter only worsened. Noah, Sword Saint, Supreme Thief, Divine Demon, Alexander, and Wilfred's teamwork appeared perfect. Their struggles perfectly fused and increased the amount of damage they could inflict. That was even more evident with Noah. His swords became able to dive deeper into Heaven and Earth's head, which filled him with new power and allowed him to add more strength to the attack. The cycle of exhaustion and extreme power resumed before reaching an insane speed. Noah lost track of how many times he was on the verge of fainting. His whole focus was on matching the refilling of his world with new thrusts, and that process slowly led to the desired effects. A crack opened on Heaven and Earth's head. The fissure expanded from Noah's swords and stretched toward the center of the other attacks. The group seemed about to break that avatar, but the rulers were ready to retaliate. "Don't back down!" Noah roared as Heaven and Earth brightened. Danger filled Noah's senses, but something strange joined that feeling as white light filled his vision. His companions shared those sensations, and they all decided to perform evasive maneuvers to leave the area. "You won't get away!" Heaven and Earth shouted, but a deep growl reached them before they could focus on their escaping opponents. Then, an immense slash engulfed their figure. Chapter 2322. Kneel Shafu roared, and the landmass growled as the massive slash engulfed Heaven and Earth. The attack pushed the crackling figure away as it flew toward the sky. The slash crashed on the storms and pierced them without meeting any resistance. That massive amount of energy crashed on the sky afterward, and it remained there until it depleted the entirety of its fuel. Once the slash dispersed, the spectators in the higher plane could see that the sky didn't suffer any damage. Yet, the crackling figure had also disappeared. Noah didn't believe for even a second that the battle was over. The sky still shone, and the storms continued to rage. Heaven and Earth's energy reserves were probably too big to calculate, so that simple attack couldn't have defeated them. Nevertheless, nothing happened after the slash dispersed. The higher plane tried to fall silent, but Shafu and the landmass prevented that. The dragon thrust the massive blade, and a piercing attack flew toward the exposed spot of the sky. Noah ignored the matter for the time being. He couldn't do much for the landmass, and he felt actually pleased that the sky was keeping it busy. June remained immersed in her suicidal procedure, and her influence grew with every completed cycle. More chunks of the storms were falling prey to her power, but her condition kept worsening. Noah teleported next to June but decided to remain silent. A second layer of dark matter flew over his reptilian eyes to prevent his innate pressure from affecting the procedure while he inspected his lover. June was a gory mess. Only minute chunks of skin had survived, and her muscles weren't any better. Her skeleton was in the open, and the same went for her organs. Noah could see how the damage had spread throughout June's figure. She was sacrificing her flesh to give birth to a small amount of superior fabric, and Noah didn't know if there would be enough of her left once the procedure was over. Calculations happened in Noah's mind as he studied June. He hoped that his violent thoughts could come up with ideas to help his lover, but nothing could work in that situation. June was too distant from Noah's knowledge. He knew her world better than anyone else, but that didn't make him able to patch it up. He lacked understanding in those unique fields. "Stop staring at me," June snorted, but her voice carried tremors that Noah inevitably noticed. "Are you going to die?" Noah asked. "Not before reaching the peak," June declared. "Make sure not to die even at that point," Noah ordered. "The universe is too big to limit ourselves to the ninth rank." "I'll focus on surpassing you for now," June smirked before expanding her influence once again. Lightning bolts left the storms and flew toward June. Multiple rivers of energy had already formed around her, but she wasn't even halfway through the process. Noah shot another glance at June before teleporting away. The situation didn't allow him to be concerned. All his thoughts had to focus on winning the battle. Divine Demon, Sword Saint, Supreme Thief, Alexander, and Wilfred had gathered in a random spot of the void during that break, and Noah reached them. The experts didn't say anything about his short trip toward June, and he pretended not to notice the many injuries on their bodies. Everyone had suffered during the previous exchanges. Noah, Alexander, and Wilfred had large holes on their bodies, and some even pierced them from side to side. Divine Demon, Sword Saint, and Supreme Thief were worse off due to their weaker bodies, but their healing techniques were already at work. "What do you think?" Alexander broke the silence. Everyone was staring at the exposed area of the sky, but no one could predict what would happen. "The sky is too tough," Noah responded while the landmass launched another attack that failed to scratch the white layer. "Heaven and Earth can probably hide inside it and create a worldwide tribulation to finish us off." "Only cowards would do that," Divine Demon pointed out. "I can come up with something to lure them out," Supreme Thief announced. "We should find a sword that can pierce the sky," Sword Saint exclaimed. "We are ignoring the sword maniac, right?" Wilfred asked. "I have some interesting sword paths," Supreme Thief revealed. "I can make sharp stuff," Alexander added. "Heaven and Earth are the sky," Noah grunted. "We kill them, and the sky falls." "Killing is definitely better," Divine Demon declared. "What if they hide?" Alexander wondered. "They won't," Noah stated as his eyes fell on the smiling Caesar in the distance. "They have to use us as stepping stones. That means defeating us thoroughly." "So, since their previous effort failed," Supreme Thief guessed. "Yes," Noah continued. "They will probably come up with an avatar that can deal with us." "Let's kill the next one quickly," Divine Demon uttered. "I don't want to waste time dealing with weak versions." "Isn't it better to go step by step and improve along the way?" Wilfred wondered. "I think we are better off going all-out once and for all," Noah replied. "Nice thinking, my heir!" Divine Demon laughed. Noah didn't answer. He honestly didn't know which plan would favor his organization. He could only trust his instincts, and they were telling him to go wild. "I can force Heaven and Earth to bring forth their best avatar," Supreme Thief claimed. "You just want to steal their weaker creations," Alexander pointed out. Supreme Thief wanted to contradict Alexander, but the sky suddenly lit up and forced the experts to disregard their squabble. Noah and the others kept their consciousness unfolded to be ready for any attack, but Heaven and Earth didn't bother hiding. A tall, humanoid figure became visible behind the exposed area of the sky. Details grew clearer as the creature approached the white surface and crossed it to enter the higher plane. Bright white crystals shone throughout the humanoid figure. The avatar seemed made of those blinding minerals, but Noah and the others could sense that there was much more hidden under and inside them. Dense lightning bolts ran inside the crystals, and a rhythmic crackling noise resounded under them. The avatar seemed to have a loud core. It had a heart that Noah and the others couldn't study. The avatar's power wasn't too different from before. It was a slightly superior quasi-rank 10 item, but there was something far deeper in the current version. 'They brought their meanings with them,' Noah thought. The avatar hovered in front of the sky for a few seconds before pointing its face toward Noah's group. Its mouth opened, and sparks accompanied the words that came out of it. "Do not worry," Heaven and Earth said in a buzzing tone that resounded throughout the higher plane. "We are done playing around. This form embodies our true power." "Were you tired of losing?" Noah mocked. "There is no need to fake confidence," Heaven and Earth announced. "It's perfectly normal to be in awe of our might." A suffocating pressure came out of the avatar and filled the higher plane. Noah and the others felt an unstoppable force landing on their bodies and pushing them down. Heaven and Earth wanted them to kneel. Chapter 2323. Pride The pressure wasn't only heavy. Its seemingly unstoppable power came from the deep meanings flowing inside it. Noah and Alexander had an easier time understanding those meanings. They were extremely powerful specimens that stood at the peak of their respective fields, so they could recognize the similarities in that influence. Heaven and Earth weren't trying to suppress Noah's group. They were merely expressing the entirety of their power, which carried the sea of worlds accumulated during their long lives. That stable mass of meanings naturally gave birth to a superior existence, something that went beyond the limits of the species. Heaven and Earth were far past magical beasts, humans, and hybrids. They were a being that had long since abandoned those weak labels. Noah didn't forget about his time as a human. He recalled his envy and interest in the magical beasts and the process that had eventually brought him to his current state. Still, a long time had passed since Noah stood before a creature able to surpass his innate advantages. That period had even led him to believe that he was one of the most powerful types of beings in the world, but Heaven and Earth proved him wrong. Noah struggled to view the crystal figure as a proper living being, but he couldn't ignore its power. Heaven and Earth didn't care about that detail when they built the avatar. They had only wanted something that could contain their immense accumulation of meanings, and the result was incredible. The crystal figure stood at the peak of numerous fields, and Noah had to admit that he didn't know many of them. Heaven and Earth had built something extremely close to perfection, and its mere presence seemed too heavy for the inferior beings in the higher plane. Of course, that superiority alone couldn't make Noah surrender. It only pushed him to show what he had learnt during his time at the peak of the food chain. 'I've played this game far more than you,' Noah thought before sending potential to his body and pride. Veins bulged throughout Noah's body as he forced his figure to remain straight. His neck seemed on the verge of exploding when he lifted his head and opened his mouth. A roar that spread into every corner of the higher plane came out of Noah's mouth and enveloped his underlings into an ethereal protective membrane. His pride filled the world, and his organization drew power from that intense meaning. The pressure on Alexander and the others suddenly lost power. The team could move freely again, and they soon noticed that the rest of their companions were experiencing the same reassuring outcome. Many underlings didn't understand what had happened, but Noah's core team was different. Alexander and the others only needed to glance at their surroundings to see that Heaven and Earth's pressure was still there. Their minds had simply become immune to it. "You have always disdained the magical beasts," Noah roared while his companions straightened their position. "You can't even begin to fight me in this field!" "We weren't trying to fight anyone," Heaven and Earth explained. "Don't pretend to know the intentions of a superior being." "You never learnt how to deal with defeat," Noah laughed, and his companions couldn't help but reveal smirks. "Defeat," Heaven and Earth repeated. "You think that your current power is a victory over us. You don't even understand the meaning of that word." Heaven and Earth lifted an arm to point it at the enemy group. Noah and the others prepared themselves for the imminent attack, but their surroundings turned white before they could summon their energy. A pillar that connected two opposite spots of the sky shot out of Heaven and Earth and engulfed Noah's group. Innate defenses activated as the white energy ravaged everything it could, but they failed to protect the experts. Divine Demon was the first to come out of the pillar. His fuming figure hid the charred holes on his body and other severe injuries. He had lost his left arm and part of his lower body, and his world had also suffered some damage. Noah left right after Divine Demon. He didn't lose any limbs, but his body was a charred mess. Moreover, his world shook to no end and destabilized his centers of power. He had an easier time protecting the ethereal blackness, but he couldn't control himself properly now. The others soon followed, and they all showed a wide array of severe injuries. Still, none of them cared about their physical wounds. Heaven and Earth's sudden attack had touched their worlds, and they had to focus on patching them up or stabilizing them. Only Sword Saint retained some degree of control over his power. His world was atypical, so it could endure the abrupt offensive, allowing him to realize that Heaven and Earth didn't stay still. Heaven and Earth could use that chance to inflict a major loss on Noah's group. They probably had the power to kill a few experts in a single blow, but they disregarded the team to fly toward the landmass. Shafu and the landmass had also benefitted from Noah's pride. The temporary suppression had made both of them livid, so they didn't hesitate to launch a massive slash toward Heaven and Earth when they saw their sprint. The landmass was still getting used to its power, and the same went with Shafu. They shared an instinctive understanding that improved their teamwork, but they had yet to learn how to cooperate. Each subsequent attack was stronger than the previous due to that learning curve. The slash that flew toward the crystal figure wasn't only immense. The amount of power it contained seemed capable of filling the entirety of the higher plane, and the meanings flowing inside it were also far deeper. The crystal figure didn't stop advancing while the slash flew in its direction. Heaven and Earth faced the attack head-on, and the clash disintegrated that giant mass of black energy. The scene was almost unreal. The landmass had launched one of the best attacks the higher plane had ever witnessed, but Heaven and Earth had destroyed it without effort. A mere clash with their crystal figure had turned the slash into dust. The rulers didn't even slow down during the process. Shafu swung the landmass again, but Heaven and Earth landed on that immense black surface before the dragon could complete the attack. Their sheer presence in the area interrupted the offensive and prevented Shafu from moving its weapon. The landmass' infinite hunger activated as soon as the crystal figure touched its surface. The immense creature tried to devour Heaven and Earth, but its corrosive abilities failed to affect their body. Heaven and Earth didn't waste time. Their raised one leg before stomping it on the landmass. The impact generated a shockwave that spread through the entire world and filled the void with storms, but that was only the aftermath of the attack. The stomp released countless white rivers that dived into the landmass and made their way through its structure. Giant web-like cracks expanded through the massive creature and drew images that seemed to depict lightning bolts. The landmass growled in pain as that destructive energy expanded inside its body. Its innate defenses couldn't do anything to stop it, and Heaven and Earth had released enough power to kill its opponent in a single blow. However, the white energy suddenly stopped expanding in random directions and came out of the landmass to converge toward its tip. June stood there, kneeling on the black surface with a hand pressed on the creature, and the crackling rivers quickly crashed on her. Chapter 2324. River Strangely enough, the rivers of white energy didn't cause any explosions. They landed on June before seeping through her maimed figure and disappearing. No one could sense that powerful attack anymore, and Heaven and Earth also appeared lost. Their might had significantly increased after entering their new body, but June had managed to affect their technique anyway. Still, everyone expected a single outcome from that surprising event. Heaven and Earth had hurt the entirety of Noah's team with a casual attack, so their second technique wasn't something a single rank 9 expert could endure, especially one in the liquid stage. However, a chaotic and violent aura came out of June and explained part of the situation. Solid stage power filled the tip of the landmass and spread in every direction before transforming into flares that shot toward the sky. The flares landed on the storms before exploding into ethereal clouds. That influence enveloped the many lightning bolts, forcing them to leave the sky and fly toward June. Torrents of lightning bolts fell from every corner of the higher plane and flew toward June. She stood up as those attacks fused with her body and disappeared. The event was beyond strange. June didn't experience any power-up, but the energy of the lightning bolts disappeared anyway. She was clearly absorbing that power, but no one could understand what she was doing with it. Eventually, dense sparks came out of June's injuries and entered the few remaining chunks of flesh to activate their healing properties. New skin, muscles, bones, and tissues grew from those maimed edges to rebuild her body. The rebuilding process didn't only give June a body worthy of her new level. The quality of her flesh reached a far superior quality in fields that the spectators couldn't identify. Noah could see that her skin didn't aim to match his sturdiness, but it still strived to grow stronger than him in some aspects. Heaven and Earth had the chance to launch more attacks, but they waited to study the event. June attracted all the storms and lightning bolts in the higher plane to absorb them into her body, and the process ended once no injury remained on her figure. June's aura waned at that point. She remained in the solid stage, but her influence returned inside her body. She wasn't affecting the world anymore, and the contact with the landmass was even hurting her. "What did you achieve?" Heaven and Earth asked. "You can't hope to deflect all our attacks." "I can always try," June teased. Heaven and Earth glanced at the landmass. Their previous attack had left deep injuries in that immense creature, but the latter shared the hybrids' insane resilience. Healing abilities had even activated to close some of the most severe wounds. The damage involved the center of the landmass. It didn't affect its sharp edges, so it was safe to assume that Shafu could still use it to attack. Heaven and Earth would have to prioritize those areas to eliminate that annoying creature, but they decided to test June first. Heaven and Earth waved their hand, and a pillar came out of them. The attack resembled what they had launched toward Noah's team, but it was far denser at that time. The white light condensed into a mere bright line during its fast flight. June couldn't hope to dodge the attack, which landed at the center of her chest less than a second after Heaven and Earth's gesture. The attack could probably pierce anything in the world. Heaven and Earth didn't add any unique nature to their offensive, but the sheer amount of energy inside it made its might clear. In theory, June couldn't hope to block the attack. She could survive, but her world was bound to suffer damage. Yet, nothing remotely similar happened. June didn't have the time to summon any technique, but she had no intention to act anyway. The bright line landed on her chest and pushed her away, but the corrosive properties of the landmass helped her disperse that momentum sooner than expected. When June stopped, she straightened her figure again to show the outcome of the attack. Everyone had seen the bright line hitting her, but no one could find traces of that event on her body. She was perfectly fine. The event was shocking, but Heaven and Earth didn't show any emotion. They inspected June for a few seconds until a word eventually left their mouth. "Immunity." "That has always been the final goal of my evolution," June declared. "I finally perfected this body. I don't have to hold back anymore." June lifted a hand above her head, and sparks came out of her palm. That energy transformed into lightning bolts that expanded and condensed until they took the shape of a long orange spear. A loud came out of June's body and echoed through most of the higher plane. The noise carried pulling properties that forced energy, experts, and much more to take a step toward her. The pulling force didn't affect Heaven and Earth, but they didn't miss how the entirety of the landmass shook due to that influence. Still, their attention remained on June since she didn't hesitate to throw her spear. The orange weapon seemed to explode as soon as it left June's hand. The spear transformed into a bullet that left a bright trail through its trajectory. The attack was fast, but it remained too slow for Heaven and Earth. The rulers raised their hand to stop the bullet, but the latter revealed its true form when June's heartbeat resounded again. The bullet experienced a surge of energy that turned it into an orange torrent far bigger than the crystal figure. The attack engulfed Heaven and Earth and dug away part of the landmass' surface during its flight toward the other side of the higher plane. The similarities with Heaven and Earth's first attack were impossible to miss. June had basically replicated their technique, but she had added the deep meanings of her world to it. The torrent didn't deplete energy during the flight. It actually grew stronger. A proper river appeared in the almost empty higher plane. The world had the landmass, Shafu, and the vast array of golden inscriptions, but an orange torrent had joined them now. The river didn't disperse even after landing on the sky. Instead, it generated more energy during its flow, giving birth to a proper sea above the white layer. The orange sea revealed the nature of June's attacks. Sparks flowed over its surface and multiplied as more power appeared inside them. A stranger would find the scene impossible to explain, but everyone knew June's world. She had learnt to expand the properties of her Perfect Circuit to her very energy. The incredible scene filled the weaker experts in Noah's organization with hope, but it didn't affect the core team. Noah and the others were pleased that June could finally fight, but they knew that the attack couldn't defeat Heaven and Earth. As predicted, two white slashes cut through the sea and the entirety of the river while releasing whooshing noises. June had to turn herself into a lightning bolt to escape those attacks, but her landing at Noah's side revealed how her evasive maneuver didn't save her completely. June carried a cross-shaped injury on her right shoulder when she materialized next to Noah. Sparks came out of the wound, but they failed to fix it. June had to settle with covering it with her power. Meanwhile, the entire river crumbled into dust and revealed the intact crystal figure. Heaven and Earth didn't suffer any injury, and the white light in their palms now carried a far more dangerous power. "You became immune to a single one of our worlds," Heaven and Earth stated, "And we have always known how to counter it." Chapter 2325. Offensive "Well," Wilfred exclaimed, "We weren't expecting this to be easy." "Do you have a plan?" Alexander asked. "Thinking isn't my job," Wilfred responded. "I just attack." "Same here," June announced. "I like that part too," Divine Demon added. "A sword follows its own path," Sword Saint stated. "You could have simply agreed with them," Supreme Thief snorted. "No need to sound wise." "You don't have a plan either," Alexander pointed out. "I don't need a plan," Supreme Thief declared. "I only need to show them who's best." "That doesn't sound too bad," Alexander admitted before glancing at Noah. "Yeah," Noah sighed. "Let's do that." Noah released his dark matter and created the dark world under him. Multiple workshops activated and built an army of six-armed dragons with blades instead of claws. "We should coordinate," Alexander suggested. "I was feeling mud," Supreme Thief responded. "You really want to rob them even now," Alexander cursed before heaving a helpless sigh. "I can work with that." "I'll handle some of their attacks," June uttered. "Don't bother dodging if they use neutral energy." "I'll cut them," Sword Saint declared. "I'll teach them how to be a demon," Divine Demon added. "We have a plan," Noah concluded. "I'll go first." Noah's statement surprised his companions, but he knew that they wouldn't remain too far behind. Potential flowed into his understanding of space and time as he filled a good chunk of the higher plane with dark matter and disappeared inside it. The dark matter was too violent to be a sea. Noah had created multiple wave-like structures that shot toward Heaven and Earth while hiding his presence and the army of dragons. The diversion didn't faze Heaven and Earth. The crystal figure raised a hand, and a soundwave came out. The attack had a circular shape that expanded toward the waves of dark matter and created instabilities in their structure. The dark matter couldn't hope to survive the attack. The waves turned into dust, but nothing came out of them. Noah and the army had completely disappeared. Heaven and Earth didn't say anything while they lifted their arm. A series of rumbling gales came out of their hand and ravaged their surroundings without focusing on any specific area. The gales eventually hit something, and Heaven and Earth didn't hesitate to look in that direction. Beams shot out of their eyes and pierced their target, generating explosions in the process. White energy expanded from the areas traveled by the beams. Spherical structures grew and pushed the gales away, but the latter didn't disappear. Heaven and Earth forced them to condense in their palm, where they created a tiny hurricane. Nothing came out of the spherical structures, but Heaven and Earth weren't done. A sharp, high-pitched noise resounded from their body and created a pale domain around them that covered half of the higher plane. The domain appeared stable until a small area above Heaven and Earth trembled. The rulers threw their tiny hurricane there at that point, and the attack expanded to envelop everything in its violent winds. A painful cry left the hurricane but failed to distract Heaven and Earth. Still, the rulers couldn't help but focus on the winds afterward. Some gales were turning black for no apparent reason. The hurricane wasn't the only target of that strange technique. Multiple black spots appeared in random places of the pale domain and started to expand. Noah's influence began to take over the area, but Heaven and Earth didn't let that continue for too long. Heaven and Earth opened their mouth to release a humming noise. The attack forced the pale domain and the hurricane to freeze, which halted the expansion of the black areas. Everything crumbled right afterward. A rain of shards containing enough power to fill most of the higher plane fell into the void, and hundreds of black figures materialized among them. Six-armed dragons and fiendish avatars appeared around Heaven and Earth and voiced roars before shooting toward them. The rulers were at the center of a tight encirclement, but that offensive didn't worry them at all. Thousands of tiny spikes seeped out of the crystal figure and shot forward. Every weapon carried an insane amount of power, and the army couldn't do anything against it. The spikes easily pierced the dragons and the fiendish avatars, forcing them to self-destruct to unleash their energy. Complete blackness filled Heaven and Earth's surroundings, but their face remained calm as they inspected the darkness. Heaven and Earth eventually sprinted ahead and pierced the blackness to reach the single survivor of their previous offensive. A maimed six-armed dragon had tried to hide among the energy released by its companions, and the rulers didn't miss that. "You reached the final battle only to play tricks on us," Heaven and Earth mocked before tapping their fingers on the dragon's head. That mere touch turned the dragon into dust. Heaven and Earth also launched a beam to pierce the humanoid figure that had come out of it. Yet, their expression flickered at that point. The beams dug a hole into the fiendish figure, but no blood came out. Noah wasn't there. Instead, the avatar exploded to fill the area with fuming blades that shot in every direction. Heaven and Earth didn't bother protecting themselves from the attack. The swords generated clanging noises when they landed on the crystals, but they failed to inflict any damage. Nevertheless, one of the swords that flew above Heaven and Earth's head suddenly released dark matter and created a portal-like structure. Snore's massive head came out of it and spat a waterfall of destructive energy. Heaven and Earth endured the waterfall, but the sheer power of their body soon took care of it. Sparks came out of their crystals whenever the destructive energy touched them, and those innate defenses eventually spread through the entirety of the technique. The torrent shattered, but a series of black lines materialized in its place and converged toward Heaven and Earth. The crystals didn't suffer any damage during the offensive, allowing the rulers to lift their arm to deal with the new threat. A figure materialized and swung its blades, only for them to end up on Heaven and Earth's palm. Noah put as much strength as possible into the attack, but he couldn't do anything. The crystal figure was simply too strong. "You have improved," Heaven and Earth commented. "Your understanding can almost affect the void, but we were there long before you." A loud shockwave expanded from Heaven and Earth's back at that point, and a second soon followed. Wilfred eventually teleported behind the rulers and thrust his palms forward to slam them on the crystals. The impact with Heaven and Earth's body almost made Noah feel dizzy. The sheer strength unleashed by Wilfred was incredible, but the rulers didn't move. "There's more," Heaven and Earth announced before two figures materialized at their sides. Alexander voiced a low cry as a mud-like liquid came out of his mouth and filled the area. The attack didn't affect Noah and Wilfred, but Heaven and Earth could feel its hindering properties trying to influence their body. Supreme Thief also used mud, but his attack gave birth to a giant humanoid figure that fell on Heaven and Earth and fused with Alexander's attack. The creature used the mud in the area to restrain Heaven and Earth and search for weak spots in their body, but the process instantly failed. The crystal figure didn't have weaknesses. Still, Supreme Thief stepped through the mud anyway to touch Heaven and Earth with his bare hands. His whole figure shone with azure light as he immersed himself in the meaning running through the crystals, and his curiosity soon skyrocketed. "You have so much worth stealing!" Supreme Thief laughed. "Make way!" June shouted before unleashing an orange torrent on the area. Divine Demon and Sword Saint didn't hold back either. They launched massive attacks on the sea of mud. Three pillars carrying different shades converged on the same area, generating a deafening explosion during their clash. Chapter 2326. Firepower Noah and the others near Heaven and Earth had retreated as soon as June launched her attack. Yet, the explosion generated by the clash among the three pillars reached them before they could get far enough. A spherical shockwave expanded through half of the higher plane and split the team, but the expert soon gathered again. Meanwhile, the energy released by Divine Demon, Sword Saint, and June dispersed to reveal the outcome of the offensive. Heaven and Earth appeared in the open and showed the utter lack of injuries on their body. The crystals didn't even carry stains, let alone dents. Nothing Noah and the others had done pierced that material. Noah glanced at his blades before inspecting the companions hidden inside his world. Cracks had opened on the Demonic Sword and Cursed Sword, affecting the sharpness of their edges. That damage didn't diminish their power, but it was a clear sign of Heaven and Earth's might. Something similar had happened to Snore and Night. The two creatures had suffered a backlash after attacking Heaven and Earth. The sole fact that they had shown their presence on the battlefield had hurt them. Of course, Snore and Night were sturdy enough to keep fighting. Noah's body was a mess, but his insane resilience was preserving his might. The same applied to the blades since they could rely on the dark matter. Overall, Noah could still express his full power, and his friends weren't any different. Dealing with Heaven and Earth was hurting them, but they could fight without holding anything back. However, that didn't change the problematic nature of the situation. Heaven and Earth's offensive was troublesome, but the experts could handle it together. As long as they were careful, the rulers wouldn't have a chance to kill them in a single blow. The problems stood in other fields. Heaven and Earth had endured multiple attacks that carried the full power of Noah's core team without flinching. That alone proved how sturdy their body was. Moreover, Noah and the others had never stopped suffering injuries during the offensive. Their current condition didn't affect their battle prowess, but that moment would inevitably arrive if things didn't change. Noah relied on his violent thoughts to devise plans, but his mind couldn't reach any conclusion even after feeding on his potential. He felt confident in his destructive power, but Heaven and Earth would never let him accumulate enough of that aspect, which was the core of the issue. Defeating Heaven and Earth with a few powerful attacks was the only possible path to victory. Noah's group wouldn't survive a prolonged battle. However, that conclusion revealed another major issue. The current team lacked the strength to hurt the rulers. 'We need more firepower,' Noah concluded while Heaven and Earth took a step forward and materialized in front of the group. "Are you done already?" Heaven and Earth asked before pointing a hand at Wilfred. A giant piercing slash suddenly crashed on the crystal figure, but the latter was sturdy enough to endure the blow without moving. The clash forced that immense power to expand in different directions, and the group used it to fuel their evasive maneuvers. Heaven and Earth turned to look at the source of the attack. Shafu and the landmass had resumed their offensive, and a second slash was already on its way. The crystal figure didn't bother to dodge the incoming slash. Heaven and Earth flew right through it, destroying the entirety of the attack in the process. Shafu tried to swing the landmass forward again, but Heaven and Earth landed on it before that could happen. The impact even pushed that immense creature downward, and the event carried so much power that the whole black structure bent. A painful growl came out of every corner of the landmass, and corrosive power accompanied that cry. Black smoke seeped out of the dark surface before transforming into a series of blades that flew toward the crystal figure. Heaven and Earth had no interest in the incoming blades. They stomped their foot on the landmass, unleashing a series of circular attacks that seeped deep into the structure. Due to the previous attack, the landmass already carried a deep, web-like hole, and the stomp enlarged it other than adding even more damage. The creature's insides churned as earthquakes spread throughout its structure and destabilized its fabric. Giant chunks of the landmass fell from the main structure and disappeared into the void as the circular attacks continued to expand in its insides. It seemed that the attack would destroy the creature, but the latter suddenly disappeared. Heaven and Earth looked at the empty spot under them before turning toward Shafu. The dragon had started to fly away after absorbing the landmass, but its speed was nothing special for the rulers. "Fine," Heaven and Earth said. "We'll kill you first." A rumbling orange torrent fell on Heaven and Earth before they could chase after Shafu. June gave birth to a new bright river, but that structure instantly shattered. The crystal figure turned the river into dust with the single step it took to reach Shafu. Heaven and Earth performed a sharp dive, but a large amount of potential filled the dragon before it threw its influence at its opponent. A foreign force tried to push Heaven and Earth away from their trajectory, but that effort turned out to be pointless. The crystal figure barely slowed down before reaching Shafu's left wing and turning it into dust with a single touch of its foot. Shafu was performing an evasive maneuver, but the crystal figure's trajectory remained pointed at the center of its body. The dragon couldn't even dream of stopping it on its own, but it wasn't alone. Silver light flashed under Heaven and Earth. Sword Saint wielded an ethereal blade with both hands as he tried to stop the crystal figure and cut its feet off. The crystals remained intact, but Heaven and Earth had to stop their descent for a second. They only needed a gesture to get rid of Sword Saint, but Supreme Thief materialized above them before they could focus on his companion. An azure sphere formed in front of Supreme Thief's fingertips before a piercing ray shot out of it. He relied on an empowered version of the Rulers' Resolve ability for his attack, and his decision seemed to pay off. The ray fell on Heaven and Earth's head before transforming into a membrane that enveloped their body. The azure energy hindered their movements for one more second, allowing Divine Demon to materialize in front of them. "Let's go with this," Divine Demon exclaimed while drawing a blood-red circle on the azure membrane. The circle's radiance intensified until its color gained paler shades. The technique eventually reached a critical point and unleashed its power on Heaven and Earth's chest, generating a clanging noise that flew deep into the void. Heaven and Earth tried to launch a quick shockwave to get rid of their opponents, but that attack crumbled and turned into multiple lightning bolts that flew toward June. Part of the attack survived, but the three experts could endure it easily. Meanwhile, June and Wilfred reached the scene to add abilities to that offensive. Only Alexander and Noah remained behind. Alexander had understood something, so he waited for Noah to give further directives. "Pig!" Noah roared without moving his eyes away from the crystal figure. "Stop wasting time and come here!" The Foolery and Marcella had been busy with their seemingly infinite exchange while Noah and the others fought Heaven and Earth. Marcella's energy reserves were boundless, but the pig could say the same for its hunger. Yet, Noah's call forced the Foolery to ignore the many tasty magical plants in its view and fly toward its companions. Marcella obviously didn't like that, but the vegetation she sent after the pig couldn't contain it even after wrapping itself around its body. "You finally acknowledge my might!" The pig squealed once it reached Noah, but he grabbed its head and threw it toward Heaven and Earth before it could spout more nonsense. "Do you need me to handle Marcella?" Alexander asked. "No," Noah reassured. "I have something else. That idiot is about to come out." Chapter 2327. lce Alexander had a vague idea of what Noah had in mind, but he didn't let his curiosity affect him. Noah's answer was a silent order, so Alexander didn't hesitate to fly after the Foolery to join it in its offensive. The Foolery squealed as it accelerated toward Heaven and Earth. The crystal figure was in the middle of a joint assault, but it remained in control of the situation. Actually, the experts around it were the only ones suffering injuries. The pig ignored any instinctive tactic that its companions had come up with and charged ahead. Divine Demon laughed as he stepped on his left to leave a path for his companion, and the Foolery immediately filled that spot. The Foolery headbutted Heaven and Earth, but the attack only shattered the skin on its forehead. Still, the pig ignored the injury and unfolded its hunger to affect the immense energy flowing through the crystals. The hunger didn't affect Heaven and Earth. The Foolery couldn't even eat the sparse energy lingering over the crystal figure. That fuel was too deep to fall under the influence of such a weak domain. "You won't stop me from eating you!" The Foolery shouted before opening its mouth to bite on the crystals. The pig's teeth almost broke, and lingering sparks seeped through them to flow into its body. Its internal organs suffered while its mouth remained wrapped on Heaven and Earth, but that wasn't enough to make it give up. "Who said that you are too powerful for me?!" The pig squealed, and its idiocy fused with its hunger to create a sucking force that seeped through the crystals. "We do," Heaven and Earth replied, and the sucking force vanished before seizing anything. The rulers had easily stopped the Foolery, but that outcome was entirely predictable. Heaven and Earth had long since grown tired of that siege. Shafu had even gotten quite far away in the meantime, and the rulers had no intention of letting it go. Still, Alexander's arrival delayed Heaven and Earth's assault once again. Alexander studied the joint assault for a bit before joining his hands to gather power between his palms. A deep and heavy aura enveloped Alexander while he summoned his technique. Multiple innate abilities fused and flowed toward his hands to give birth to something the world had never seen. When Alexander separated his hands, small lumps of purple flames came out in the open. Those tiny techniques flew left and right without leaving Alexander's surroundings, but they shot toward Heaven and Earth as soon as he pointed at them. The flames were small enough to land on some of Heaven and Earth's exposed spots, but they turned liquid as soon as they touched the crystals. The sparks tried to destroy them, but they appeared resistant to those attacks, which gave them time to apply their effects. The purple puddles transformed into sticky spots that glued themselves to the crystals while sending energy inside them. Alexander was sending energy to Heaven and Earth, but the latter couldn't subdue it. The purple energy transformed once again once it entered the crystals. It turned into a gas-like substance that tried to destabilize the many meanings amassed by Heaven and Earth. The attempt obviously failed for the most part. Alexander had summoned as many suitable abilities as he could think of, but they weren't anything special compared to what Heaven and Earth contained. However, the purple gas managed to affect random aspects of some meanings. That result wasn't significant enough to inflict damage, but it remained more than the team had accomplished until now. Heaven and Earth saw the event as an insult toward their superiority, but their opponents retained the initiative. Alexander had opened a path, and Supreme Thief didn't hesitate to step on it. Supreme Thief landed on Heaven and Earth's shoulders and placed his hands on their head. His figure turned into a blinding azure avatar as he focused the entirety of his world on a single task, and something surprising eventually happened. Heaven and Earth lifted their head in time to see Supreme Thief drawing a single white dot out of the crystals. The stolen item contained immense energy, but it was incredibly unstable. Moreover, it was too powerful for Supreme Thief's world. Nevertheless, Supreme Thief didn't try to absorb those stolen meanings. He pushed his hands down as soon as the instabilities reached a critical point, and the white dot exploded into a storm of white and azure energy. The power of the attack surpassed anything the group had launched before. Supreme Thief didn't use his energy or understanding to cast that technique. He had simply stolen something from Heaven and Earth before sending it back at them. The stolen energy contained random chunks of meaning, so it didn't create a proper attack. The unleashed power was chaotic and violent, and it even expressed different natures. Yet, it was strong enough to affect Heaven and Earth. After all, it had come from them in the first place. Supreme Thief laughed when he saw the violent attack pushing down Heaven and Earth, but his companions didn't share his happiness. They had been right next to the crystal figure, so the technique hit them too. "Can't you warn us first?!" June cursed as she and the others sprinted out of the attack. "You hit my blade!" Sword Saint scolded. "I couldn't eat anything!" The Foolery complained. "That's how a demon should act," Divine Demon laughed. "I don't know how many of this we can handle," Wilfred pointed out. "We don't deserve to live then," Divine Demon laughed even harder. Marcella saw the exchange happening from her distant spot. Everything had unfolded too quickly, so she had remained still to watch the scene. Yet, once Heaven and Earth failed to handle the offensive, Marcella snapped back to reality and charged ahead. She didn't know how much she could do against so many opponents, but she felt sure that the rulers would benefit from her presence. Still, an enormous silver item materialized on Marcella's path before she could reach Heaven and Earth. The privileged cultivator immediately recognized that chrysalis, so she did everything she could to fly past it, but her efforts didn't lead anywhere. Silver ice covered the entire area and expanded until a quarter of the higher plane transformed into a frozen landscape. Marcella saw all the available paths closing before her eyes, and her consciousness also failed to pierce that silver material. Marcella didn't give up so soon. Countless spiky plants grew around her and shot toward the ice. Many of her attacks succeeded in piercing that silver layer, but she only found more frozen areas past that. A cracking noise eventually reached Marcella's ears and forced her to look at the silver item. Fissures opened on its surface and expanded to reveal an intense green color. The process continued until a loud hiss filled the area. The cracked item froze and retreated to fuse with the giant figure contained in its insides. A massive green snake appeared in the open and stretched its immense body before lifting its head to express its anger. "Defying Demon!" The Eternal Snake hissed. "I've come back to kill you!" Chapter 2328. Snake The Eternal Snake expressed the results of its hibernation through its hiss. Marcella could partially evaluate the nature of its new power, but what she failed to understand left her confused. The creature was still a rank 9 magical beast in the upper tier. Its species had undergone some changes, but there were limits to how much it could improve. Marcella had seen magical beasts overcoming their innate limits through transformations and modifications, which often involved a radical evolution of their species. For example, the Foolery had to become a hybrid, and the dragons had to turn themselves into mindless weapons. Even Noah had to go through a similar process multiple times during his life. He had started as a human and had walked the hybrid path for many years until he had eventually surpassed that entire field. However, the Eternal Snake didn't do any of that. It had remained a magical beast, and most of its core still shared many similarities with its original species. Of course, Marcella didn't underestimate the hibernation. The current version of the Eternal Snake was the result of numerous empowerments, but she didn't know where that power had gone. "Defying Demon!" The snake continued to call. "I can smell you! Come out and fight me!" The snake didn't receive any answer, and even Marcella hesitated to interact with it. She was conflicted about the current situation, and fear had nothing to do with that. The previous battles had forced Marcella to reevaluate her power, but she remained utterly confident before a magical beast. Yet, she knew that the Eternal Snake was an annoying opponent. Its resilience would only lead to a prolonged battle. Marcella wanted to help Heaven and Earth, so fighting a magical beast sounded like a waste of time in her mind. Still, she couldn't move freely due to the ice, which forced her attention to remain on the Eternal Snake. Fighting would generally be the only option, but Marcella saw a different path in the Eternal Snake's anger. Heaven and Earth would never accept a magical beast as an ally, but Marcella only needed it to remove the ice. If she could trick the creature, she wouldn't need to waste any time. "Defying Demon!" The Eternal Snake hissed again, but the appearance of green light in its surroundings temporarily halted its rage. "Defying Demon is on the other side of your ice," Marcella revealed while materializing near the snake. "You only need to withdraw your technique to reach him." "And who would you be?" The Eternal Snake asked. "I'm an enemy of Defying Demon," Marcella explained while forcing herself to perform a half-bow. "Why don't we make a deal? I won't interfere with your battle if you open a path." "An enemy," The Eternal Snake hissed before moving its reptilian eyes over its surroundings. A strange aura came out of the giant chunk of ice during the inspection. The Eternal Snake used its innate ability to enhance its senses, and a vague understanding of the situation quickly filled its mind. The Eternal Snake had left Noah and the others before the final battle, but the scene that unfolded in its senses made everything clear. The creature didn't only skip the start of that struggle. It had awakened right at its end. The faint hesitation on the Eternal Snake's face stirred Marcella's worries. She couldn't let the creature change its mind. She had to fuel its anger to achieve her goals. "Defying Demon decided to free you only at the last second," Marcella announced. "He probably had no intention to use you at all. It must not feel great to be a decoy." The Eternal Snake pretended that Marcella didn't say anything while its inspection continued. The empty higher plane filled with nothing but a few battles saddened the creature. That wasn't a world worth inhabiting anymore. "Where are the other magical beasts?" The Eternal Snake asked. "Why is none of them fighting?" "Defying Demon used them as cannon fodder to fend off our initial assault," Marcella explained. "The few surviving creatures should be hidden inside ethereal inscriptions. I can bring you there if you wish." "No magical beast is fighting Heaven and Earth," The Eternal Snake sighed before voicing a low hiss. "Unforgivable." "What?" Marcella gasped before the snake's massive tail cracked at her. The attack was fast enough to take Marcella by surprise, but she still managed to summon a few plants to protect herself. However, the sheer physical prowess expressed by the Eternal Snake pierced her vegetation and flung her away. "Plants?!" The Eternal Snake hissed in anger. "How did plants remain in this battle when the magical beasts left it?" Marcella dispersed her momentum only to find the Eternal Snake staring at her from a distance. She instinctively summoned her vegetation to reveal her power and prove herself worthy of that battlefield, but the scene only made the creature angrier. "Cultivators," The Eternal Snake scoffed. "Even someone using plants underestimates me. This ends today." "Wait!" Marcella hurriedly exclaimed in front of the Eternal Snake's sudden calm. "I'll let you fight me once everything is over. Let's take care of Defying Demon first." "You'll let me?" The Eternal Snake repeated as its calm shattered and anger came out of its figure again. "Do you think you can stop me?" Marcella could only heave a sigh at those words. Her plan had failed, but she promptly moved to the next one. Energy flowed into her vegetation to generate new magical plants meant to counter what she knew about the Eternal Snake. The Eternal Snake was too angry to waste time in words. It stretched its body to slam its tail on the thick ice and use the impact to push itself forward. The sprint was quite exceptional for a magical beast, but Marcella was one of the best privileged cultivators in the entire sky. She could follow the charge, and her plants even happened to be faster than the Eternal Snake. Sharp flowers and branches that carried bright tips shot toward the charging creature, but clanging noises resounded when they landed on it. Nothing pierced the green scales, and a considerable chunk of the vegetation shattered when the Eternal Snake fell on it. The Eternal Snake spat a silver torrent that froze anything it touched. The broken vegetation transformed into an icy landmass, but Marcella severed herself from it before the ability could reach her. Marcella teleported above the snake and recreated the array of magical plants while adjusting them to her opponent's new sturdiness. Flowers with burning petals grew all around them and closed to create fuming spears that shot forward and fused into a single structure. The attack was too fast for the Eternal Snake. The fuming structure pierced its body before generating branches that expanded through its insides. A proper array of magical plants grew and pierced the snake from the inside. Roots and branches came out of the scales before diving back into its body to add vegetation to that technique. Marcella believed that killing the Eternal Snake quickly was impossible, but she could still immobilize it. Dealing with the creature couldn't be easier than piercing the ice separating her from the battle, so she opted for the second approach. Nevertheless, the Eternal Snake pulled itself away from the technique, uncaring of the scales, muscles, and organs that the plants inside it destroyed. More than half of its body turned into a gory rain during its reckless gesture, but the magical beast didn't care at all. The Eternal Snake launched its open mouth toward Marcella, but she teleported away and replicated her previous attack. The creature had started to use the ice in the area to heal itself, but vast arrays of magical plants soon filled its body again. Marcella didn't think much of the Eternal Snake after witnessing those exchanges. The creature's resilience was immense, but it had to freeze something to activate the healing process. She could prevent that by simply retracting her plants after inflicting wounds. After a few exchanges, the Eternal Snake turned into nothing more than a gory mess of broken skin and falling internal organs. More than ninety percent of its body had fallen into the void, and Marcella sighed at that sight. However, the injuries suddenly vanished, and the missing flesh reappeared on the snake. Chapter 2329. Eternal The Eternal Snake headbutted Marcella as soon as its figure regained its original form. The attack carried insane violence, and Marcella faced it head-on. The impact flung Marcella toward the distant frozen layer. Everything inside her shook after crashing on the ice, but her world remained intact, and roots immediately pierced her skin to recreate her vegetation. The attack had separated Marcella from her previous technique, and the Eternal Snake quickly added it to its collection of frozen areas. Still, none of that ice separated from those structures to fuse with the creature. After all, it didn't have injuries anymore. Marcella didn't understand what had happened. She knew that her previous attacks had deeply hurt the Eternal Snake, but that damage had abruptly vanished without any apparent reason. However, Marcella knew enough about the Eternal Snake's hibernation to link a few dots. The creature had probably gained some form of immortality, which partially explained the previous event. "Do you think you can replicate a cultivator's world without abandoning your species?" Marcella asked. "Magical beasts are so naïve." The Eternal Snake hissed in anger as it slammed its tail on the frozen landmass to sprint forward. Its massive body fused with its incredible speed gave birth to gales that shot in every direction, but Marcella barely cared about them. The creature slammed head-on on the ice only to notice that Marcella had already left. She reappeared above the Eternal Snake with her vegetation, and another piercing attack shot out of it. Countless plants pierced the green scales and invaded the snake's body. The creature couldn't stop that attack, but it didn't hesitate to rip itself away from that vegetation to assault Marcella again. Marcella improved on her previous offensive. She teleported away and filled the Eternal Snake with plants again while also adding a cage of firm roots to her attack. The Eternal Snake injured itself to escape those plants, but it failed to reach Marcella. The creature slammed on the roots that were enveloping its surroundings, and the latter held strong. They could endure its physical might. The creature obviously didn't like that. The Eternal Snake saw that hindrance as a personal insult, but even biting the roots didn't help its situation. "Your resilience definitely increased," Marcella commented when the snakes' injuries suddenly vanished, "But your species can't reach the same depths of a cultivator." Marcella sent more power to the roots around the Eternal Snake to make them give birth to fruits. Seeds came out of them and generated branches that expanded in every direction, transforming the cage into a spiked hell. The Eternal Snake couldn't stop suffering injuries. Roots stabbed its body and expanded inside it if it remained still, but the same happened when it moved. Marcella had successfully isolated it in a deadly trap. "Your healing properties probably lack limits," Marcella announced, "But you can't fix your body if my plans occupy those areas." More energy flowed toward the cage and thickened the array of roots. The empty spots inside the areas started to disappear, but that didn't change the Eternal Snake's situation. The creature had long since become unable to move. The process continued until the entirety of the cage became full of sharp roots. Marcella made sure to close every gap before diverting her attention from the battle. The Eternal Snake probably was still alive, but she didn't care enough to remain in the area. Marcella turned toward the layer of ice to inspect its fabric. The Eternal Snake's innate ability was truly sturdy, but she had plants that could pierce it. The process wouldn't be fast, but she had a way to reach the main battle. Roots came out of Marcella's body again to give birth to fuming petals. The heat generated by those flowers intensified as Marcella added more energy and transformed them into multiple spiked structures. The pointy plants shot forward to stab the frozen layer. Silver shards immediately fell from it, but the damage remained relatively insignificant. Still, Marcella remained calm and gave more energy to her attacks to continue the excavation. Mere magical plants couldn't do much against such a tough material, but Marcella's constant flow of energy revitalized their fabric whenever they lost momentum. The fuming spears slowly made their way through the ice. It would take a while, but Marcella knew she could reach the other side. The cage remained stable and added confidence to Marcella's approach. However, the frozen landmasses eventually started to fly toward the spherical array of roots. The landmasses fell on the cage and did their best to freeze the structure, but Marcella had predicted a similar outcome. Her roots were ice-resistant, and the Eternal Snake's innate ability couldn't ignore that feature. The ice could only expand and envelop the cage at that point. It didn't grow, but it still surrounded the roots hoping to win over their innate resistance. Marcella didn't just let the Eternal Snake do as it wished. She sent energy to the cage while remaining focused on her drill-like plants. Reaching the other side was her main goal, so she knew she had to keep the creature trapped. The drilling process continued without meeting any hindrance. Marcella even started to relax after a while. It made sense for a magical beast to be relatively easy to deal with, so she didn't think too much about it. A tunnel came to life as the process continued. Marcella's plan was working, but her survival instincts suddenly screamed in fear. She didn't know the reason behind that reaction, but she trusted her mind enough to listen to its warning. Marcella shot backward and left the tunnel to inspect the frozen layer as a whole. Nothing strange was happening there, so she turned to examine the cage. Her structure was still surrounded by ice, but even that situation didn't change. Nevertheless, great surprise filled Marcella's mind when she turned back toward the frozen layer. Her tunnel had completely disappeared. The ice had regained its original form, wasting her previous efforts. Marcella was stunned, but she didn't lose her cool. After reviewing everything she knew about the Eternal Snake, she could explain the event. It was safe to assume that its ice shared its resilience. 'I must kill it,' Marcella concluded, but another surprising scene unfolded in her eyes when she turned. The layer of ice that had enveloped the cage had transformed into a giant reptilian head that bit down on the array of roots. The mouth was big enough to cover the entirety of the structure, and the latter disappeared after entering that frozen attack. Marcella's expression flickered when she lost connection with the cage. In theory, the giant head had an opening at its base, so broken roots would have come out from there, but nothing left the mouth. "Damned cultivator!" The Eternal Snake hissed in anger as soon as the mouth opened to reveal its intact body. "You are one annoying being," Marcella commented while recreating her vegetation to prepare for the imminent battle. She couldn't find alternatives, so she decided to put everything she had into the fight. "Annoying?" The snake repeated in a human voice. "I'm eternal! Anything frozen by my ability will remain frozen forever. Nothing can erase the traces of my existence!" Chapter 2330. Boulder The battle against Heaven and Earth had continued while the Eternal Snake kept Marcella busy, but things didn't improve too much. The arrival of the Foolery had added a new set of troublesome attacks to the team's offensive. Having a solid stage hybrid fueled with intense anger toward Heaven and Earth also deepened the group's advantage, but it failed to bring them on the winning side. A break happened after a few exchanges went by. Noah found himself among the void, far away from his companions and with his mental waves struggling to expand. He was losing control over his centers of power, and his condition was to blame for that. Holes that stretched deep into Noah's insides filled his body, and many cracks joined the picture, turning his figure into a gory mess. His resilience was keeping him strong and ready to fight, but his overall prowess was dwindling. The fiendish armor hid those injuries, but Noah knew he was approaching his limits. His world had also stopped growing due to his past failures. He had unleashed stronger attacks during the previous exchanges, but Heaven and Earth had gotten used to them and had prevented him from generating more potential. Noah was actively running low on energy, but his condition was far from the worse among his team. His companions had suffered a lot, and Wilfred expressed that trend better than the others. Wilfred also stood alone in the void. The right side of his torso was a bloody mess, and his arm was missing. He had lost it during one of the past exchanges, but his life wasn't in danger. Yet, his physical prowess had greatly diminished due to the injury. Alexander was only slightly better off. His identity as the best hybrid in the world and his understanding of his responsibilities had pushed him to face more dangers than his companions. Whenever Heaven and Earth revealed an opening, Alexander was there. Whenever Heaven and Earth launched a seemingly endurable attack, Alexander was there. Whenever June and the others decided to retreat, Alexander was there to slow down Heaven and Earth. That reckless approach had been sustainable only because Noah had helped as much as possible. He had even taken care of replacing Alexander multiple times. It was his role as one of the sturdiest beings in the world to face the most dangerous situations. Supreme Thief and Sword Saint had suffered similar injuries but for different reasons. Their condition was terrible, but they appeared able to endure those wounds better than some of their companions. Sword Saint had moved to the frontlines as the exchanges continued. His maniacal need to find a blade that could cut Heaven and Earth had pushed him into dangerous positions, but his behavior carried much more than that. Sword Saint knew that his world was unique. He could endure deeper injuries without putting his potential in danger. The sword path would refill those missing parts during the breaks, so he happily relied on harmful attacks hoping to achieve some results. Nevertheless, Heaven and Earth's knowledge was immense. They quickly found a way to deal with Sword Saint's peculiar world. His existence was partially outside their reach, but the same didn't apply to his body. Sword Saint had worm-like lightning bolts running under his skin. That technique hindered his ability to move freely, which affected the execution of his arts. He couldn't perform perfect slashes if his body didn't move accordingly. Heaven and Earth had used the same method to reduce Supreme Thief's power. Supreme Thief was the expert with the highest chance of hurting the crystals since he drew energy directly from his opponents, but that process required a connection. Heaven and Earth could easily use that against him. Divine Demon, the Foolery, and June were the very opposite of Wilfred and Alexander. The three didn't appear affected by the exchanges, even if their condition didn't always hint at that. The Foolery was a mess of charred skin and fuming flesh, especially near its mouth. It had suffered as many injuries as Alexander and Noah, but its world was keeping it at its peak. Its idiocy was the greatest fuel in the world in that battle.

Divine Demon was perfectly fine, but Noah had been with the expert long enough to understand that he was only pretending. Divine Demon's figure didn't show any injury, but his world had greatly suffered. His energy reserves were still okay, but he couldn't come up with techniques worthy of that battle. As for June, it seemed that the battle didn't affect her at all. Her body carried many injuries, but they were nothing more than superficial dents that couldn't reach her world. June's condition made sense due to her innate advantage in the battle. Heaven and Earth tried to diversify their offensive, but June could always sense when their attacks carried something she could negate. Moreover, June's body had finally become immune to her own power. That didn't make her immortal, but it significantly increased her resistance. She could let her Perfect Circuit go wild without worrying about her condition. The situation wasn't as bad as it looked. The group's sheer prowess had multiplied with the Foolery, and they were also turning themselves into a real threat to Heaven and Earth. The problem was that they weren't the only ones doing that. June, Noah, Divine Demon, Supreme Thief, and Alexander were starting to achieve some results, but Heaven and Earth were also coming up with better attacks and counters. Moreover, the team had yet to pierce the crystals, while the rulers were inflicting damage during every exchange. 'We will really die at this pace,' Noah thought as he glanced at the many cracks on his swords. 'Oh, well.' Noah shot forward, and his action started another joint assault. Divine Demon and the others didn't hesitate to fly toward Heaven and Earth, but a barrage of piercing beams welcomed them. The group flew through the barrage, uncaring of the beams that pierced their bodies. Some teleported, other activated techniques, and the outcome ended up resembling the previous exchanges. All the experts landed on Heaven and Earth to unleash their best attacks. "You stole the wrong one this time," Heaven and Earth mocked when Supreme Thief pulled his hand away from their head. Unstable energy raged in Supreme Thief's palm. He tried to launch it downward, but an explosion happened and filled the whole area with toxic gas. The explosion carried enough power to push the other experts away, but Heaven and Earth didn't let them go so easily. The crystal figure trembled before teleporting next to Wilfred. The hybrid punched Heaven and Earth to push himself away, but his left arm exploded as soon as his knuckles touched his opponent. Heaven and Earth stretched an arm through the gory mess generated by the explosion, but a threat suddenly appeared above them. The crystal figure raised its free hand, and the immense landmass fell on its palm. Shafu and the landmass cried in unison while putting everything they had in the thrust. The attack carried enough power to push Heaven and Earth away from the battlefield and slam them on the sky, but the slash stopped at that point. The landmass and Shafu had every intention to squash Heaven and Earth on the sky, but the presence of a foothold allowed the latter to stop the offensive. The rulers could match the thrust's strength with their sheer physical might, and rumbling noises resounded as soon as they closed the hand pressed on the black surface. The gesture launched five piercing rivers that dug through the landmass and reached its damaged spots. Giant cracks opened on the creature, and chunks fell out of it. The overall stability of the landmass' structure eventually gave in. The previous damage caused by Heaven and Earth's stop expanded until it reached the other side of the creature, splitting it in half and sending that immense boulder into the void. Chapter 2331. Over Coldness filled Noah's face, but he didn't feel any surprise. He had always been partially sure that the landmass would have been the first to fall. Still, that acceptance didn't make the scene any happier. The lifeless half of the landmass fell into the void and disappeared among its blackness. A monstrous cry came out of the immense creature, and Shafu fell prey to the anger expressed in that voice. Shafu echoed the landmass' anger before pushing the whole structure down again. Heaven and Earth stood on the sky as they waited for the attack to land on them, but Noah didn't let that reckless behavior continue. Noah suddenly replaced Shafu. The dragon disappeared from the higher plane and left him on the upper edge of the giant creature. The landmass was still falling due to the momentum accumulated in the previous charge, but Noah grabbed it to stop the attack. The creature fought against that decision, but the damage prevented it from expressing its full power. The veins on Noah's arms bulged as potential flowed into his body, giving him enough strength to send the landmass flying away. The creature voiced another angry cry as the crystal figure grew distant, but Noah didn't hesitate to throw something at it. "Calm down," Noah ordered as Shafu returned to the higher plane and reached the landmass. "I can't have you go crazy too." Shafu growled in acceptance before wrapping its arms around the maimed landmass. The latter wanted to fly back toward Heaven and Earth and fight, but Shafu started to communicate with it in an attempt to calm it down. Noah's reptilian eyes darted left and right to study the entirety of the landmass. The creature had lost part of its massive figure, but it was still strong. It could still express its power. It only had to adapt to its new form. Noah's gaze went on Heaven and Earth once the inspection ended. The crystal figure didn't seize that opportunity to resume its offensive. It only stood still to wait for Noah to do something. "Your organization is falling apart," Heaven and Earth taunted. "We underestimated you, but your limits are becoming clear." Noah didn't answer. His world was running dry, but he had enough of it to push himself past his limits. He could even ration it to save some energy for the future exchanges, but that had never been his style. Dark matter came out of Noah's figure and expanded around him. The dark world took form, and his companions appeared in the open. Snore, Night, Duanlong, and the parasite hovered at his sides and waited for his orders. Potential soon followed. Noah summoned the entirety of his energy reserves and emptied his ethereal blackness to empower himself and his companions. Snore and the others even called upon their innate abilities to double down on that power-up. The void bent under the immense pressure generated by Noah and his companions. Part of that blackness even shook as they tried to come to life and help in the battle. The scene was majestic. Noah was expressing the accumulation of his entire life to channel it into a single assault. It really seemed that he wanted to put everything he had into one last attack, but Heaven and Earth remained wary of eventual tricks. June and the others wanted to help, but they couldn't. The destruction in the area was too intense, and their presence would even threaten the stability of the technique. Their chance would come after Noah launched his attack, but they couldn't do anything now. Dark-red light came out of Noah's eyes as his violent thoughts reached insane levels of power. He stopped thinking and let his destruction guide his actions. The entirety of Noah's being transformed into an avatar of destruction. He temporarily embodied his most powerful aspects to give birth to an offensive that could hurt his opponent. Heaven and Earth wanted to put an end to that behavior. Their plans involved a far stronger version of Noah to add value to their victory, but the incoming offensive threatened to ruin that. Noah was virtually exhausted right now. He could still call back part of his potential, but his world was currently empty. The ethereal blackness would also remain like that unless he achieved something with his offensive. In short, Heaven and Earth would lose their opponent if Noah's attack failed. Still, their hands were tied. Interrupting that offensive would only disperse Noah's power, and weakening themselves on purpose wouldn't grant him any potential. "Very well," Heaven and Earth eventually announced. "We'll grant you this chance." Noah had long since stopped listening to his surroundings. His violent thoughts ruled his actions and made him point his blades downward. The dark world opened to reveal an army of swords, clawed six-armed dragons, and fiendish figures. The unused dark matter flowed toward Snore and the others to reinforce their structures, and they all prepared for their descent. Everything went silent. Noah didn't speak or roar. He took a step forward, and his companions followed. Yet, everything soon disappeared before materializing on Heaven and Earth. Chaos unfolded at that point. Explosions, soundwaves, shockwaves, flares, and much more shot in every direction, affecting the very fabric of the void. A dark cloud made of violent storms took control of that chunk of the sky, and its influence on the void made it impossible for the audience to inspect the exchange. The destruction in the area was too thick for mere rank 9 existences. Only Noah and Heaven and Earth knew what was happening there. The void revealed its true resilience under that weight. Its space-time array bent and broke in some spots, but that damage didn't affect its functioning. Actually, its structure gained its original form in no time, even while the destruction continued to rage. The event answered some of Noah's companion's doubts. He had touched the edges of the superior realm with his offensive, but he couldn't make his influence stick. The universe was still outside of his reach. A humming noise eventually spread through the violent cloud before seeping out of its edges to expand into the higher plane. The storms quieted down, and their energy started to crumble. The offensive's aftermath lost momentum, making it fall into the void. The void also completely stabilized, allowing the audience to inspect the scene that the storms had hidden until now. The clues revealed by the exchange had already pointed toward one specific outcome but seeing it forced gasps out of some of Noah's companions. Heaven and Earth didn't move at all. The attack couldn't make them bend or budge, but they didn't stop there. The crystal figure had one arm lifted above its head to show the gory figure trapped in its grasp. The crystal fingers held Noah's neck in a grasp he couldn't escape. The dark matter had also left his figure, and his swords were nowhere to be seen. The same went for his companions and army. Everything had disappeared. The injuries on Noah's body were so severe that even Alexander would have struggled to survive them. His figure was nothing more than a series of holes held together by short and thin chunks of flesh. His limbs were miraculously still in their place, but they appeared useless in their current state. "It seems our plans were misplaced," Heaven and Earth commented. Your rebellion is over." Chapter 2332. Late Noah was utterly spent. His world was empty, and his resilience worked overtime to keep him alive. He felt unable to move, and his senses also struggled to retain awareness of his surroundings. "You are a disappointment," Heaven and Earth commented as they tightened their grasp. Noah's neck couldn't oppose that pressure. His flesh crumbled as the crystal fingers advanced, and Heaven and Earth didn't stop even after a figure materialized at their side. "You can't speak about my heir like this," Divine Demon announced as he pressed his hands on Heaven and Earth's exposed side. Circular formations came out of Divine Demon's arm and landed on the crystals to create a complicated dark-red array. The inscription shone and released a pressure similar to what Noah had accomplished with his previous offensive, but that power soon condensed back into the lines. Smoke left the circular formations as their color paled and brightened. The attack seemed on the verge of digging through the crystals, but Divine Demon knew that the fumes weren't the result of any damage. The formations were burning the sparks lingering above the crystals, but the process was hurting Divine Demon's technique. The smoke came from the inscriptions. They were the ones falling apart. "You wield the power of the old world," Heaven and Earth commented while their light took over the circular formations. "We are the new one." Smoke stopped coming out of the formations once Heaven and Earth completely overtook them. The inscriptions started spinning, and a torrent of energy soon left their center to crash on Divine Demon. Alexander descended on Heaven and Earth's bent shoulder with a kick that expressed multiple innate abilities focused on enhancing his physical prowess. The impact threatened to shatter the void, but the crystal figure and the sky under it remained still. "We have just endured a far superior attack launched by a far superior being," Heaven and Earth stated. "What makes you think that this technique will do anything?" The Foolery materialized behind Alexander and bit on the arm keeping Noah lifted. Its attack didn't do anything, and the arrival of its hunger didn't improve the situation either. "There should be a limit to idiocy," Heaven and Earth uttered as corrosive light came out of their arm and engulfed the two hybrids. Sword Saint descended on Heaven and Earth in the form of a small silver torrent. The attack carried enough power to fill the entire area, but nothing spread in its surroundings. The technique landed on the crystal figure and unleashed everything it had in that single spot. "Your world has the chance to hurt us," Heaven and Earth admitted. "You are the problem." June teleported behind Heaven and Earth and stabbed her crackling spear on their back. The impact unleashed a thunderous noise, but the crystals held strong. "It will take you ages to generate the amount of energy required to hurt us," Heaven and Earth commented while white sparks seeped inside the spear and sent an altered version of its power back to June. Supreme Thief approached Heaven and Earth from below to apply his sucking force to the crystals' insides. However, a crackling noise left the rulers and destabilized the expert. Supreme Thief's ears bled as his technique lost power. "Truly disappointing," Heaven and Earth declared. "We hoped to accelerate our growth by using you, but you have no place on our battlefield." Strange noises started to come out of the center of the crystal figure. A mixture of whooshing, cracking, and clanging sounds echoed past Heaven and Earth and increased the brightness of their body. "Die," Heaven and Earth ordered as immense energy accumulated on their surface and prepared an attack that seemed able to kill anything under the tenth rank. Divine Demon and the others felt the urge to retreat, but their instincts told them that the technique wouldn't leave any escape path open. So, the experts doubled down on their offensive to destabilize the attack. Heaven and Earth ignored those efforts and unleashed their attack, but something massive fell on the area before their energy could expand. An angry growl even accompanied the event, spreading a corrosive effect that destroyed that white power. Shafu roared in pride as it pushed the maimed landmass downward. The latter had replaced its missing half with a mass of corrosive power that expanded the damage to its structure. That offensive was a suicidal move, but it succeeded in bringing the creature's power toward new peaks. Divine Demon and the others couldn't avoid that torrent of corrosive energy, but they gladly accepted that attack since it gave them the chance to retreat. Heaven and Earth held strong for as long as possible, but they couldn't prevent their grasp from growing unstable for a second. Noah seized that chance by mustering everything left inside him and kicking the crystal figure. The kick freed Noah from the grasp and pushed him outside the corrosive energy. His neck turned into a tiny chunk of flesh in the process, but he ignored that damage as he tried to stabilize his body. Meanwhile, the landmass continued to unleash its corrosive power. Shafu and the creature had reached an understanding, which involved going all-out even if their bodies were to crumble in the process. The landmass didn't care that pieces of its structure fell into the void due to the attack's drawbacks. It only wanted to make Heaven and Earth pay for their previous insult. Its behavior was extremely primordial and aggressive, but that managed to bring out its full strength. On the other hand, Shafu had to deal with the corrosive flares shooting in its direction without forgetting to push the landmass downward. Long and deep holes opened on its giant body, but that didn't interrupt its offensive. Noah eventually managed to stop his aimless flight through the void, but straightening up his position took the entirety of his concentration. He was exhausted beyond reason, and parts of his consciousness darkened, but he kept his eyes open to inspect the battle. The landmass and Shafu were basically hovering above the sky, and a river of corrosive energy was coming out of them. Heaven and Earth were impossible to locate among those chaotic and violent waves, but the audience could see the flaws in that offensive. Shafu wasn't adding much to the offensive, and the landmass was a simple being at its core. The latter wasn't capable of deep attacks. It could only unleash overwhelming power. That offensive could stop Heaven and Earth for a second, but it couldn't hurt them. They were a superior existence. Damaging it required high levels of depth and power, something that Noah's group had failed to reach. As expected, the crystal figure soon became visible among the black torrent due to the white light it released. Heaven and Earth flew toward the landmass quickly, and Shafu felt forced to hide it inside its separate dimension once they got too close. Shafu flew away at that point. It couldn't face Heaven and Earth on its own, but escaping was also a pointless effort. The rulers only needed to raise their hand to enforce a fake space-time array in the area that made the dragon unable to move its body. Noah could only watch as Heaven and Earth approached Shafu. He didn't have enough power to reach his companion and pull it inside his world. He actually had to force himself to stay awake since his body desperately wanted to hibernate to deal with the injuries. "Wow, none of you died," A familiar voice resounded behind Noah at that point. "Surprising." "You are late," Noah snorted. Chapter 2333. Gifts King Elbas wanted to tease Noah a bit longer, but the situation didn't allow him to waste time. Golden light flashed behind Noah as King Elbas teleported between Shafu and the crystal figure to express his power. A golden sea came out of King Elbas and filled half of the higher plane, creating a fiery wall that separated Heaven and Earth from Shafu. His new level became clear by then, and the crystal figure even felt the need to stop. Divine Demon snorted, and his companions revealed similar reactions, but they all smiled at the sight of the solid stage aura. King Elbas had completed his breakthrough and could finally join the final battle. "Forgive them," King Elbas announced while stepping out of the fiery sea. "They are lost without me." "You have always been lost," Heaven and Earth declared. "Arrogance is my domain," King Elbas responded while pointing an arm forward and turning the golden sea into a series of rivers that converged into his palm. A mere rank 9 attack couldn't scare Heaven and Earth. They had endured the best offensive the world had to offer multiple times, and they had come out unscathed. King Elbas couldn't change that on his own. However, the entirety of the energy released by King Elbas suddenly brightened and went through a deep transformation that pushed its power toward a superior realm. The expert turned the sea into a quasi-rank 10 attack without altering his core, and Heaven and Earth could only watch as that technique shot toward them. A torrent that seemed able to match Heaven and Earth's might fell on the crystal figure and pushed it back on the sky. The attack unleashed its power for a while, creating a sea on the white layer, but everything eventually dispersed. Heaven and Earth found themselves lying on the white layer. Their crystals didn't suffer any damage, but that didn't change the situation. King Elbas didn't only push them back on his own. He had even broken their posture. "Did you enjoy being the punching back of my weak companions?" King Elbas mocked. "Don't worry. I've come to give you a real battle." King Elbas' figure almost exploded due to the immense shockwave that came out of its center. Flames and flares left his skin to reveal the new power that ran inside him. King Elbas had activated his fake quasi-rank 10 state, but everyone understood that his technique had improved. The void almost melted due to the intense heat around King Elbas. He burnt with an intensity that the higher plane had never witnessed. He had reached the peaks that Noah had achieved with his last attack, but that was only his basic form. "I heard you wanted me to join you," King Elbas stated. "You aren't worthy." Multiple golden spheres came out of King Elbas' body and gave birth to different formations that expanded around him. Countless arrays of fiery lines filled the void and covered an entire quarter of the higher plane as various attacks gathered inside them. Heaven and Earth barely had the time to stand up before a rain of beams, pillars, and hundreds of other attacks fell on them. The barrage was so thick that flames started to rise from the very sky, even if nothing was burning. King Elbas was altering the very nature of the area, and Heaven and Earth were in the middle of that mess. The barrage lasted for a while, but it didn't end naturally. The offensive still had a lot of energy when it transformed into a vortex that slowly revealed Heaven and Earth's intact body. They gathered all that power in their palm and didn't hesitate to launch it back at its source. King Elbas snorted as he let the chaotic attack engulf his figure. That raging energy was impossible to control, but King Elbas was an exception. He let everything fly through him before releasing a series of pulling forces that made it fly back into his body. "Don't be too hard on yourself," King Elbas reassured. "You are quite strong, but my power goes beyond that. Being unable to alter it isn't your fault." Heaven and Earth didn't answer, but King Elbas' joke explained his previous feat in words that his companions could understand. The rulers could compress and send back his attack, but they couldn't alter its nature, which had allowed King Elbas to reabsorb it easily. "Xavier!" The Foolery shouted as it sprinted at full speed toward King Elbas. The Foolery's idiocy came into play during the sprint. The pig basically teleported next to King Elbas while retaining its incredible momentum. The scene hinted at an imminent crash, but nothing remotely similar happened. A golden membrane appeared around the Foolery and dispersed its momentum as soon as it teleported. King Elbas had countered the pig's idiocy with a single move, but that didn't stop his companion from sticking its tongue out in an attempt to lick him. "We are literally fighting the most powerful existence in the world," King Elbas sighed when he saw a wet patch appearing on his left arm. The tongue didn't touch him, but the Foolery had licked him anyway. "Being ourselves is the whole point of this fight," The Foolery commented as it lifted its head in satisfaction. King Elbas didn't know what to say. He inspected the area where the Foolery had ignored his golden membrane and heaved a helpless sigh. He couldn't reason with the pig, and the latter had even spoken the truth. It was better to remain silent and focus on the battle. "Alright," King Elbas cleared his throat. "Gather up! No stupid attacks under my watch." The rest of the team teleported next to King Elbas, and a series of complaints reached his ears. No one liked that behavior, but King Elbas had predicted that reaction, and he didn't care about it. Specks of golden light left King Elbas' body and flew toward his companions while his level fell back into the solid stage. The fragments reached the experts and fused with their figures before giving birth to different effects. Alexander, Wilfred, and the Foolery saw a torrent of energy invading their bodies and activating their healing properties. Their injuries closed in an instant, and Wilfred's arms even regrew. Supreme Thief and Sword Saint gained pieces of armor with different effects. Supreme Thief's gear mostly aimed to protect his body from any drawback, while Sword Saint's item focused on making him overcome the limits of his body. Divine Demon's speck transformed into a jug of wine accompanied by a cup. The beverage didn't hide any unique technique, but it was good enough to make Divine Demon laugh once he sniffed it. As for June, King Elbas gave her a remarkable energy boost that could force her Perfect Circuit to skip many levels. She directly gained access to a form of power that would have usually taken multiple exchanges to obtain, and the sparks that seeped out of her skin expressed her happiness. "I'll coordinate the offensive now," King Elbas repeated in far kinder words. "The two great idiots are with me. The others must focus on exploiting the openings we create." "What about Noah?" Divine Demon asked. "If he can't come back," King Elbas announced. "He doesn't deserve a place in this battle." The Foolery wanted to complain, especially since everyone except for Noah had gotten something from King Elbas. Yet, a series of stern gazes fell on the pig and forced it to remain silent. Chapter 2334. Gist The Foolery wasn't completely an idiot, but some aspects of worlds and the ninth rank still escaped its understanding. Noah's situation was quite complicated. For starters, he was still in the liquid stage, so any form of help would have only slowed down his growth. King Elbas could have given Noah something to fix his body, but that would have left him with sheer physical strength. King Elbas could probably do something for Noah's potential at his current level, but that would have only pushed him to replicate the previous pointless exchanges. The final battle was reaching its climax, and everyone knew that. However, the group had yet to inflict a single injury on Heaven and Earth, and King Elbas' previous show of power inevitably revealed difficult truths. Heaven and Earth had amassed countless worlds in their existence. Their attacks didn't carry much diversity, but their opponents were to blame for that. June and the others simply didn't allow the rulers to do as they wished. Still, believing that a bunch of rank 9 experts had managed to corner such a powerful being was simply unreal. King Elbas had proved that point with his offensive. The crystal figure hid much more than incredible resilience and infinite power. Heaven and Earth were a quasi-rank 10 being. That would typically put them outside the reach of every rank 9 expert, but Noah's group was an exception. Divine Demon and the others could survive multiple exchanges, which was enough to place them above the limits of the ninth rank. King Elbas' fake quasi-rank 10 state didn't reflect the real version of that level of power. However, his breakthrough into the solid stage had empowered his incredible technique and had brought it closer to expressing what the cultivation journey intended. In theory, King Elbas would have been enough to hurt Heaven and Earth. After all, his companions were already getting close to that. Yet, the rulers had endured his attack quite easily, revealing how their power probably went beyond what they showed. King Elbas had yet to complete his calculations, but something told him that their current firepower wasn't enough. He could help his team touch the levels of power required to hurt Heaven and Earth, but he needed depth too, and he couldn't handle that field alone. "Let's go," King Elbas eventually exclaimed while disregarding his hesitation and doubts. The Foolery and Divine Demon followed King Elbas closely, and they soon appeared in front of Heaven and Earth. Divine Demon waved the hand holding the cup of wine and created a series of circular inscriptions that fused to build a cylindrical structure that accumulated power. The Foolery opened and closed its mouth multiple times. It bit the air while its hunger intensified and its existence deepened. The pig even wanted some of its attacks to slam on Heaven and Earth, but nothing reached them. That outcome surprised the pig. Heaven and Earth had yet to do anything, so it couldn't explain why its attacks weren't landing on the crystal figure. King Elbas solved those doubts with his next move. His figure exploded with fake quasi-rank 10 power as he stretched his arms and moved them in a circular motion. The gesture engulfed the area in a pale-gold domain that revealed the power expressed by the pig and Divine Demon. An ethereal version of the bites and a bright red beam appeared in front of the two experts and drew close to King Elbas. The fiery spear materialized in King Elbas' grasp as he altered the structure of his companions' attacks and forced them to point forward. He also thrust his weapon, and the gesture sent everything toward Heaven and Earth. Flames came out of the ethereal bites and golden shades fused with the red beam as they flew forward. Those attacks reached Heaven and Earth's sides and unleashed far more power than expected while revealing special effects. The fiery pillar unleashed by the spear reached Heaven and Earth's chest at the same time. The three attacks pushed the crystal figure deeper into the sky and forced it to kneel, but its skin survived the blows. The Foolery and Divine Demon suddenly saw energy coming out of their figures. They didn't do anything, but they could sense how that power belonged to them. The two experts inevitably turned toward King Elbas, who had closed his eyes. His hands had even started to perform mysterious gestures that added ethereal effects to the whole pale-gold domain. The energy released by the Foolery transformed into multiple ethereal mouths that teleported on Heaven and Earth. The pig had used its idiocy to create bites that didn't require any physical attack. Divine Demon's energy fused with the cylindrical structure and added complicated inscriptions to its circular formations. Schools that Divine Demon had never witnessed empowered his creation and allowed it to release an even stronger version of his temporary higher energy. Those empowered attacks fused with the previous offensive and immobilized Heaven and Earth. The latter had already come up with a counter, but that new wave of power made their preparations useless. An outsider would fail to understand what had happened inside the pale-gold domain. Anyone could guess that the Foolery and Divine Demon had relied on their unreasonable power to create even stronger techniques, but the truth was far different. Divine Demon and the Foolery didn't do anything. The pale-gold domain had forced their worlds to activate and unleash techniques they didn't consider possible before. "What are you doing?" Divine Demon asked as he hurriedly refilled his cup of wine. "I'm forcing your dumb worlds to blend inside my reality," King Elbas shortly explained. "I can finally add some reason to your attacks." "Ooh," The Foolery gasped. "We are too strong to be left on our own, right?" "I didn't say that," King Elbas snorted. "You totally did," Divine Demon laughed. "You could have simply asked for our help." "I'm the one helping you!" King Elbas cursed. "Xavier, Xavier," The Foolery squealed while rubbing its head on King Elbas' side, uncaring of the golden flames burning it. "Stop being so shy. We know you have achieved this power to fight with us." "They are breaking free," King Elbas declared when tremors ran through Heaven and Earth and began to push back the attacks falling on their figure. "I wil-," King Elbas began to say, but Divine Demon interrupted him. "Leave it!" Divine Demon shouted. "I got the gist of it." Divine Demon waved his free hand, and hundreds of new lines materialized on the cylindrical structure, bringing its power toward new levels. King Elbas didn't know what to say. Those inscriptions didn't belong to any existing school, and they even had conflicting behaviors, but Divine Demon somehow made them work together. He had actually achieved a level of power that the pale-gold domain struggled to identify. "I also got the gist of it!" The Foolery announced before launching a massive fart that filled the whole domain with an awful scent. King Elbas didn't understand the reason behind that action, but the Foolery soon solved his doubts. The awful scent started to shine with azure light, giving birth to multiple plants. The latter then shattered to turn into pure energy that created thousands of ethereal attacks around Heaven and Earth. The new power added to the offensive shattered Heaven and Earth's counterattack and forced them on the sky again. The Foolery and Divine Demon had escaped King Elbas' reason again, but they had achieved great results. King Elbas could only sigh at that sight. His companions refused to stick to a single plan no matter what he did, but that was fine for now. Everything worked as long as they managed to suppress Heaven and Earth. Chapter 2335. Branches Noah could understand what was happening even if his consciousness struggled to remain awake. The pale-gold domain radiated meanings that spread into every corner of the higher plane and partially explained its purpose. Noah knew about King Elbas, the Foolery, and Divine Demon, so it didn't take him long to connect the dots. 'He matured a lot,' Noah couldn't help but think when he compared the current King Elbas to his version in the Mortal Lands. 'Maybe he only changed.' The old King Elbas would have never allowed the existence of companions, but his current behavior went far beyond that. King Elbas had actively accepted that the Foolery and Divine Demon thrived in unreasonable fields, so he had developed a technique that could make use of those abilities. The pale-gold domain wasn't only an expression of King Elbas' reality. It also helped him study and understand his companion's techniques. That inspection allowed him to empower those abilities and stuff them into a joint offensive. Divine Demon and the Foolery were so unreasonable that their power often escaped King Elbas' technique, but the latter accepted that outcome anyway. Everything was fine as long as the overall offensive reached decent levels. Noah almost laughed when he saw King Elbas compromising with his unreasonable companions. The three had spent entire millennia teasing each other, but that had probably helped in the grand scheme of things. Strangers and random friends couldn't achieve that teamwork. That joint offensive was possible only if the involved experts shared complete trust. The scene was majestic, especially in Noah's vision, since he knew how deeply everyone had grown. Yet, Heaven and Earth didn't let that power faze them. Actually, a counterattack arrived before King Elbas' expectations. Ethereal mouths, crimson beams, and a torrent of fiery golden light crashed on Heaven and Earth to keep them stuck on the white layer, but those attacks quickly lost power. The three experts weren't to blame for that. The rulers had simply found ways to counter them. The ethereal mouths released clanging noises that pushed them back whenever they closed on the crystals. The scarlet beam forced Heaven and Earth to summon and half-spherical shield, while the golden pillar transformed into a vortex that converged in their hands. King Elbas imposed his will on the pale-gold domain and made the half-spherical shield disappear, but a new one came out of Heaven and Earth to block Divine Demon's attack. A wave of power came out of King Elbas to enhance his will and affect an even deeper part of the domain, but Heaven and Earth countered that with a simple soundwave that hindered that influence. King Elbas moved his focus elsewhere at that point. His eyes shone as he pointed them at the crystal figure. A foreign force tried to pierce Heaven and Earth's body, but nothing King Elbas did seemed to work. King Elbas changed his approach again. His will went back to the pale-gold domain to create an ethereal force that slammed on Heaven and Earth. His goal was to affect the structural stability of those crystals, but his attack fell way too short. Heaven and Earth quickly stood up, and his opponents couldn't do anything to hinder the process. The rulers glanced at the pale-gold domain for a few seconds while multiple attacks failed to reach their crystals until a series of white roots came out of their body. The roots expanded through the scarlet attack and fed off its energy to grow into a bright and tight array. The pale-gold domain started to suffer due to Heaven and Earth's pressure, but new opponents materialized around them during that counterattack. June unleashed a massive and fearsome torrent of energy as soon as her figure materialized. The sheer violence released by her lightning bolts forced Heaven and Earth to bend forward and support themselves with their hands. Sword Saint didn't hesitate to unleash a piercing attack aimed at the center of Heaven and Earth's back. His silver blade filled the domain with intense sharpness that threatened to cut his companions, but the crystals endured the blow. Wilfred slammed his massive arms right next to the silver blade's landing spot. His body fell in the middle of Sword Saint's raging sharpness, but he disregarded all the injuries opening on his body to unleash his physical strength. Sword Saint and Wilfred's joint offensive pushed Heaven and Earth on the sky. Supreme Thief arrived at that point, and he relied on the protection of King Elbas' armor to draw a massive amount of energy from the crystal figure before launching it above him. Alexander caught the unstable mass of white energy and trapped it into a pitch-black barrier. His eyes shone with red light as he inspected that power, and a smile soon appeared on his face. "Let's try this!" Alexander shouted before his entire body lit up with different colors that summoned multiple innate abilities. Lightning bolts carrying various shades left Alexander's body and dived into the pitch-black barrier to absorb Heaven and Earth's energy. The attacks transformed into a dog-like silhouette, and Alexander didn't hesitate to slap it once the process ended. The slap added insane momentum to the dog-like silhouette and made the many lightning bolts flying through its insides release thundering noises. Many of those sparks even clashed to generate explosions, but the entirety of their energy came out only when they entered Heaven and Earth's reach. June and the others had retreated by then. The dog-like silhouette enveloped the crystal figure and unleashed its power, creating a multicolored explosion that expanded through the pale-gold domain. Some of the energy in Alexander's attack came directly from Heaven and Earth, so a few lightning bolts managed to seep through the crystals. However, when the explosion dispersed, everyone saw that the rulers were completely fine. "All of you are disappointing," Heaven and Earth announced while straightening their position, but a wave of corrosive energy enveloped the area and forced them on the sky again. King Elbas and the others had to retreat to escape the attack's range, and Shafu used that chance to push the landmass closer to the sky. The latter slowly crumbled as it unleashed its power, but its angry growl expressed its lack of interest in that damage. "Rearrange the battle formation, you idiots!" King Elbas shouted as he went back to the solid stage while creating a larger domain that could endure the corrosive energy at its center. King Elbas, the Foolery, and Divine Demon remained side by side to unleash a joint offensive. Divine Demon and the Foolery weren't really bothering about that teamwork, but King Elbas made sure to alter reality in their favor. June, Supreme Thief, Sword Saint, and Wilfred occupied distant areas of King Elbas' domain to launch massive attacks converged on Heaven and Earth. Their offensive would usually clash and fail to achieve its full power, but King Elbas handled that part and turned it into a joint technique. Alexander was the only one who didn't take King Elbas' help for granted. He used multiple innate techniques to study the scene before activating other abilities to fill the gaps in the offensive. The pale-gold domain lost its natural shades and even shattered at some point due to the immense power accumulated in its insides. King Elbas couldn't preserve its integrity, but he could summon a new one once the offensive dispersed. Nevertheless, a series of ethereal attacks ran through the waves of energy before converging toward the experts. Even Shafu saw those branches-like structures stretching toward it and piercing the landmass in the process. Everyone silently decided to retreat, but the incoming attacks were too fast. The ethereal branches pierced the experts in multiple spots before the evasive techniques brought them away. Chapter 2336. Masterpiece Noah knew that his condition wouldn't improve soon, but he suppressed the urge to hibernate even if the process could accelerate his recovery. The battle would have ended by the time he woke up, and he didn't want to die in his sleep. Still, his efforts only made him able to inspect the scene. Noah saw his companions reappearing in different areas of the void with multiple holes in their bodies. Part of their energy had also disappeared, and the white branches were to blame for that. Heaven and Earth stood on the sky with a tree-like structure growing out of their body. They didn't do much with that technique, but they didn't disperse it either. King Elbas only needed an instant to find weak spots in the white tree. The golden light released by his domain intensified as he shot forward and brought Divine Demon and the Foolery with him. His will affected reality and turned the branches into nothing more than hovering energy, which allowed the offensive to resume. The clash involving the higher plane's major players returned to its heated state. King Elbas made sure to control every aspect of the offensive, but Heaven and Earth appeared way too strong to crumble under his tactics. King Elbas had access to the best techniques and companions in the world, but Heaven and Earth could easily match and overpower all of that. It almost seemed that the rulers were having fun slowly draining away their opponents, and the effort didn't require any special technique. 'What have you become?' Noah wondered while violent exchanges unfolded in his vision and kept his senses awake. Heaven and Earth's cultivation journey had always been incredibly peculiar. Even unique beings like Noah, Divine Demon, and King Elbas couldn't match what the rulers had faced to reach their current state. The rulers had fused two different types of journeys during their path toward the peak. Their initial intentions had also been relatively pure. They had created a superior form of energy and used it to benefit their species. Still, trouble arrived once the world rejected that assimilation. Magical beasts that directly countered Heaven and Earth appeared, forcing them to evolve once more. Heaven and Earth's second peak form had been full of problems. The chaotic mass of worlds and meanings had countered the magical beasts, but it had also weakened their foundation. Moreover, the rulers had started to lose their individuality in that mindless pursuit of power. Noah and his organization had played an essential role in bringing Heaven and Earth back on track. They had forced the rulers to perform a third evolution that involved individuality and multiple meanings. Nevertheless, Heaven and Earth weren't showing much during the final battle. They wielded quasi-rank 10 power, so their many meanings could give birth to diverse and effective attacks, but none of them felt special. None of them carried something that only the rulers could unleash. That was the core of Noah's worries. He knew Heaven and Earth had something powerful in store, and the sky remained a problem. There had to be something more behind that white layer and crystal figure, but it seemed that his group couldn't force the rulers to reveal it. Overall, that final battle felt like a failure on Noah's side. He had brought the best experts he could find at the very end of the cultivation journey, but they were falling short in front of a being far stronger than them. 'Why are they still holding back?' Noah wondered, but he could find many reasonable answers to that question. First of all, Heaven and Earth didn't need to go all out. According to the current state of the battlefield, they would achieve victory without needing to reveal anything. Saving energy was always the wisest option if possible, and Noah could accept that. Moreover, waiting would allow Heaven and Earth to see how far their opponents could go. The sole presence of Noah's team was a unique event impossible to replicate, especially when it came to the defying power wielded by some of its experts. Even if it was only out of curiosity, Noah could justify that behavior. Of course, all of that had immense confidence as its foundation. Noah believed that Heaven and Earth wouldn't hesitate to reveal their true power if they felt threatened. He felt sure that the rulers would directly kill them if the action could benefit their imminent breakthrough. Something in the battle hinted at a deeper purpose, but Noah couldn't find answers to that. Heaven and Earth probably had some use for his companions' worlds, which could make sense, but he didn't care too much about it. He couldn't do anything with that piece of information. However, the majestic scenes that kept unfolding in Noah's vision eventually forced a reaction in his world. The ethereal blackness softly trembled for an instant before going completely silent again. The event obviously surprised Noah. His condition was so poor that any potential generated by his world went to his centers of power, and that situation didn't change. He didn't experience any surge of energy or anything similar. Yet, a reaction had happened, and he couldn't ignore it. Noah watched the exchanges closely and inspected their every detail in the hope of replicating the previous reaction and understanding its cause. Nothing happened for a while, but eventually, his world shook again. 'What is my existence trying to tell me?' Noah wondered as his confusion increased. The ethereal blackness remained empty, but it shook from time to time. The event had no special rhythm and lacked a specific cause, but it existed, and Noah couldn't explain it. Then, Noah started to notice that those strange reactions happened more often if he kept his attention on his companions. He didn't know why, but seeing the immense power they released and their struggles against a far stronger opponent triggered something inside him. Clarity slowly overcame the muddled and dark areas of Noah's consciousness. He regained some degree of control over his thoughts, and his overall condition began improving as answers showed their faces. Noah wasn't gaining anything special from inspecting his companions' techniques. Their worlds weren't the point either. Still, the sole fact that they were there triggered something deep in the ethereal blackness. 'They are here,' Noah thought. 'They are here, at the peak of the cultivation journey.' The countless memories shared with his companions flowed in Noah's vision and reminded him how far all of them had gone. It also showed him how deeply he had helped them. He didn't do much for some, but his mere presence had unlocked paths that would have taken those experts far longer to find. 'They aren't just here,' Noah thought. 'I brought them here.' Noah turned to glance at the barrage of ice behind him. The Eternal Snake was no exception. He was a piece of the final battle that he had allowed to exist. 'I see,' Noah sighed before shaking his head. His moment of weakness had almost prevented him from noticing something so important, but he couldn't stop seeing it anymore now. Another exchange unfolded, but Noah didn't worry about the injuries that his companions suffered. He smiled as a simple thought ran through his mind. 'I created all of this. This is my masterpiece.' Chapter 2337. Crack King Elbas knew that the situation was getting rough even before his companions suffered significant injuries. He had reached the point when he had seen enough exchanges to predict the rest of the battle, and he didn't like the direction of his thoughts. The experts had reached Noah's conclusions. King Elbas knew as much as him, so he could see the issues in Heaven and Earth's current behavior. The rulers were hiding something, and his team didn't have enough firepower to draw that out. Of course, King Elbas acknowledged the likelihood that Heaven and Earth couldn't use their true power. Everything was possible with a quasi-rank 10 being aiming to complete its breakthrough. Heaven and Earth could have decided to save energy for multiple reasons, but King Elbas remained quite sure that they were playing with him and his companions. It simply didn't make sense for such a strong being to be unable to do more. Exchanges started and ended, but the outcome never changed. King Elbas and the others unleashed everything they had and even tested new abilities, but Heaven and Earth always came out on top. It would have been fine if the offensive left marks on the crystals, but that wasn't the case. King Elbas and the others were wasting energy and time against an unstoppable and unflinching opponent that didn't show any weakness. The issue also involved other fields. King Elbas and the others grew stronger with each exchange, but the results didn't change. They always brought Heaven and Earth close to their breaking point before finding an overwhelming offensive flying at them. That fueled the hypothesis that Heaven and Earth were playing with their opponents. The rulers seemed to adjust their power depending on the enemy's offensive. Ordinary experts would have lost hope after understanding that, but King Elbas and the others were different, especially the former. 'There has to be a limit,' King Elbas thought while coordinating another offensive. The fabric of reality shook as King Elbas imbued it with his will. The golden domain acted as a catalyst for his companions' attacks and altered part of their nature to make them focus on specific fields. Divine Demon and the Foolery seized the initiative, but everyone else soon followed. Even Shafu and the landmass played their part at the end, and King Elbas made sure to join them with a special weapon concocted specifically for that battle. King Elbas had used his spear at the beginning of the exchange, but he had summoned a draconic head once the landmass attacked. The item worked as an extension of his hand that launched nine different golden beams and blended them with the corrosive energy. The landmass filled the void with dark storms, but golden shades appeared among them and redirected most of their power toward their center. Black and gold gales came to life as they spun in a spherical motion before diving toward Heaven and Earth. The gales went through a second transformation right before the impact. Their golden color flowed toward their tip, turning them into pointy attacks that released a sizzling noise. That sound intensified as soon as the gales landed on Heaven and Earth. The golden tips almost fused with the crystals and allowed the corrosive power to reach deeper parts of the rulers' body. King Elbas knew that Heaven and Earth's energy reserves were way too big to even aim at exhausting them. However, everything would change if he could pierce those crystals and study the core behind them. Heaven and Earth launched soundwaves and created their white tree, but the golden domain suppressed all of that. King Elbas was using the entirety of his power to alter reality in his favor, and the two companions at his sides helped greatly. The Foolery was too stupid or uncaring to devise a specific technique. It only wanted to eat the intense energy released by Heaven and Earth, so King Elbas turned its hunger into vortices and placed them in the middle of the tree. Instead, Divine Demon had a far better battle sense. He helped the offensive by placing a series of dragons that roared back at the soundwaves to disperse them. Those cries also expressed deep destabilizing properties that aided the gales in their efforts. By then, June and the others had learnt that King Elbas could handle a lot of power, so they didn't hesitate to add more attacks to that offensive. Alexander and Supreme Thief could tune their abilities to make King Elbas' job easier, but their companions didn't care enough to alter their techniques. King Elbas felt the urge to curse as a sea of information filled his mind and forced him to summon scanners and other inscribed items to process it. Still, no words came out of his mouth since he was too focused on the whole process. Heaven and Earth appeared on the verge of breaking. Techniques left their body and shattered under the many attacks and influences around them. They were exposed, with only their crystals defending them, and the scene finally filled their enemies with some hope. "You are indeed capable," Heaven and Earth eventually spoke while in the middle of their offensive, "But we are your limit." King Elbas' concentration didn't waver for even a second. He was ready to deal with any defensive measure, but he didn't expect the attacks to come from somewhere else. Ten pairs of giant hands came out of the sky and unleashed massive beams that converged on Heaven and Earth. The process had been so fast that the experts had to interrupt their offensive to avoid suffering any damage. Ten pillars crossed Heaven and Earth position and created an impenetrable area. Bright white light illuminated the void and showed the crystal figure in all its power. The rulers stood there, bathed in their own energy, and their opponents could only admire their splendor. The pressure that only quasi-rank 10 energy could generate spread into every corner of the higher plane. The array of inscriptions and all the experts hiding inside them would have instantly died if Pellio and the others weren't managing their defenses. Heaven and Earth appeared able to fuel the evolution of an entire world, but they had no interest in that. They kept that power all for themselves, and the pillars showed just what their opponents had to overcome to win. The pillars had flaws. They weren't deep in terms of meanings, but their quasi-rank 10 energy surpassed King Elbas' fake quasi-rank 10 state. No one could overcome Heaven and Earth when it came to sheer power, and the attack made that point clear. "Why are you still struggling?" Heaven and Earth asked while waving their hands to point at their body. "This is merely an avatar that can contain our greatness, but we remain the sky. We understand the desire to believe in your delusions, but this battle should have shown the difference between us multiple times already." A series of snorts resounded among the experts, but no one gave a proper answer. King Elbas ignored Heaven and Earth's statement because he was too busy developing weapons inside his body. He had long since decided to test things out until his body turned into dust. "A blade that can hurt you," Sword Saint eventually whispered, and his words strangely attracted Heaven and Earth's attention. "Is your path helping you?" Heaven and Earth wondered. "Is finally born," Sword Saint concluded, and the entire world turned dark. The pillars were still in their place, but they became unable to radiate their light. Something able to suppress quasi-rank 10 energy had appeared, but Heaven and Earth couldn't pinpoint its location. Then, a black line connected two opposite edges of the higher plane while making sure to pass through Heaven and Earth. The event was barely visible, and it didn't even release any noise or shockwave. Yet, it opened a crack in one of the crystals on the rulers' chest. Chapter 2338.Callings The crack was nothing significant. It was slightly more than a dent in an otherwise perfectly intact and powerful body. Yet, everyone knew what that event meant. Heaven and Earth glanced at their surroundings before lowering their face to inspect their chest. The pillars were still in their place, but their white light couldn't spread through the void. Also, their impenetrable body had finally suffered some damage. The rulers raised their head to look in the distance at that point. Their eyes appeared unable to pierce through the darkness that had enveloped the higher plane, but a figure eventually flew past that clouding membrane. Noah reappeared in the open. His body didn't show the slightest injury, and the sheer pressure radiated by his presence twisted the void. He seemed too heavy for that space-time array, and his every gesture left marks that the universe took a few seconds to remove. Noah didn't look at Heaven and Earth. His reptilian eyes wandered through the void and flickered whenever he noticed something new or odd. He appeared in a daze but not confused, and the rulers' presence wasn't enough to bring his attention back to the higher plane. "I feel the universe," Noah whispered, and his voice generated soft soundwaves that shot in every direction. Roars and growls echoed from the soundwave. Screeching noises mixed with them and expressed all the aspects contained in Noah's world. His voice didn't carry any actual power, but it was strong enough to survive the travel through the higher plane. Noah was partially oblivious to the event. He noticed the strange properties of his voice, but he didn't care about them. His eyes and senses as a whole were uncovering something so interesting that it almost made him forget about Heaven and Earth. Different callings reached Noah's senses and invaded his mind. He could almost hear voices hidden in the invisible and formless fabric of the universe. The void carried forces that echoed grand meanings, and some of them resonated with Noah's world. Little by little, Noah became able to differentiate between the different callings. They were mere echoes of stronger structures, but he could still find their natures. Destruction, creation, anger, pride, and far more came out of his figure in an attempt to touch those similar meanings and discover their secrets. The aspects of Noah's world established a faint connection with the universe and revealed multiple paths hidden far away from his position. It was hard to discern between distance and depth, but Noah didn't care about those details now. He only wanted to admire the existence of a superior cultivation journey. 'The universe has paths for my aspects,' Noah thought as he bathed in the multiple meanings that had invaded his mind. 'I can pick one of them right away.' The callings slowly transformed into promises. Noah felt tempted to join one of those vaster and deeper paths while he listened to the echoes resounding through the void. A smile appeared on Noah's face, and June recognized the feeling hidden behind that gesture. Noah was truly happy, but his expression hid coldness that she knew far too well. 'None of you is me,' Noah thought. 'None of you can give me the power I seek.' A tremor ran through the void around Noah, and his companions struggled to study that reaction. It seemed that Noah's surroundings had grown denser even without adding fabric to those areas. Only Heaven and Earth had an idea of what was happening, but their expression didn't reveal anything. The rulers simply waited for their opponent to make his choice. 'No,' Noah thought. 'I don't want anything from you. I'll take what I need once the moment comes.' The callings in Noah's senses transformed into screams that expressed pure rejection. The universe sounded unhappy and abruptly halted its connection with Noah. The interruption resembled a loud explosion that only he could hear, but the event didn't cause any damage. "Funny," Noah chuckled as his gaze remained on the void. "It seems I'll be busy as soon as I get out of here." "Don't overestimate yourself," Heaven and Earth responded. "The universe eventually calls everyone." "You," Noah voiced as his attention finally went to Heaven and Earth. "It's time to stop playing around." "You are overestimating yourself," Heaven and Earth announced as they stretched an arm forward. "We have long since been ready for your breakthrough." The pillars sent the entirety of their energy toward Heaven and Earth, and the latter made it flow through their arm. Their hand shone and began to fend off the darkness, but their attack didn't shoot forward. Instead, it flew above their head to crash on a random area of the sky. Gasps resounded in the area, but Heaven and Earth suppressed any form of surprise when they inspected the scene. Their arm wasn't in its original position. Someone had lifted it to make their attack miss. Noah inspected the crystals seized in his grasp. He had only needed a sliver of potential to overcome Heaven and Earth's physical prowess and lift their arm. Still, that limb felt too firm even for him. He needed his blades to damage it. Heaven and Earth put strength into their arm, but the effort didn't free them from Noah's grasp. He was far stronger than they had expected. "We were right," Heaven and Earth exclaimed. "You are the perfect stepping stone." "Get serious already," Noah ordered. "We don't take orders from-," Heaven and Earth said, but an immense force suddenly crashed on their chest and flung them in the distance. The attack had been too fast. King Elbas and the others had struggled to follow Noah's gesture. They actually didn't know whether he had moved at all or not. Heaven and Earth found themselves lying on the sky. Their figure was mostly intact, but the small crack had turned into a long cut that ran through most of their chest. Small cracks even tried to expand from the wound's edges, but the crystal suppressed that lingering destruction to prevent further damage. Still, the event made one thing clear. Noah couldn't only hurt them. He could completely overwhelm them. Noah exploded with power while Heaven and Earth remained on the sky. A solid stage aura emerged from his figure and spread in every corner of the higher plane. The void darkened due to his influence, and everything started to tremble when two swords appeared in his grasp. "I told you to get serious," Noah exclaimed, and the tremors intensified. Pride reeked out of the intense tremors. King Elbas and the others could sense the oppressing and domineering force that Noah was radiating. His voice could carry undisputable orders, and Heaven and Earth ended up in their target. "You are indeed the greatest expression of the cultivation journey," Heaven and Earth declared, and Noah swung his arms. The gesture appeared seamless. Noah's blades cut through the void without meeting any hindrance, but King Elbas and the others felt that something heavy enveloped the whole scene. A massive force eventually materialized before Noah. A giant slash that connected two extremities of the higher plane formed in front of him and instantly expanded to reach Heaven and Earth. The attack carried multiple meanings, but nothing about it resembled the chaotic violence that Noah usually expressed. The slash took the form of a curtain that split most of the higher plane into two different areas and made the crystal figure disappear. Chapter 2339.Echoes The black curtain remained in its place for a while. No violent wave, explosions, or other types of destructive forces spread past the slash's structure, but no one dared to underestimate its power. Sword Saint wanted to praise the attack, but he remained silent. Noah had reached the solid stage. The final battle had truly begun now, so the time for jokes was over. The curtain slowly dispersed without shattering or crumbling. Holes opened in its structure as its energy reserves became empty until the entirety of the attack simply vanished. The disappearance of the slash didn't bring new light to the higher plane. Everything remained dark, but that didn't prevent the audience from finding Heaven and Earth. The crystal figure was still on the sky, and the cut on its chest had transformed into a deep fissure that revealed its insides. Everyone's eyes fell in the opening. Noah had finally removed the annoying crystals that prevented the experts from studying Heaven and Earth's insides, but the scene didn't bring clear answers. The crystal figure had a core, but its shape was strangely familiar. The item was a white sphere with the same shades as the sky. The meanings it radiated also matched those of the white layer. Sparks, lightning bolts, and other strands of energy left the white core to enter the crystals and fill them with different meanings. Heaven and Earth could decide the type of power to send to their body, and their options appeared limitless. The white core didn't stay still. It spun, but its seamless shades made it appear motionless. Each complete rotation released a thunderous sound, and the crystals around it echoed it. The crystal figure was more than a simple avatar. It was closer to a proper living being than a weapon. Heaven and Earth didn't spare resources to build that body, but now it carried damage. "A replica of the sky," Noah exclaimed. "Don't pretend to understand us, Noah Balvan," Heaven and Earth declared while straightening their position. "We are outside your understanding. We stand in a realm that no being from the cultivation journey can see." "You walk two paths," Noah responded. "That's your greatest power and flaw." "Our path is our own," Heaven and Earth stated. "We express the cultivation journey and the structure of the universe. We are a being and a world, but no division exists inside us." ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ ꜰʀᴇᴇ ᴡᴇʙ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ.ᴄᴏᴍ. Noah's eyes flickered as understanding dawned upon him. King Elbas and some of his companions also reached similar conclusions and started to pay attention to their surroundings. They could almost predict that the sky was about to act. The white core eventually completed another rotation, and a thunderous heartbeat came out of it. Still, that sound didn't stop at the crystals. It seeped past Heaven and Earth and reached the sky. The entirety of the white layer echoed the thunderous noise and intensified it. The sky seemed to come to life as an ominous aura seeped out of its surface and enveloped it. Its light also brightened and pushed back part of the darkness created by Noah's presence. King Elbas and the others understood that the sky had joined the fight. The pillars from before had only hinted at what that white layer could do, but Heaven and Earth would hold anything back now. "We have to thank you," Heaven and Earth eventually continued. "Your rebellion pushed us toward this form, and your death will complete it." Ten pairs of giant hands came out of the sky as soon as Heaven and Earth spread their arms. Immense energy gathered inside them while the crystal figure joined their wrist to imitate the technique. The rulers and the white sky were performing the same movements simultaneously. Nevertheless, a giant figure materialized next to a pair of hands before they could release their attack. Snore bit down on those structures and spat a black sea that turned them into dust. Something similar appeared on another pair of hands. A series of black lines materialized on their palms until the entire structure crumbled. The white rain didn't reveal anything until Night decided to step up and show its new might. A seed teleported between another pair of hands and seeped through their fabric to feed on it. Soon, multiple roots pierced the structures and absorbed their energy, making them vanish from the higher plane. A high-pitched noise came out of Noah's figure, and dark-red light engulfed a pair of hands before unleashing pure violence on them. Black lines spread while cracks opened and enlarged to destabilize the structures. Needless to say, the latter didn't last long. A giant slash fell on another pair of hands and covered them into a black cloud. That gas didn't linger in the area for too long, and an empty space appeared when it dispersed. Fiendish figures and six-armed dragons materialized on two more pairs of hands before self-destructing. The explosions filled the area with intense sharpness that pierced the structures and turned them into broken items. A pair of hands suddenly vanished, and a burping noise came out of Noah's figure. Duanlong then peeked past Noah's shoulder to inspect the area, and its strange mouth opened to absorb another piece of that technique. Shafu roared at that point. New power flowed through its body and replaced the weak chunks of its body to bring its figure to the utter peak of the ninth rank. The roar didn't seem to carry any attack, but the last pair of hands closed under the effects of an invisible force. The clash between the two palms opened cracks in both of them, and energy seeped out of those openings, turning the structures useless. All of that happened at the same time and in the span of a second. The entirety of Noah's world had shown its new might. Snore and the others had instantly countered Heaven and Earth's massive technique, but the offensive wasn't over. Heaven and Earth suddenly slammed on the sky. The impact released a soundwave that suppressed the thunderous noises that had filled the higher plane, but the rulers ignored that outcome. Their attention never left the figure standing above their damaged chest. Noah stood on the crystal figure with a foot pressed on the joint wrists. His physical prowess wasn't enough to damage that body, but he promptly pointed his swords downward to unleash an attack. Two black lines came out of the blades and disappeared in the next instant. The attack had been incredibly fast, and two holes opened on Heaven and Earth's shoulders. Those small openings appeared inconsequential, but the power accumulated in Heaven and Earth's palms started to disperse. Noah didn't only pierce the crystals. He had also damaged critical parts of the avatar to scatter its technique. "Your destruction can see us," Heaven and Earth commented. Snore, Night, the parasite, and Duanlong materialized behind Noah to stare menacingly at heaven and Earth. Shafu imitated that behavior without getting close, but the rulers remained able to sense its angry gaze. "I told you to get serious," Noah repeated. Tension spread through the higher plane. Noah's words were impossible to misunderstand. Heaven and Earth's previous massive display of power didn't express their peak. Heaven and Earth remained silent for a few seconds, but the corners of their crystal mouth soon turned upward. A laugh eventually came out of it, and the entire sky echoed their voice. **** Author's notes: 1 Snore, 1 Night, 1 parasite, 2 army, 2 Duanlong, 1 Shafu, 1 Demonic Sword, 1 Cursed Sword. Ten pairs of hands. I'll leave this here in case someone has doubts. Chapter 2340.Crystals The rulers and the sky laughed, and their tone soon gained monstrous properties. Everything grew heavier inside the higher plane, but Noah and his companions easily handled that pressure. Noah, Snore, and the rest of his companions were ready to launch an attack, but he never gave the order. The white core inside Heaven and Earth spun faster, sending different waves of energy to the crystals, but the nature of that power eventually changed. Noah's senses had reached an insane level of power. He could feel the very universe with his consciousness now. Nothing could escape his gaze, but Heaven and Earth were up to something that even he failed to understand. The white core stopped releasing various types of power to fuse on two different fuels. One of them was similar to the higher energy, even if it felt slightly stronger, but the other was something that Noah didn't recognize. It resembled matter, but it hid far more behind its dense fabric. Danger assaulted Noah's senses, but he didn't retreat. His swords descended, and his companions unleashed their attacks. The entire area darkened and became impossible to inspect from the outside, but nothing actually touched Heaven and Earth. "We shall accept your request," Heaven and Earth announced while the dark energy around them failed to reach their body. "This struggle it's pointless, but we owe you that much." Noah's eyes darted left and right. His attack was right there, but all the power accumulated in the area couldn't advance. Heaven and Earth had done something that stopped that offensive and created a safe half-spherical space around them. The safe area expanded and pushed Noah away. Noah retracted his companions and swords to make that invisible force hit him. His body endured the attack, and his senses got to work to study its nature. The dark energy dispersed and allowed the rest of the higher plane to witness the scene. Noah flew backward as Heaven and Earth left the sky and started to advance through the void. The laugh continued to echo through the white layer, and its monstrous aspects only intensified as time passed. The thunderous heartbeat radiated by the spinning white core also gained the same tones, which put the crystal figure and the sky in complete harmony. Noah could disperse his momentum almost immediately, but he let it push him away until he understood what was happening. His figure stopped in the middle of the higher plane at that point, and Heaven and Earth soon saw his cold reptilian eyes pointing back at them. "We have accumulated countless worlds during our long life," Heaven and Earth announced. "We have also been this very higher plane and more during that time. We express the best of the two paths, but that's not our limit anymore." A denser and stronger pressure suddenly came out of the crystal figure and the sky. Something had changed, and its effects were evident. Heaven and Earth didn't go through any power-up, but their might had multiplied. "Hybrids and even superior beings like you can only pale in front of us," Heaven and Earth announced. "We own the last possible evolution, and this is our energy." Heaven and Earth pointed their arm forward, and a violent mass of white power gathered in their palm. The white energy was so unstable that flares shot in every direction and flew until they landed on the sky. Some even reached the mass of ice and easily dug through it. Energy that the higher plane had never seen gathered in Heaven and Earth's palm. Its instability intensified, but the rulers and the sky appeared unaffected by its pressure. An instinctive fear filled Noah's mind, but he reacted to it by unleashing his potential. The higher plane darkened as Noah's influence thickened. His aura expanded and met the new light radiated by Heaven and Earth, creating an ethereal conflict that gave birth to countless explosions. The darkness and light couldn't coexist. Destruction and detonations happened whenever they touched, but the areas around Heaven and Earth remained clear. Their mere presence there seemed able to stabilize the whole battlefield. Noah pulled back his arms to place his wrists on his waist. The grip on his blades tightened as potential flowed toward multiple aspects of his world. Roars, high-pitched noises, and screeches came out of the blades as power accumulated among them, but Noah waited for his opponent to act first. Heaven and Earth's laugh ended when the unstable energy in their palm shot forward. A partially solid river shot forward and transformed into a crystal-like form of energy during its flight. Noah pushed his arms forward once the spiky energy entered his range. The very void seemed to move away as he moved the immense power accumulated in his weapons and launched it toward his opponent. The seamless mass of black fuel that shot out of Noah took the shape of a giant sword right before clashing with the crystal energy. The two attacks met in the middle of the void, and the entire world shook due to the impact. Winds, shockwaves, flares, and much more flew in every direction. The blade appeared able to sever away chunks of the white energy, but the latter carried more power. Also, it was denser in many aspects, which eventually made it overwhelm Noah's attack. The crystal energy advanced through the massive blade and overcame its power. The process depleted part of Heaven and Earth's attack, but most of it still crashed on Noah. The exchange flung Noah in the distance, but the energy around his figure soon vanished, leaving only some white dust behind. Noah stopped in the middle of the void and promptly grabbed the remains of Heaven and Earth's attacks, which turned out to be tiny crystals. The crystals were powerless, and they soon shattered under Noah's innate pressure. Yet, they added enough clues to the hypothesis in his mind. He had understood what Heaven and Earth had done. "You developed your own energy," Noah commented. "Well, energy might not be the right word for that." "Our version of the higher energy expresses the cultivation path," Heaven and Earth explained. "These crystals express the world path. We only had to fuse them." The process was obviously more complicated than that. Heaven and Earth had to go through major tribulations due to their fusion with the world. It was safe to assume they had met similar problems when developing that energy, and their product remained far from stable. Noah understood all of that, but his curiosity ended there. He had no words to describe Heaven and Earth's true form, but those labels probably didn't exist. They simply were Heaven and Earth. "Do you still think you can beat us?" Heaven and Earth asked when Noah raised his swords to prepare for another attack. "We will use the sky from now on." Noah didn't answer. He was still exploring the full extent of his new power, and Heaven and Earth were a perfect training dummy. His potential flowed toward even more aspects of his world, but the rulers also made their move. Heaven and Earth's hand lit up again, but similar scenes happened in every corner of the higher plane. Multiple arrays of unstable spheres materialized across the void and released dangerous flares while gathering energy. The entire world was against Noah, but he didn't back off. Instead, his sharpness skyrocketed as he placed his blades on his forehead. Snore and his companions also came out, but everything in his vision turned white at that point. Chapter 2341. Pride The attack that Heaven and Earth had launched was unavoidable. The rulers were the entire world, so they could easily fill it with their power. Nothing inside the sky was safe from their offensive. Noah knew that far too well. He had been aware of that issue for way too long, but seeing it with his own eyes gave birth to unexpected emotions. He could feel his instincts screaming in fear and his very mind begging him to hide. Still, that was only an instinctive reaction caused by highly heightened senses. The aware side of Noah's mind knew that running away wasn't exactly possible when the entire world had stepped into the battlefield. Moreover, Noah had reached the solid stage. That was his peak, the utter apex of the cultivation journey. He couldn't get stronger than that, so he only had one path left to tread. He could only go forward. The attack fell faster than Noah had expected, but that surprise didn't delay his actions. His consciousness couldn't expand under that heavy assault, but he still unleashed his sharpness. Countless slashes materialized on Noah's body and shot forward to express his destructive sharpness. Snore appeared in the open and ignored the damage it instantly suffered to spread its wings and unleash its violent attack. The parasite expanded wildly, uncaring of the branches that crumbled as soon as they touched the light. The creature had only one purpose in life, and it went all-out in an attempt to accomplish it. Black lines filled the gaps among the array of slashes and added sharpness to the already full area. Duanlong also absorbed what it could, and the dark matter helped where possible. Noah's offensive failed to push back the entirety of the light, but it dug multiple channels into that seamless attack. Blackness expanded through the white array that had filled the world, and everything eventually dispersed. Clarity returned to Noah's senses and allowed him to inspect the area. He had failed to hit Heaven and Earth with his last explosion of power. Most of his attacks had fallen on the sky, but he had still managed to lower the overall destructive properties of the white offensive. Nevertheless, some of that partially solid light had fallen on Noah. The crystal energy wasn't only extremely unstable and violent. It was also the result of two types of incredible fuels, so its power was a certainty. Noah found his body riddled with injuries. They weren't deep, but they released a smelly smoke that hinted at Heaven and Earth's destructive properties. Their energy carried something quite toxic for the beings belonging to a single path, but that quality made it easy to counter. A short burst of dark matter came out of Noah's injuries and removed all the tiny crystals trying to invade his insides. Potential then filled the ethereal blackness, which quickly sent it toward different aspects. Noah healed quickly, and the same went for his companions. Snore, Night, the swords, Duanlong, and Shafu regained full structural stability and became ready for the next exchange. 'I can do this,' Noah thought as a cold smile appeared on his face. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ꜰʀᴇᴇᴡᴇʙɴᴏᴠᴇʟ.ᴄᴏᴍ The time had finally come, and Noah couldn't help but be ecstatic. He finally had the chance to face the entire world. He didn't have to hold anything back, but the battle still carried issues. Fending off the world was bound to fill Noah with potential, but that wasn't a winning strategy. He needed to defeat Heaven and Earth, but they weren't easy targets. Destroying the crystal figure could be a good start, but the sky would remain around him even after that achievement. 'Why am I even bothering with this?' Noah partially mocked himself inside his mind. 'Destroy the crystals. Destroy everything they throw at me. Destroy the sky.' Noah prepared himself to execute that plan, but a familiar suddenly landed at his side before clearing his throat. Noah felt forced to lower his swords, but he still shrugged his shoulders when he turned toward his friend. "Did you have enough fun, my heir?" Divine Demon asked while swirling his cup of wine. "What are you getting at?" Noah asked. "You aren't the only one with a beef against Heaven and Earth," Divine Demon stated. "Isn't fighting them on my own the behavior of a true demon?" Noah teased. "Look for yourself," Divine Demon laughed. Noah finally brought his attention to his companions. King Elbas and the others had respectfully avoided interfering with the previous exchanges, but they were clearly itching to jump into the fight. Noah also felt slightly surprised to see that his companions were completely fine. The previous attack had left no hiding spot in the entire world, but King Elbas and the others didn't suffer any injuries. The same went for the golden inscriptions in the distance. Pellio appeared on the verge of exhaustion, but he had managed to protect those hiding inside the ethereal array with the help of Cursed Reality and the others. Emperor was also fine. He had suffered injuries, but the privileged cultivators around him were far worse off. He had used them to shield himself from the attack, so his life wasn't in danger. Inspecting the areas past the ice was hard. Those frozen lands had reappeared as soon as the light had vanished, but Noah believed that the Eternal Snake was still okay. He could smell its presence in the higher plane, so it was safe to assume that Vesuvia and Queen had also escaped the attack. Overall, the scene was quite positive from Noah's perspective, but it also showed a deeper meaning. The major experts in his organization weren't only great expressions of the ninth rank. They were warriors that had earnt their place in that final battle. "Shouldn't a demon be selfish?" Noah complained. "You wanted to be the leader," Divine Demon mocked. "You know what that involves." Noah sighed while scratching the side of his head with the back of the Demonic Sword. The blade complained, but it also added value to Divine Demon's statement with its growl. "I really can't have fun," Noah eventually cursed. "Well, let's get this over with." A series of figures materialized around Noah. The entire team grouped, and a few experts didn't hesitate to criticize Noah. King Elbas had witty remarks, June directly complained, Supreme Thief stood in the middle, while the Foolery began with its nonsense. "Our attacks encompass the entire higher plane," Heaven and Earth announced, interrupting the bickering. "Grouping up makes no difference. We have always attacked all of you at the same time." The Foolery and some of the others in the team wanted to reply, but Noah voiced a roar before they could say anything. A wave of intense pride accompanied the cry, and the entire higher plane fell under the effects of Noah's ambition. Small patches of the void began to move on their own. They didn't leave their surroundings, but they struggled to break free from their space-time array. Pieces of the void wanted to become alive, but the universe didn't let them. The random strands of will generated by Noah's ambition weren't enough to make that darkness gain complete individuality. Of course, the void wasn't Noah's main target. The ambition that reached the blackness was nothing more than the leftovers of what he had sent toward his companions. King Elbas, Sword Saint, the Foolery, Divine Demon, Supreme Thief, Alexander, Wilfred, and June saw ambition surrounding their worlds and enhancing their properties. Merely standing next to Noah increased their power and granted them access to a superior level. Chapter 2342.Scorn Heaven and Earth could witness the complete unfolding of Noah's world for the first time since his breakthrough, but they weren't alone there. The entire higher plane seemed to interrupt its motion to admire the waves of ambition that filled its every corner. Formless power that didn't seem to have precise intentions spread through the higher plane and empowered every different being or material. Even the privileged cultivators around Emperor saw parts of their existence reacting to that force. Noah's ambition was impartial, but it had a precise direction. It expressed his constant struggle toward higher forms of individuality. In a way, it was a force that carried the most basic and true aspect of the cultivation journey. Of course, Noah's ambition didn't only make everything strive toward that goal. It also provided the power necessary to perform that jump as long as the target accepted it. Actually, Noah's new influence seemed able to sway even some of the most resilient minds. The issue didn't apply to King Elbas and the others. They had long acknowledged Noah as their leader, so his ambition empowered them without meeting any resistance. Yet, problems appeared among the privileged cultivators. Some of them had been part of the sky for a long time, but doubts still filled their minds. It was easy to keep a steady mindset when Heaven and Earth were the only possible alternative, but all of that shook now that Noah showed a path. Only Caesar and a few other privileged cultivators remained completely unaffected by Noah's ambition. The latter couldn't help but gaze in worry at the companions swayed by that tempting force, but Caesar remained unfazed. He didn't care about those events, and his broad smile continued to shine on his face. Heaven and Earth were like Caesar. They didn't even look at the underlings swayed by Noah's ambition. They kept their gaze on their enemies while they waited for their preparations to end. Noah and the others didn't like Heaven and Earth's behavior, but they still exploited that chance. Shafu also joined the group while Snore and the various companions appeared in the open to unleash their ambition and harmonize themselves with Noah's power. A new wave of ambition enveloped the group and deepened the empowerment it provided. The landmass cried in anger, Snore hissed, and Shafu roared to declare their readiness. The parasite also screeched while more voices came out of the team, and Heaven and Earth understood what that meant. The entire higher plane lit up as multiple unstable spheres materialized in the void. Heaven and Earth had summoned bigger versions of their previous attack, and they had also joined their hands to create that structure in front of them. No battle cry or words preceded the offensive. The unstable spheres unleashed their energy in the form of violent currents that flew in random directions before converging toward the enemy group. The sphere before Heaven and Earth unleashed its power at the same time, but its current shot forward, directly at the group. Noah prepared to slash through the attack, but King Elbas interrupted him by stepping forward. "Only an idiot would choose to pierce something so unstable," King Elbas snorted while his figure stepped into an even stronger version of the fake quasi-rank 10 state. King Elbas waved his hand when the white current was about to fall on the group. The gesture gave birth to an ethereal membrane that flew forward and met the enemy attack head-on. The ethereal membrane carried only a fraction of the current's energy, but it worked as a filter that separated the two types of fuel. The white attack split into two different waves that changed their direction and crashed on chunks of the incoming offensive. "Idiots with me!" King Elbas shouted, and the Foolery and Divine Demon followed his sprint while voicing loud laughs. The three experts flew slightly above the group and turned to face three different directions. Their auras intensified as a golden domain spread through the darkness, and three attacks shot out of them. Divine Demon emptied his cup before throwing it away. The item expanded until it transformed into a massive container equipped with a suction force that split the various currents. A frown appeared on the Foolery's face while it stared at the various currents. The pig seemed immersed in deep thoughts and plans, but its face relaxed when a wave of azure energy came out from its body. "Where is my mighty cry?!" The Foolery complained while the azure energy flew forward and enveloped a quarter of the higher plane in its smelly properties. "A fart isn't a cry!" King Elbas complained before rolling his eyes when a series of farts started to echo everywhere inside the golden domain. King Elbas ignored that outcome and spread his arms. His crown expanded until it became as big as his body, and a humming noise soon came out of it. The humming noise spread instabilities inside the various white currents and triggered a chain reaction that Heaven and Earth couldn't stop. The crystal energy grew weaker as it split into its two basic powers and created different waves that clashed with each other. The waves that ended among the azure cloud directly shattered, while the others flowed into Divine Demon's creation. Meanwhile, King Elbas summoned his spear and pointed it forward to launch a fiery attack that enveloped Heaven and Earth. The fiery energy didn't manage to touch the crystal figure. Heaven and Earth's basic pressure created an innate defensive ability that protected them from that attack. However, various figures materialized around Heaven and Earth while they remained immersed in the fiery energy. June threw a crackling spear, Wilfred slammed both arms forward, and Alexander launched a cry that carried hundreds of different voices. Sword Saint let those attacks pierce Heaven and Earth's safe area before unleashing a thin slash that hit them at the very center of their head. Supreme Thief waited for all that to unfold before closing his eyes and releasing a sea of azure abilities that fell on the area. Shafu and the landmass arrived right after, and the rest of Noah's companions followed. Heaven and Earth fell in the middle of a sea of abilities, but the offensive had yet to end. Noah materialized among the chaos unleashed by his companions. Waves of multicolored energy crashed on his body and tried to push him away, but his physical prowess allowed him to remain in his place. The chaos was incredibly powerful, but Heaven and Earth appeared partially immune to it. They stood in the middle of the sea while small cracks opened on their crystals. They were suffering damage, but they had eyes only for Noah. "Do you plan on destroying us like this?" Heaven and Earth scorned. The chaos around them would have usually taken care of their voice, but Noah heard them anyway and chose to ignore them. Noah joined his hands, and dark matter enveloped his swords to make them fuse into a single structure. Different natures came out of his body as he drew power from his companions, and a black line shot out of him without needing any specific gesture. Chapter 2343. Stepping stones A shattering noise spread through the higher plane. Noah's slash dispersed the chaotic energy in the area, revealing Heaven and Earth's new state. The crystal figure's condition had worsened greatly. Cracks filled its surfaces and created a weary scene, but the black line that ran from the top of its head to the end of its groin remained its flashier injury. Still, all of that paled in front of the source of the shattering noise. The white core was still spinning, but a crack had appeared on its smooth surface. The immense energy in the white core had created a sound that could reach every corner of the higher plane, but the event didn't end there. The spinning sphere continued sending fuel and meanings to the crystals, but the process only worsened its damaged state. Noah could sense that the crystal figure as a whole wouldn't last long. His understanding of destruction told him that, but he wouldn't wait for that moment to arrive. A series of black lines shot out of Noah's body while he raised his swords, and an even bigger slash flew forward once he completed his attack. Heaven and Earth fell prey to a relentless offensive, and more shattering noises resounded. King Elbas and the others didn't wait their turn. They approached the area and started unleashing their best attacks. The golden domain attempted to add some coordination to the offensive, but that alone couldn't stop the techniques from giving birth to a chaotic mess. Everything worsened when Shafu slashed the landmass toward the messy area. The massive attack that came out of the maimed creature engulfed the joint offensive and created a black river that reached the distant sky. Noah and the others prepared to launch another offensive, but a series of unstable spheres filled the higher plane and forced them to group up. King Elbas summoned his specific defenses, and everything turned white. "They are improving," King Elbas commented while his eyes moved over the ripples on his ethereal barrier. "We can handle all of this!" The Foolery squealed while opening its mouth to unleash its hunger, but King Elbas slapped its forehead before it could hurt the barrier. "I'm hungry!" The Foolery complained, and a discussion started, but Noah ignored all of that. Noah's attention moved to the crystal energy falling on the barrier. King Elbas had improved it to defend against the new power flowing through the attack, but his warning remained on point. The crystal energy was too unstable to be a final product. Heaven and Earth were probably using that battle to perfect their new fuel and obtain the power to reach the tenth rank. 'Stepping stones,' Noah thought before stepping forward to tap on King Elbas' shoulder. "Give me one second," King Elbas snorted. "I'm making sure that this idiot doesn't destroy our only form of protection." "Defending is boring!" The Foolery complained while unleashing its hunger, but King Elbas promptly teleported that influence away. "Why are you so annoying?" King Elbas cursed. "The pig is right," Noah stated, and everyone on the team turned toward him to show their surprised faces. Even Shafu opened its mouth in amazement. "Open a path," Noah explained before questions could reach him. "We can't let them gain any initiative." King Elbas didn't complain. Actually, he agreed with Noah right away, but the issue remained. The whole higher plane had turned white due to the violent currents flying through it, and piercing them would be quite hard. "I can pave the way," King Elbas revealed, "At least partially." "Pig, find the rulers and eat anything before them," Noah ordered. "Noah has finally acknowledged my magnificence," The Foolery proudly stated while lifting its head. "Noah," King Elbas called. "This goes beyond its idiocy. There is too much power on the way." "Make it happen then," Noah shrugged his shoulders before disregarding the whole matter and pointing his swords forward to prepare for his moment. "I'm not staying behind," June announced while approaching Noah's side and summoning her spear. "I must be there for obvious reasons," Supreme Thief exclaimed as he reached Noah. ꜰʀᴇᴇ ᴡᴇʙ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ "I'm also tired of defending," Divine Demon continued while joining the attacking team. Sword Saint retreated to reach the maimed landmass. Silver power came out of his body and enveloped the creature to prepare it for the imminent offensive. King Elbas wanted to curse, but Alexander landed at his side and nodded at him. King Elbas rolled his eyes, but he eventually executed the order. The golden domain thickened and fused with the ethereal barrier, pushing its edges forward to expand its influence. The Foolery unleashed its hunger, and King Elbas added fake quasi-rank 10 power to that influence. The hunger transformed. It remained part of the pig's power, but King Elbas molded it without turning it into one of his techniques. Random flames appeared in that ethereal energy, but their azure color and intense smell revealed their true source. The Foolery seemed surprised about that reaction, but it hid that feeling behind its iconic proud gesture. King Elbas didn't say anything even if the process was tiring him deeply. He had basically pushed the fake quasi-rank 10 state on the pig without affecting its world. The golden domain eventually applied that empowered hunger on the path between the team and the rulers. A chunk of the white energy immediately disappeared, but some currents inevitably remained. Yet, Noah shot through the ethereal barrier anyway, and his companions followed him closely. Noah was faster than any of them, and his clash with the remaining white currents filled the entire channel with his dark energy. Noah's power seemed to explode at that point. Various cries came out of his body as his companions added their abilities to his attack. His swords pierced through the white current and allowed him to advance, and a familiar figure eventually appeared in his vision. "Smart choice," Heaven and Earth commented before Noah's attack landed on them. The slash cut through the cracked crystals and separated Heaven and Earth from their lower body. June and Divine Demon arrived a second later and unleashed their offensive on that maimed figure, destroying most of its external layers. Supreme Thief turned himself into a ghostly figure that could pierce through the intense energy released during the offensive. His body also flew through Heaven and Earth, taking away their white core in the process. An unstoppable force pierced the chaotic energy and cleared the area. Wilfred's attack failed to reach Heaven and Earth, but it opened the path for the following offensive. King Elbas summoned a giant orb and tossed it at his side. Alexander grabbed the item before releasing a series of monstrous cries that brought his physical strength to the peak and allowed him to perform an incredible throw. The giant orb disappeared before materializing inside the remains of the crystal figure. A massive explosion happened and made the whole world shake, but a silver and black torrent still reached the targeted area to unleash its destructive sharpness. The void fell prey to violent instabilities. The joint offensive was too powerful even for that superior space-time array. Mental waves became unable to enter the targeted space due to the chaos that filled its fabric. Noah wanted to launch more attacks, but he knew that the unstable void would disrupt their power. His companions also understood that part, so they waited for everything to stabilize. A few complaints flew toward Supreme Thief, but the latter ignored them as he studied the white core in his hands. He appeared extremely satisfied with his loot, but the arrival of a familiar laugh made him store the item inside his figure. A monstrous laugh came out of the sky and filled the higher plane, restoring its stability and bringing light to the targeted area. The chaotic energy dispersed, revealing nothing more than dust and shattered crystals. Noah and the others had destroyed Heaven and Earth's body, but similar figures emerged from the white layer and advanced through the void. The rulers had summoned more of their incredible avatars, and the latter didn't hesitate to echo the laugh. "Great, great!" Heaven and Earth spoke through their multiple avatars. "Keep opposing us. Be the stepping stones you were always meant to be." Chapter 2344. Prediction Noah inspected the various crystals figures that had come out of the sky. They were identical to the body they had just destroyed, but the energy flowing inside them felt slightly stronger. "We are glad that you reached this level," Heaven and Earth spoke through their various bodies. "It would have taken a while to perfect our new energy otherwise. You can accomplish your purpose now." The arrival of various crystal figures didn't surprise the group too much and didn't even lead to worry or fear. Noah's ambition had pushed everyone's power past their normal limits, so those incredible bodies didn't appear as threatening as before. Yet, that show of power highlighted an issue that Noah and a few others had always been aware of. Heaven and Earth's energy reserves were immense, and they lacked clear weak points. It was simply impossible to target them when they were the very sky. Noah honestly didn't know what to do, and the same went for King Elbas. The two even exchanged a glance that conveyed their helplessness. They had a limited number of options in that situation, and only one of them sounded reasonable. "We might need to keep doing this for a while," King Elbas eventually suggested. Noah knew that his companion was right, but that didn't solve the problems. A prolonged battle would allow Heaven and Earth to perfect their crystal energy. Moreover, the landmass couldn't last much longer. Still, the lack of alternatives pushed Noah toward the usual conclusion. He and his companions had to give everything they had, no matter how many of them died in the process. After all, that was the last battlefield. Marcella and the Eternal Snake couldn't avoid Heaven and Earth's massive display of power. That offensive covered the entire higher plane, and the ice couldn't stop it. The situation only worsened when Heaven and Earth summoned multiple avatars. The addition of various bodies allowed the rulers to channel more power and thicken the amount of crystal energy that filled the higher plane. Marcella and the Eternal Snake were ill-suited to stop that offensive, but their insane resilience allowed them to recover and resume their battle in no time. The ice also always reappeared to divide them from the main fight, but that slowly started to change. The additional bodies allowed Heaven and Earth to launch offensives that could last longer. Moreover, Noah and the others only affected a fraction of those massive attacks, so Marcella and the Eternal Snake often took a defensive stance. As Noah and his team began to counterattack, more and more areas of the higher plane gained some clarity. Still, random white currents continued to fly everywhere, so the ice never managed to reform fully. Marcella and the Eternal Snake didn't stop fighting either, but the change in the scenery disturbed their usual pace. The damage created by the white currents opened lasting paths through the ice that Marcella wanted to use, but the Eternal Snake never gave her the chance to escape. That would typically push Marcella to bring her focus back on the snake, but the latter solved that issue for her. The Eternal Snake noticed Noah during one of its reckless charges, and the sight instantly changed its priorities. "Defying Demon!" The Eternal Snake shouted when it caught a glimpse of Noah fighting against the group of crystal figures. Noah obviously ignored that call, and white currents soon hid his figure again. The Eternal Snake also found an attack flying through the opening on its ice and landing on its body, but the severe injury it caused didn't distract it from its target. "Where do you think you are going?" Marcella shouted while launching a massive spear made of roots and branches toward the snake. The spear pierced the Eternal Snake and tried to immobilize it. Flowers and plants also grew from its surfaces to build a cage. Still, the creature ripped itself away from that offensive and voiced a hiss that affected the ice in the area. The Eternal Snake's ice carried the same innate ability that affected its body. It wouldn't disappear unless the creature wanted to, but a reason to remove it had finally appeared. The immense frozen layer shattered when the snake's maimed body slammed on it. The ice crumbled to fall on the creature, and even the chunks destroyed by the white currents reappeared to join the process. Marcella wanted to interrupt the technique, but she held back. A path toward Heaven and Earth had finally opened, so she let the Eternal Snake do as it wished. All the ice in the area converged toward the Eternal Snake to create an immense frozen armor. Once the technique stabilized, the creature became almost as big as the landmass, and its sprint toward Noah's battlefield generated storms that shot everywhere. The snake's charge was beyond reckless, but its eternal properties were quite impossible to counter. White attacks fell on the frozen armor and pierced its body, but its sprint never slowed down. Those missing parts even reappeared as soon as the crystal energy left the areas. Marcella inspected the sprint for a few seconds before summoning a series of flowers. Heaven and Earth wouldn't care about her, so she needed to protect herself from the white offensive, but a curious event interrupted her technique. A shattering noise resounded near Marcella and forced her to turn. Black and purple shards flew everywhere as three figures appeared among them. Decumia, Vesuvia, and Queen returned to the higher plane, and none of them carried injuries. "Decumia!" Marcella instantly called. "Heaven and Earth are going all-out. Let's help them!" Decumia glanced at her companion before turning toward Vesuvia. Her expression revealed deep doubts, but a question eventually left her mouth. "How much of that is true?" "Who knows?" Vesuvia giggled. "Stop playing games," Decumia ordered. "I know you didn't influence that prediction. Will that truly happen?" Decumia appeared off compared to her usual self. She was so serious that even her opponents felt the need to address the question adequately. "Go ahead," Queen sighed. "I truly don't know," Vesuvia admitted while wearing a complicated smile. "Still, you saw it, so it has a chance of becoming real." The answer didn't satisfy Decumia, but she still lowered her gaze to think. Marcella could see the conflict on her companion's face, but she couldn't allow those issues in that situation. "Decumia, what are you doing?" Marcella called. "Did you forget your position?" Decumia lifted her gaze to study the final battle. Pure chaos shone in her eyes, but she didn't feel attracted by it. Far deeper thoughts flowed through her mind and made her lose interest in the scene. "I'll stay here," Decumia eventually stated. "I want to see the future with my own eyes." Marcella almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. Decumia had never been the smartest privileged cultivator, but she had always been reliable when it came to battles. Yet, she had decided to remain on the sidelines at that time. "I guess we have a new opponent," Vesuvia teased. "I don't think we'll have a proper battle," Queen exclaimed, and the entire area suddenly lit up. It didn't take long before everything turned white and forced them to summon defensive abilities. Chapter 2345. Target White light filled every corner of Noah's vision. He had lost track of his companions, but the attack didn't allow him to search for them. Still, he didn't worry about them. His mind only had violent thoughts flying inside it. Flares of violent dark matter shot in every direction as Noah pressed forward. His consciousness couldn't expand among that mess, but his destruction gave him a path to follow. Roots pierced Noah's skin and enveloped him in a dangerous armor that often crumbled under the might of the crystal energy. The parasite saved him from many serious injuries, but it couldn't always withstand what fell on its surfaces. Night also helped during the charge. Its black lines had precise piercing effects, so they created the main path that Noah followed. His companions did their best to make him survive the white offensive, and his charge never stopped. A familiar crystal figure eventually appeared behind the white mess. Noah didn't hesitate to fill specific centers of power with potential, and some of his defensive abilities weakened during the effort. The parasite stopped piercing his skin, Snore didn't send random flares anymore, and even Night halted its relentless offensive. Noah had to use his body to endure the white storm, but his incredible physical might allowed him to survive for a few seconds. That time was enough for Noah. Most of his offensive abilities gathered on his arms and blades while the crystal energy dug through his skin. The innate destruction radiated by his figure intensified as he accumulated power, and his surroundings darkened when he launched his attack. The white storms around Noah vanished when he thrust his blades forward. A torrent of sharp energy shot out and transformed into a dense black line that landed on the crystal figure ahead and pierced its skin. The line carried enough destruction to dig through the crystals and reach the white core behind them. The attack had lost too much momentum during the flight, but it could still generate an explosion. A chaotic mass of destructive power exploded before Noah and sent some fuming crystals in his direction. A few ended up stabbing him, but others only generated clanging noises when they landed on his skin. The chaotic energy engulfed Noah, but more potential flowed into his body before he waved his hand. The gesture dispersed the messy storm and allowed him to see the result of his attack. A maimed crystal figure became visible, but the item didn't show any trace of life due to the destruction of its white core. New potential flowed inside the ethereal blackness, but Noah barely cared about the event. He tried to inspect his surroundings for a few seconds, but he could only see white currents flowing everywhere, so he quickly closed his eyes. Heaven and Earth were getting stronger, but the same went for Noah and his companions. Moreover, Noah could already hurt the crystals after his breakthrough, so his starting point turned out to be slightly higher than the rulers. The crystal bodies didn't even improve during the process. Heaven and Earth granted them better energy, but their structural stability remained unchanged. Noah and the others only had to worry about the stronger attacks flying on their way. Noah immersed himself in his violent thoughts while whiteness stretched toward him. Some random currents even landed on his body and opened injuries, but he ignored everything to listen to his destruction. Eventually, his anger intensified and stirred him to fly in a specific direction. Noah's instincts told him where he had to unleash his destruction, and he didn't hesitate to listen to them. Noah shot forward, relying on his companions and innate destruction to pave the way toward his new target. A golden flare cut his path at some point and revealed King Elbas in the distance, busy burning a crystal figure. Something similar happened soon after due to the immense explosion of sparks that unfolded under him, but nothing could interrupt his charge. Coordinating an offensive against many targets and in the middle of that mess was impossible. Noah's team knew that, so the experts went on their own way to handle any enemy they could find. Noah accelerated when he sensed that his target was close. His skin even started to deflect attacks on its own due to the excitement that flew through it. His entire being was turning into a weapon meant to defeat Heaven and Earth, but a loud hiss suddenly reached his ears and distracted him. A giant figure pierced the white storms on Noah's left and crashed on him before he could do anything about it. Ice filled Noah's vision and attempted to confuse him, but the voice that followed cleared any possible doubt. "Defying Demon!" The Eternal Snake hissed. "I've come to kill you!" "Dumb snake," Noah cursed while the Eternal Snake pushed him into the white storms. The crystal energy hurt Noah and the Eternal Snake, but the latter didn't care about those injuries. It wanted to push Noah and squash him on the sky, but overcoming his physical prowess turned out to be too hard. The Eternal Snake slowly stopped, and an explosion of dark matter followed. Noah unleashed waves of destructive power to reduce the number of white currents in the area and create a situation where he could talk. "You dare oppose me?!" The Eternal Snake shouted, uncaring that everything in its vision had turned dark. Silver rivers came out of the creature's mouth. Immense frozen landmasses took form, but the area occupied by Noah's destructive energy remained immune to the attack. An unstoppable force eventually landed on the snake's frozen helmet. The creature hissed in anger, but Noah still tried to talk with it. "Can't you realize the situation we are in?" "I don't care!" The Eternal Snake hissed. "Die and turn into my meal!" More silver liquid came out of the snake's mouth, but Noah teleported on its forehead to lift its head. The creature couldn't oppose that pulling force, and its ice eventually expanded toward the target Noah had found before the previous charge. The crystal figure that appeared behind the white energy launched a precise attack toward the incoming attack. The silver liquid shot in every direction as a torrent of crystals pierced it and reached its source. Noah pulled the Eternal Snake in front of him to make it endure the incoming attack. The crystal energy pierced the creature and the frozen armor, but that damage soon disappeared and offered proper protection. "Fight me!" The snake ordered, uncaring of the holes opened by the crystal energy. "I'm a bit busy right now," Noah snorted while kicking the frozen armor to launch the snake toward the crystal figure in the distance. Heaven and Earth only needed to raise their hand to block the immense snake, but darkness soon filled their vision. A giant sword cut through the frozen armor and the creature before landing on the crystals to unleash its power. A deep cut opened on the crystal body's waist. The sword couldn't pierce it from side to side, but it damaged its white core enough to cause unstoppable instabilities. When another rotation happened, Heaven and Earth's avatar exploded into a cloud of unstable energy. Noah had cut the snake in half to perform that attack, but the latter reformed in no time. Its colossal body also became a natural defense against the explosion, which Noah didn't hesitate to use. "You bastard!" The Eternal Snake cursed, and its anger only intensified when Noah appeared in its vision. "Calm down, you idiot," Noah scolded through a roar that dispersed some of that anger. "Let's kill Heaven and Earth first." "You are my target," The snake coldly hissed. "And how do you plan on fighting me here?" Noah asked before turning his head to release a black sea that stopped some of the incoming white currents. "I don't fear these attacks!" The Eternal Snake claimed. "They don't fear you either," Noah explained. "Can't you see how Heaven and Earth ignored you? They think you are too weak to join this battle." The Eternal Snake went silent. The white currents mostly flew in random directions, but some of them targeted Noah. That didn't happen with the creature. Its armor and body suffered only due to the leftovers of that offensive. Chapter 2346. Frozen The Eternal Snake had never given much thought to its actions. To its very core, the creature was a magical beast, so it took pride in its instinctive behavior. Its anger also overcame its few reasonable ideas most of the time, which only led to constant reckless stance. Still, Noah was aware of what could trigger the snake's anger. A creature with great pride would see any lack of respect or consideration as an incredible insult. Similar reasons had started its battle with Marcella and even fueled its enmity with Noah. The Eternal Snake was by no means Heaven and Earth's ally. The creature actually planned to destroy them, but Noah came first in its mind. Yet, nothing in the white offensive specifically targeted it, so its anger moved on the rulers. "They don't think you can hurt them," Noah added fuel to the anger. "They don't see you as something able to affect the battle." Noah's words thundered in the Eternal Snake's mind and caused repercussions on its overall concentration. Cracks opened on its frozen armor until the entire structure crumbled, revealing the giant body hidden inside. Meanwhile, the snake kept its reptilian eyes on the various currents. It saw some attacks converging on Noah and forcing him to launch countermeasures. The clash often generated random flares, but none of them used that chance to fly toward the creature. The Eternal Snake obviously suffered damage often. It was too big to remain untouched among that thick mess, but none of that counted when the offensive lacked attacks aimed specifically at it. Noah only needed a look at the Eternal Snake's face to know that his words had the intended effect. The creature wouldn't care about him anymore with all that anger filling its mind. Truth be told, Noah didn't expect the Eternal Snake to do much in the final battle. The creature was by no means weak, but Heaven and Earth were simply too strong. Nevertheless, destroying the crystal figures while running away from the snake would be a bother, so Noah redirected its anger toward the sky. It couldn't hurt to add such a big and troublesome target to his team, especially during an offensive that covered the entire higher plane. "I can't stay here," Noah eventually continued while a series of black lines shot out of his body and cleared part of the storms. "I'll see you once the battle is over." "You aren't going anywhere," The Eternal Snake promptly replied before snapping its mouth at Noah. The snake had used its immense body to launch an unavoidable attack, but that wasn't a problem for Noah. He found himself at the edges of the creature's mouth, but the latter couldn't close it since his body was too resilient. "What are you even doing?" Noah sighed as he prepared to cut away the entire lower part of the mouth. "I'll put an end to this battle now!" The snake hissed, and Noah saw a torrent of silver liquid filling the giant mouth. Noah could easily block that attack. The silver liquid didn't carry much momentum or destructive properties. A mere punch from him could disperse that torrent, but his instincts told him not to interrupt the attack. The space-time array around Noah shook for a second, allowing him to leave the mouth and fly away. That evasive maneuver didn't hurt the Eternal Snake, and Noah even decided to remain in the area afterward. The Eternal Snake lifted its head and spread its mouth as much as possible while silver liquid kept flowing out of it. The attack inevitably fell on the white currents, and chunks of them even froze, but the overall offensive eventually shattered those parts. Noah had the chance to leave to search for other crystal figures, but the process felt too captivating. The Eternal Snake was up to something, and his instincts told him to inspect the scene. The ice never managed to accumulate, and the Eternal Snake also continued to suffer injuries in that mess. Yet, its flesh always reappeared, but the same didn't happen for the frozen chunks of crystal energy. Noah waved his swords left and right to keep himself safe, and an explanation slowly appeared in his mind. He could understand what the snake had become, so its tactic also became clear. The white storms seemed to quiet down while the snake was busy spitting silver liquid. Nothing had happened yet, but Heaven and Earth had already sensed the change. Noah sensed something pretty soon too, and his companions followed. All of them stopped fighting and moved their attention to their surroundings to inspect the imminent change. Suddenly, immense frozen landmasses materialized all around the higher plane. They couldn't stop the entirety of the white offensive, but they hindered its advance and created many safe areas. The ice eventually appeared right before the sky and spread until the entirety of the white layer fell behind that frozen barrier. The Eternal Snake's ability even thickened, and Heaven and Earth's light slowly stopped spreading through the higher plane. The sky didn't freeze, but the Eternal Snake had accumulated enough ice to block its influence. The entire world was now covered in a silver layer that reflected a pale radiance over its many floating landmasses. The amount of crystal energy in the world decreased exponentially, clearing most of the area and allowing Noah to locate the remaining avatars. His companions also noticed them, and the entire team hurried to get rid of those items. Multicolored explosions expanded through the higher plane while Noah and the others flew left and right to launch their attack. Their ruthless approach soon removed every trace of the crystal figures, which put an end to the white offensive. The world had transformed by then. The Eternal Snake had turned the entire higher plane into a frozen spectacle filled with icy landmasses. Noah's group even struggled to sense Heaven and Earth at that point, which pushed them to group around the giant creature. "This guy turned out to be useful," King Elbas commented when the snake finally closed its mouth. "Surprising." "What's so surprising about this?" The Eternal Snake hissed. "I'll kill you." "Calm down!" Noah snorted while landing on the snake's head to keep its mouth closed. "Anyone knows what happens now?" King Elbas and the others glanced at the sky. The silver ice prevented them from studying Heaven and Earth's reactions, but the higher plane had other clues that could help them. Marcella had started to fight with Queen and Vesuvia, but the arrival of the ice had interrupted their battle. Decumia had also remained in the area, but neither privileged cultivator showed any worry about the current state of the higher plane. Emperor and his opponents had also stopped fighting when the ice arrived. The privileged cultivators didn't know how to react to the event, but Caesar continued to show his broad smile. Intense confidence reeked out of his body, and that was enough to provide an answer. "It would have been too easy otherwise," Divine Demon laughed as he gathered energy in his palm to create a cup of wine. "We only have one option left then," King Elbas sighed. "Indeed," Noah responded while throwing a punch under him to prevent the snake from talking or launching an attack. "We must destroy the sky." Chapter 2347. Odd The announcement put almost everyone into a stern mood. The intelligent members of Noah's team knew what the plan involved, and they didn't know whether they could fulfill it. The situation didn't sound good in Noah's mind either. He inspected his companions, and what he saw didn't promise well. Everyone appeared quite tired, especially Wilfred and the landmass. The hybrid wasn't a real issue since he would burn himself before stepping out of the battle, but the creature didn't have that freedom. The landmass had hurt itself through most of the offensive. Shafu did its best to protect it, but Heaven and Earth didn't give it much room to work with. A glance toward Sword Saint also confirmed Noah's worries. The expert shook his head as soon as he understood Noah's silent question. The scene had a few positive aspects. King Elbas, Alexander, Sword Saint, and Divine Demon were like Noah. The clash had worn them down, but they could still express their peak power. The Foolery had somehow turned itself into a fuming figure again. Its body was a mess, but it didn't seem to care about those injuries and only focused on munching the maimed crystal avatar in its mouth. June was busy patching up her injuries since the massive power generated by the Perfect Circuit kept expanding them. Her body could still handle her current level, but it worsened the damage she had suffered. Supreme Thief appeared too busy playing with the set of white cores stolen during the offensive to care about Noah's orders. Noah would usually scold him a bit, but he let him off the hook since he seemed able to express his peak power. The snake was also a great addition to the team, especially after its recent demonstration. Noah couldn't use it in a proper clash, but throwing it toward some attacks sounded good enough. All in all, the team could still fight, but their new target wasn't as frail as the crystal figures. The sky would take far more than a joint offensive to crumble, and Heaven and Earth would never give the group the time to complete that approach. "I have an idea," Noah eventually announced. "Focus everything we have on a single spot," King Elbas continued. "That's the gist of it," Noah responded. "Predictable," King Elbas sighed. "Do you have a better idea?" Noah asked. "I might be able to build something if you buy me enough time," King Elbas suggested. "Something that helps us focus everything we have on a single spot?" Noah teased. King Elbas didn't answer immediately. He stared at Noah for a few seconds before repeating his previous words. "That's the gist of it." "Predictable!" The Foolery exclaimed while reaching King Elbas' side and continuing to munch on the maimed crystal fight. Some of its saliva ended up on King Elbas, but his body burnt it before it could leave wet patches. "I'll never work with you," The Eternal Snake snorted. "Can you remove part of the ice to open a path?" Alexander asked, uncaring of the snake's previous remark. "My ice is eternal!" The Eternal Snake declared. "No one can remove it." "We got ourselves a new idiot," Divine Demon laughed. "You are part of that group," King Elbas commented. "This disciple of mine is always so cold," Divine Demon sighed before taking a sip from his cup. "Being so ungrateful after everything I taught him." "You didn't teach me anything!" King Elbas scoffed. "Didn't you attune with our powers earlier?" The Foolery asked. "Did you just notice that?" King Elbas asked before reminding himself never to enter a conversation with the pig. "I say we let Heaven and Earth come at us with their avatars again," Supreme Thief suggested. "We aren't taking suggestions from someone only interested in stealing things," June responded. "Don't you want to fight in the previous mess again?" Supreme Thief wondered. "The sky doesn't sound like an interesting target." June opened her mouth before closing it. She glanced at the frozen layer around the sky, and her eyes shone when an idea appeared in her mind. Still, Noah was ready to scold her as soon as she searched for his approval. "Don't even think about it." "We would burn their energy faster," June pointed out. "And take a lot of their stuff," Supreme Thief added. "And eat a lot!" The Foolery shouted. "Why are you joining this conversation?" Wilfred asked. "I could smell the arrival of Xavier's answer," The Foolery explained. "That's some dedication," Divine Demon laughed while patting the pig's back. "I became strong for this sole purpose," The pig proudly announced while lifting its head. "Are you sure you want us to survive?" King Elbas whispered to Noah. "It's too late to switch factions," Noah uttered. "Focus on opening a path through the sky. That's your best chance at getting rid of the pig." "Piercing the sky," King Elbas sighed. "Noah, you know what I'm thinking." "There is nothing else to do," Noah shrugged his shoulders. "That's the last barrier." "We can touch their level," Alexander joined the conversation. "We might not have that chance if we delay our offensive." "Heaven and Earth can't accomplish that fusion so easily," King Elbas explained. "They are probably fighting us to gather information about our worlds. We might carry the answer to their issue." "Won't they get there anyway?" Noah wondered. He understood what King Elbas meant, but they were still talking about Heaven and Earth. The rulers wouldn't mind waiting for a few eras to perfect their evolution. "They must have limits connected to their breakthrough," King Elbas guessed. "Maybe their current level can't hold them anymore after they regained some individuality." "That makes sense," Noah replied. "They are pushing for the quickest option." "I wouldn't be surprised if they had other plans in store," Alexander commented. "Either way," King Elbas stated, "It won't hurt if we hurry." Noah nodded and patted the snake on its head, but a strange sensation filled his mind. Something was off, but he couldn't find the source of that feeling. King Elbas seemed to share Noah's worries. The two exchanged a meaningful gaze but couldn't come up with anything worthy of their time or words. They were both lost in front of that strange sensation. "I already told you," The Eternal Snake hissed. "My ice is eternal. And why do you think you can order me around? I should eat you right now." Noah honestly didn't know whether the Eternal Snake could remove its ice, but using part of it to create armors shouldn't be a problem. The creature's stubbornness was the only issue, but someone promptly came to Noah's aid. "That's a loser's mindset," The pig exclaimed while landing before the snake's head. The Eternal Snake snapped its mouth at the Foolery without bothering to address its announcement, but the pig magically materialized before it again. "You have a long way to go," The Foolery sighed. "Your hunger is great but misplaced." Traces of instinctive wisdom came out of the Foolery's fuming body and made the snake interested in its words. The giant creature actually went silent as it waited for the pig to explain its stance. "You won't get all the tasty stuff inside the sky if you eat Noah now," The Foolery explained. "I can deal with the sky by myself," The Eternal Snake complained. "Can you?" The pig asked. "There must be some doubts inside you. Why do you want to risk it? Use Noah to break the sky, eat what comes out, and then move to the next meal." "You might have a point," The snake coldly hissed. "I can teach the secret behind my wisdom if you become my disciple," The Foolery proudly exclaimed. "I won't eat anyone until the sky is in pieces," The Eternal Snake added, ignoring the pig's previous comment. "No, no," The Foolery jumped in. "You can totally eat Xavie-." The Foolery couldn't finish its line since a series of slaps landed on its head. Noah, Alexander, and King Elbas took care of silencing the pig, and Divine Demon's laugh soon arrived. Chapter 2348. Worthy Decumia had no intention to join the fight, and Marcella would have to face Queen and Vesuvia if she dared to move. Emperor was also taking care of the other privileged cultivators, and his job had gotten easier after Noah's ambition generated doubts inside their minds. Caesar was the only expert who could hinder the team, but he didn't seem to care about their plan. His waiting stance annoyed Noah and his companions, but they played along for now since they had bigger problems to handle. Noah had never been so focused, and excitement inevitably filled his mind. He had waited his entire second life for that moment. His journey had finally reached the point when he could target the sky. Of course, the mystery of the sky had long since disappeared. After all, Noah and his companions had traveled through that white layer multiple times. Still, they knew that things wouldn't be as easy now. The sky had endured many attacks throughout the final battlefield. Immense techniques and powerful abilities had landed on that white layer, but nothing had managed to damage it. Noah even predicted that Heaven and Earth wouldn't stay still if the sky were truly in danger. The team probably only had one shot at destroying that structure, and Noah had every intention not to waste it. King Elbas, Sword Saint, Wilfred, June, and Alexander began to prepare as soon as the quarrel ended. The experts didn't talk, but they instinctively knew their role in the imminent offensive. King Elbas summoned his fake quasi-rank 10 power to build a massive structure that quickly took the shape of a ram. Flames flared out of its surfaces and transformed into drills while the whole item solidified and King Elbas kept adding materials to its fabric. Wilfred only needed a glance from King Elbas to understand his role. The hybrid flew under the ram to test its weight and scorching properties. His skin almost melted when he touched the item, but he nodded back at King Elbas after his tests. Sword Saint approached the maimed landmass to inspect its damage. The giant creature had lost most of its body, but its core was intact. It could still summon its corrosive energy and sharpness, but the effort would probably kill it. June left the group to land on one of the floating frozen landmasses. She crossed her legs to sit on the ice and closed her eyes to focus the entirety of her attention on her Perfect Circuit. Heartbeats started to resound from her position, and no one dared to disturb her. Alexander imitated June, but his approach didn't need him to fly away. He crossed his legs and started hoovering through the void while tremors ran through his body. His aura intensified during the process, but nothing harmful flew toward his companions. Supreme Thief inspected the preparations, but the white cores floating around him often attracted his attention. He appeared conflicted, but an annoyed scoff left his mouth when he noticed Noah's cold gaze. "You can't take a joke anymore," Supreme Thief complained. "Can you steal something important from the sky?" Noah asked. "I don't care what you take as long as it bothers Heaven and Earth." "We should be able to open a path with this," King Elbas added while tinkering with the ram. Supreme Thief glanced at the ram before moving his gaze to the sky. Noah could see greed appearing on his face, but the expert eventually lowered his head and heaved a helpless sigh. "I'd need too long to steal something relevant," Supreme Thief explained. "I'm sure Heaven and Earth also set multiple protections, so using my power randomly wouldn't get us anywhere." "You go with the other idiots then," King Elbas snorted. "No," Supreme Thief cursed. "I'll be in the frontlines. Send your item after I do my thing." King Elbas couldn't help but turn to inspect Supreme Thief. The announcement was quite surprising, but the expert appeared serious, so King Elbas decided to trust him and return to work. Supreme Thief absorbed the white cores inside his body at that point, and he even snapped his finger to steal the crystal figure inside the pig's mouth. The Foolery obviously didn't like that, but Supreme Thief fell into a deep meditative state that shielded him from any complaint. "Don't even try it," Noah warned before the Foolery could summon its power. "The sky has more food than you can imagine." "But that was my food!" The Foolery complained. "I'll let you team up with Xavier," Noah bribed. The Foolery's eyes lit up, and he immediately went silent to reach King Elbas' side. The expert glared at Noah, but he didn't voice any complaint. Deep down, King Elbas knew that he was the only one able to control and enhance the pig's innate ability. "I'll be in the frontlines too!" The Eternal Snake exclaimed. "No one can go before me!" Noah thought about the matter for a few seconds before giving his approval. The snake's offensive prowess wasn't exceptional, but its body could offer protection indefinitely. Having it in front of the team could only benefit the assault. "You are awfully quiet," Noah eventually teased while approaching Divine Demon. Divine Demon emptied his cup and turned it into blood-red energy that flowed inside his body. His gaze went to the golden inscriptions in the distance, but he quickly brought it back to Noah. "Are you worried about the others now?" Noah laughed. "As if," Divine Demon scoffed. "Those idiots are a disappointment. I should have used more dragons against them." "Now the dragons are gone," Noah sighed without adding anything. Divine Demon didn't need consolations, and Noah knew that usual formalities didn't belong to that situation. "Are you getting all nostalgic already?" Divine Demon joked. "You were the one feeling down," Noah rebuked. "What feeling down?" Divine Demon shouted. "I was enjoying the moment. It's worthy of thoughts and reflection." "You are getting all poetic now," Noah mocked. "I've always been poetic," Divine Demon claimed. "Make sure not to forget anything this time," Noah stated. "I won't hesitate to forget if it helps me," Divine Demon scoffed. "Though it doesn't mean that I want to." "It would be a pity, don't you think?" Noah wondered. "It would indeed," Divine Demon sighed. "Do you know what to do in the next offensive?" Noah asked. "I'll come up with something," Divine Demon declared. "Don't tease Xavier too much," Noah chuckled. "I'll probably tease everyone," Divine Demon bragged. "We are set then," Noah stated. "To think that the end would finally be in our grasp," Divine Demon whispered. "Majestic." Blood-red light flashed before Noah and Divine Demon to create two cups full of wine. Noah didn't hesitate to grab it, and a smiling Divine Demon appeared in his view when he turned. "You did well, my heir," Divine Demon announced. "You didn't waste my inheritance." "I brought it to the utter peak of the cultivation journey," Noah corrected before throwing the entire cup in his mouth. "That's how a demon should talk!" Divine Demon laughed while also emptying his cup. A series of intense tremors filled the area at that point. Supreme Thief, Alexander, and June broke their meditation and gathered near the golden ram. Their bodies seemed on the verge of exploding, which announced their readiness for the imminent clash. **** Author's notes: Shoutout to Kane_jay_85 for the Magic castle! Chapter 2349. Crack Heaven and Earth's silence was eerie. It was impossible to understand what the rulers were doing inside the sky, and their lack of reactions only intensified the overall tension in the higher plane. The rulers were clearly up to something, but the same went for their enemies. The latter were ready, and Noah performed one last inspection to appease his worries. June had to be careful about the power accumulated on her body. Tight nets made of sparks covered her injuries and prevented her energy from leaving through them, but they also created windows directly connected with her Perfect Circuit. Everyone could see that June's insides contained nothing more than raw and violent energy. The level of that fuel was also incredible. Noah had to use King Elbas' fake quasi-rank 10 state as a comparison to evaluate its might. Alexander struggled to retain his human form. Worm-like bulges ran through his body, chunks of his skin changed color, and some of his muscles inflated before deflating while he stood still and remained focused on his ability. Supreme Thief was stabler than his companions, but it was clear that his mind was elsewhere. His eyes appeared lost in a scene that no one could see, and his overall figure had turned whiter for some reason. The three experts were in no condition to reply to questions, and none of their companions called them. The group only cared about their battle prowess, and the pressure radiated by their figures was more than satisfying. A low growl eventually left Noah's mouth, carrying an order that conveyed pure wills. He made his voice so soft that his companions understood his intentions without ruining their concentration. Supreme Thief and the Eternal Snake shot upward at that point. The frozen landmasses and part of the ice around the sky flew through the higher plane to reach the creature. A silver armor took life, uncovering part of the white layer in the process. The Eternal Snake didn't have specific tasks, and its attack pattern was also quite simple. The creature snapped its tail, and the gesture generated far more momentum due to the increased size granted by the frozen armor. The technique propelled the giant snake toward the sky. Its sprint was quite fast, and its landing on the white layer generated a shockwave that filled a considerable fraction of the higher plane with storms. Of course, that simple headbutt didn't affect the sky at all. The Eternal Snake had even added its weight to the attack, but mere physical prowess couldn't hurt the white layer. Even Noah would fail at that. Supreme Thief reached the Eternal Snake almost immediately, but his lost gaze never fell on his companions. The snake was the same since it continued to headbutt the sky, but what followed forced it to divert its attention. Supreme Thief placed both hands on the sky before closing his eyes. The white cores absorbed earlier came out of his body to show their new azure shades. The items started to rotate around the expert, and a series of azure crystals seeped out of his skin. The azure crystals expanded until the entirety of Supreme Thief's body gained the same appearance as Heaven and Earth's avatars. Meanwhile, the cores continued to spin around him, and white energy eventually accumulated in the area. Supreme Thief generated a type of fuel that felt identical to what Heaven and Earth had used in the previous offensive. He replicated the crystal energy and even added the Rulers' Resolve's influence to adapt that power to the sky. No external force affected the white energy, but the sky naturally attracted it due to its resemblance with what flowed behind its surface. The process was quite fast, and it soon started to affect the overall crystals and whiteness that had covered Supreme Thief. Supreme Thief regained his natural colors, and even his expression focused again. His gaze darted left and right to study the situation, but he waited a few seconds before performing his attack. Once the entirety of the white energy entered the sky, Supreme Thief shone with azure light that caused a reaction in that lost fuel. Azure patches appeared behind the white surface and made the entire area tremble. Supreme Thief revealed a crazy smile as he lowered his arms and pulled the foreign energy inside the sky. The azure patches expanded before approaching the white surface and piercing it to return to the higher plane. The azure energy carried white gas and materials while it reunited with Supreme Thief. The expert seized everything and stored it inside his body, but he flew away once the process was over. The Eternal Snake had grown interested in the whole procedure, but it didn't have the time to feel disappointed about the sudden departure since golden light filled its vision. Wilfred voiced a human cry when he slammed the giant ram on the sky. The impact unleashed a sea of flames that covered the white layer and enhanced the instabilities caused by Supreme Thief. The many drills also shot forward, and a relentless assault started. Part of the flames reached the Eternal Snake and fell on its face. The creature wanted to complain, but its anger vanished when it saw Wilfred. The hybrid was pushing the ram, uncaring of the wounds opening his hands, and the snake saw that behavior as a personal challenge. The Eternal Snake dived into the golden sea to headbutt the sky again. The flames melted its armor and burnt its head, but those injuries vanished in no time and allowed it to continue the assault. Wilfred gave up on pushing at some point and directly punched the back of the ram to slam it deeper into the sea. He could feel that the sky still blocked the item's way, so the violence of his attacks increased every time he failed to pierce it. The Foolery and King Elbas arrived in the area, but the former acted on its own. The pig jumped into the sea and sucked all the flames before placing its butt on the sky. Violent shockwaves seeped into the white layer and gave birth to earthquakes, but the Foolery didn't care that its attacks were affecting the ram. Still, King Elbas landed at its side and unfolded his golden domain to force the tremors into a specific rhythm. Sword Saint his offensive now that the sea had disappeared. A rain made of silver drops assaulted the sky, paying special attention to the instabilities that his companions had caused. The expert seemed able to sense which blade could benefit the current state of the offensive. Shafu and the landmass followed, and their attack inevitably brought a few gazes on them. The giant creature had silver light around its edges, but dark energy grew inside it before the dragon thrust it toward the sky. The attack didn't give birth to any torrent at that time. Shafu had launched a clean thrust that pushed the entirety of the accumulated power in the area touched by the maimed landmass. Huge cracks opened on the landmass due to the condensed release of energy. That damage inflicted the finishing blow on the already maimed creature, which ended up shattering into multiple giant pieces. Those pieces didn't crumble any further, but anyone inspecting the scene could sense that life was abandoning them. Weak growls came out of the boulders, but everything eventually went quiet. The landmass effectively died under everyone's gaze. The scene filled many experts with unreasonable anger that threatened to disrupt the offensive, but a shattering sound arrived and dispersed that feeling. Many gazes moved toward the source of that noise, and the incredible image they saw enveloped the entire team with hope. A big but shallow crack had appeared on the sky. The damage wasn't too significant, but the experts could find some comfort in it. The landmass had managed to pierce the white layer with its last attack. Chapter 2350. Sword The offensive didn't leave time for shock or other emotions. The group was sticking to a vague rhythm to coordinate their attacks, so the appearance of the crack and the destruction of the landmass didn't slow down the assault. Alexander and June teleported under the crack, and King Elbas immediately joined them. The three unleashed part of their power when they prepared their respective attacks, and the pressure accumulated in the area almost threatened to hinder the process. The three experts released so much energy that the crack expanded even before their attacks arrived. Thick sparks shot out of June, dense flares left Alexander, and scorching flames enveloped King Elbas. The three seemed on the verge of killing each other due to that passive influence, but they were strong enough to endure the pressure. June was the first to attack. She lifted her head to stare at the crack, and the entirety of her body turned into a blinding orange spot that unleashed a chaotic mass of lightning bolts. The lightning bolts didn't have any specific form. June couldn't condense them into a single technique, but she didn't want to lower their overall power, so she simply discharged everything she had accumulated. Making that immense power stick to a single direction brought June's body close to its structural limits, but she didn't care. The crackling band-aids shattered, her injuries expanded, and holes opened on her skin as more lightning bolts came out of her. Yet, she remained still to send everything toward the crack. The explosion that followed the impact with the sky pushed almost everyone away. The Eternal Snake and the Foolery ended up on the nearby ice, and Sword Saint felt the need to perform an evasive maneuver to avoid the shockwave. Wilfred had to call upon the entirety of his strength to hold the ram in its place. His body remained defenseless before the shockwave, and vast chunks of his skin disappeared under its assault and the scorching item. Nevertheless, the ram didn't move, and Wilfred even forced his muscles to survive the assault. His figure transformed into a gory puppet made of bulging muscles and exposed flesh, but he continued to perform his task. King Elbas had relied on a technique to survive the shockwave, while Alexander had used the immense power flowing through his body to remain in his position. King Elbas shot a glance at Alexander once their turn arrived. The two didn't decide who had to go first, but quick calculations happened in King Elbas' mind and made him seize the initiative. The vast and violent flames coming out of King Elbas' body condensed in his palm as soon as he lifted his arm. The rest of the fake quasi-rank 10 power flowing through his body and items also shot upward to fuse with the golden fire. The crown melted, the robe disappeared, and familiar roars resounded from King Elbas' figure as he put everything he had in his palm. The unstable mass of golden light accumulated in his hand quickly expanded to create a blinding spear that didn't have clear edges. The weapon appeared impossible to inspect due to the sheer heat around it. Even King Elbas suffered while wielding it since most of his fake quasi-rank 10 power had gone inside it. Yet, that didn't stop him from throwing it toward the crack. The crack had actually disappeared. June's attack had left a bright orange mark on the void that hid part of the sky. Still, King Elbas had never lost track of that damaged spot, so his spear pierced the tainted area and reached its target easily. The higher plane went still for a second. Everything became silent. Time seemed to stop flowing when the spear landed at the center of the crack. That fake peace didn't last long. A circular and ethereal shockwave expanded from the crack, and a proper explosion soon followed it. A heatwave that seemed able to melt any material in the world expanded from the crack and engulfed more than half of the higher plane. Part of the Eternal Snake's ice directly vanished and failed to reappear due to the incredibly high temperatures caused by King Elbas' offensive. King Elbas had performed an evasive measure to avoid the aftermath of his attack. The Foolery and the Eternal Snake had also resorted to something similar due to the assault's danger. The targeted area of the sky now only had Alexander, Wilfred, and the immense ram left. The item endured the heat since King Elbas had predicted a similar outcome, but Wilfred's condition had significantly worsened. The smoke from his scorched flesh hid his injuries, but it was clear that he wouldn't keep that up for much longer. Alexander was in a similar condition. His skin could endure incredible attacks, but King Elbas belonged to the same amazing realm. The hybrid couldn't avoid suffering injuries. Most of Alexander's skin had disappeared during the heatwave, but his insides had remained intact. Yet, that only revealed the true nature of the techniques summoned during his preparations. Each strand of Alexander's muscles carried different colors and shook, following a unique rhythm. Experts would be able to hear countless types of cries if they listened closely. Various powers also flowed through that fabric. It seemed impossible that a single being could contain so many abilities, but Alexander went beyond that. The countless abilities summoned by Alexander took the form of ethereal strands of energy when they left his body. His muscles withered during the process, but he continued to accumulate that fuel above him. The strands of energy fused to create a multicolored vortex that condensed into an unstable black spot. The amount of power contained in that shape was simply unfathomable, but Alexander touched it to apply his superiority. The unstable spot couldn't remain still when all its different aspects improved. The item shattered and unleashed a rainbow-colored pillar toward the crack. A light that the higher plane had never witnessed illuminated the void. Countless shades painted the world and transformed the whole scenery. Still, the area targeted by Alexander remained too blinding to inspect. Alexander didn't have any power left after unleashing his attack. The light that enveloped the world carried multiple destructive abilities, and his body welcomed them while it fell into the void. Noah caught Alexander before he could leave the range of the higher plane and enveloped him with dark matter before throwing him away. Shafu materialized and ate Alexander before stepping aside. Noah let the multicolored light fall on his body. Different techniques tried to alter and affect his fabric, but nothing pierced his innate defenses. Meanwhile, his reptilian eyes darted among the various floating boulders created by the destruction of the landmass. 'I did create a sword that pierced the sky,' Noah thought as he flew right under the crack, uncaring of the violent multicolored waves that had taken control of the area. A presence eventually materialized inside his world. Shafu had finally returned, and its low growl triggered a chain reaction that made the insides of Noah's mind quite noisy. 'Yes, you are right,' Noah thought as he raised his bladeless arms above his head. 'It's time to turn me into that very sword.' Chapter 2351. Rain Noah didn't have any new techniques in store. His breakthrough had pushed every aspect of his world to the peak. Still, it didn't give birth to anything unique or innovative. He was simply a stronger version of himself in every field. Of course, an increase in strength among rank 9 existences wasn't as simple as it sounded. A breakthrough involved the deepening of some aspects of a world, if not all of them. Noah had experienced exactly that, which justified his incredible battle prowess. However, Noah's current target didn't show any notable weaknesses. He couldn't use his unique companions to counter certain structural flaws or problems. The sky contained Heaven and Earth's might and natures, which went beyond what Noah could understand or study. His violent thoughts pushed him in a specific direction, but they couldn't go too far in front of such a powerful opponent. The lack of specific options led Noah to resort to his only reasonable idea. Heaven and Earth didn't show flaws, so he wouldn't try to exploit them. He would simply condense everything he had into a single attack. The Cursed Sword and the Demonic Sword remained inside Noah while he prepared his attack. Multicolored rays of threatening light filled his surroundings, but everything soon darkened as his influence expanded. The companions were the first to send their power forward. Shafu and the others had specific innate abilities and purposes, but they all worked together to create a single technique that could express their uniqueness. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ғʀᴇᴇᴡᴇʙɴᴏᴠᴇʟ. ᴄᴏᴍ Snore had its wild and destructive energy, Night could sever matter belonging to depths that Noah couldn't sense, and the parasite produced the greatest corrosive influence in the world. The Cursed Sword fed on violence, and Noah had nothing else in his mind. The Demonic Sword was an expression of Noah's core, so most of his aspects fused in the energy it sent. Shafu and Duanlong didn't shine when it came to offensive prowess. They were strong individually, but their innate abilities had purposes that went beyond battles. Still, the two creatures sent their abilities forward anyway and let the ethereal blackness handle them. Shafu's power became an influence that affected the very fabric of space, while Duanlong added a suction force that could make any attack unstoppable. The rest of Noah's aspects flowed forward at that point. Potential filled his centers of power and allowed them to express a might they wouldn't usually be able to wield. Physical prowess, sharp energy, solid black matter, and destructive mental waves fused into the mess of innate abilities flowing toward Noah's arms. The process threatened to reach the structural limits of Noah's body, but he didn't stop there. Different auras shot out of Noah's figure to express the various aspects of his world. Anger, pride, greed, hunger, sharpness, creation, destruction, space, and time fused before becoming part of something that empowered all of them without affecting their innate nature. Pure ambition enveloped the area and created a dense domain. Noah didn't develop any specific technique, but the sheer expression of his world gave birth to a black world that spread its darkness into the rest of the higher plane. The multicolored currents still flowed, but their shades were impossible to recognize among that darkness. A curtain had fallen on the entire higher plane, and its source resembled a black hole due to how impenetrable it was. The attack that Noah chose was almost obvious. The entirety of the darkness inside the higher plane flowed back toward its source to fuse with the pitch-back area. That domain also retreated until Noah reappeared. The immense energy unleashed before disappeared for an instant, only to reappear when Noah lowered his arms. A deafening thudding noise followed the gesture, and a massive black structure soon materialized on the sky. Most of the ice had disappeared by then, so the audience could study the full extent of Noah's attack. His swordless gesture had created a black mountain chain that spread in a straight line over more than half of the sky. The attack didn't actually create mountains. Those structures were dense but not solid. They also waved left and right. A closer inspection would put them closer to fumes than to giant boulders. Part of the ice returned due to the Eternal Snake's incredible innate ability. The process dispersed the mountains and revealed how much damage the recent offensive had inflicted on the sky. Many privileged cultivators couldn't help but open their mouths at the sight of the giant fissure that ran through the sky. The white layer had once been a smooth surface, but it now had an immense cannel running through it. A canyon had appeared in something that those experts believed to be indestructible. That scene already surpassed Heaven and Earth's army's wildest expectations, but loud noises eventually resounded and attracted everyone's attention to a giant golden structure. King Elbas' ram had survived the offensive, and a gory figure still hovered under it. Wilfred was nothing more than a bunch of muscles attached to a corpse, but he continued to throw his arms forward to push the giant item deeper into the sky. The sky had long lost its original stability. The incredible attacks that had landed on its surface didn't only hurt its structure. They had also affected its overall endurance. The ram finally managed to apply its effects due to that weakness. Its scorching head and spinning drills pierced the white layer by exploiting Wilfred's power. Cracks opened before the item, and the process continued until a sea of fissures spread all around the immense gorge. Noah had created a crack that ran for half of the sky, and the ram expanded that damage. Shattering noises filled the higher plane as fissures stretched from the main gorge and created a vast array. Half of the sky retained its smoothness, but the other half transformed into a series of shallow and deep gorges connected to a long, central fissure. It seemed that a mere punch could make all of that crumble into a white rain, and Divine Demon didn't hesitate to provide that power. "That was a good spectacle," Divine Demon laughed after appearing under the main fissure. "I want to see it again." Divine Demon raised his hand, and blood-red light invaded the higher plane. That radiance churned and flowed to give birth to different shapes, and the audience remained speechless when the process ended. Blood-red versions of King Elbas, Noah, and the other experts involved in the previous offensive materialized around Divine Demon. He even created a copy of the ram and the Eternal Snake. Then, those figures summoned abilities identical to what their true versions had unleashed previously. Divine Demon obviously couldn't copy his companions' unique powers, but his energy replicated those natures as best as possible. "I did say I would tease everyone," Divine Demon declared. "Well, hurry up." The figures shot forward, and the higher plane experienced a blood-red version of the previous offensive. Massive attacks crashed on the cracked sky at the same time, and their effects expanded the damage it had already suffered. By the time the attack ended, the sky had lost any trace of smoothness. Cracks covered the entirety of its surface, and some of them stretched quite deeply into its structure. A faint gust of wind eventually fell on the sky. No one knew where that gale had come from. Too many attacks had happened to connect that event to one of them. Nevertheless, that faint gale triggered a chain reaction that involved the entire sky. A mere touch on the cracks made them separate from the main structure. When the first chunk of the white layer fell, the rest followed and filled the higher plane into a rain of white boulders. Chapter 2352. Boulders Noah almost couldn't believe the scene unfolding in his eyes. Chunks of the sky were falling from every corner of the white layer. The cage around the higher plane had finally crumbled, but something strange eventually became evident. None of the boulders fell into the void. Those white chunks left the sky only to converge toward the center of the higher plane and limit the overall space left in the world. Noah also noticed something else during that process. The spaces among the various boulders didn't open a path toward the universe. He could still see Heaven and Earth's whiteness behind that rain. The sky was still standing. The main team gathered at the center of the higher plane, but the boulders soon forced those who didn't join the fight against Heaven and Earth to move too. Emperor, Queen, and Vesuvia teleported next to the main team. It was unclear where their opponents were since the rain hid them, but no one had the time to worry about them. A giant teleport also appeared in the area, and a golden array of inscriptions came out of it. Pellio and the other experts involved with that structure reached the main team, and a series of questioning gazes fell on Noah. Noah couldn't give answers since he was as confused as his companions. It was clear that Heaven and Earth were up to something, but the scenery didn't offer any valuable clue. Nevertheless, the team wasn't too worried. The boulders were massive and could cover the entire higher plane, but they didn't carry any real power. They had energy flowing inside them, but their structural stability had already crumbled. A few simple attacks would shatter them. "Let's clear the area before things get worse," Noah promptly ordered, and a few experts followed his sprint. King Elbas, Divine Demon, Emperor, Sword Saint, and Supreme Thief chased after Noah before splitting to reach different areas of the rain. Their heavy influence even expanded past their bodies while they prepared their offensive, but the boulders didn't wait for them to attack. A humming noise came out of the sky behind the boulders and triggered a reaction in the entire white rain. The energy inside the various rocks became unstable, and a series of rays shot out of them to create a joint offensive. The boulders stopped being separate entities and harmonized under the effects of the white rays. They even tightened their blockage to close any potential path toward the rest of the higher plane. The energy summoned by the boulders was violent but stable. The entire array seemed on the verge of exploding, but its power flowed smoothly and started fueling a joint ability. Noah lifted his arms, but his destruction suddenly warned him about the repercussions that his attack would cause. He could dig a hole through that white array, but the event would only make the accumulated energy explode. Experts like Noah could endure the explosion, but the area didn't have only the main team anymore. The array of inscriptions had become a target, and the allies defending it probably wouldn't survive that offensive. Pellio, Cursed Reality, Great Builder, and the other experts involved with the inscriptions had kept that structure alive during the final battle, but they weren't on the sidelines anymore. The targeted area had also shrunk due to the advance of the boulder. The inscriptions would have to face Heaven and Earth's power directly now, and they didn't have the structural resilience to do so. Besides, Pellio and the others were almost exhausted. Noah felt almost sure that his attack would kill most of his companions. "Your attacks have been excellent," Heaven and Earth's voice resounded from behind the array of boulders while Noah was immersed in his thoughts. "Your worlds highlighted so many flaws. We'll use what we learnt to concoct energy befitting of our being." Noah and King Elbas exchanged a glance, and they also turned to inspect the reactions of the other inscription masters. All of them understood Heaven and Earth's plan in those seconds. The matter was so obvious that even some of the idiots realized what was happening. The main team and Noah's organization as a whole were full of rebels. Those experts opposed Heaven and Earth, but they had to resist their tempting offers to reach that point. Those laws and worlds had highlighted some flaws in Heaven and Earth's existence, and Noah's team had also managed to prove them. The experts' offensive had succeeded even against the crystal energy, which showed how the rulers had yet to achieve a stable form. That was common knowledge by then. Heaven and Earth had admitted that their crystal energy wasn't ready even during the battle. Yet, the current offensive carried the deeper intentions that had guided their actions until now. "These are the leftovers," Noah commented. "We accumulated too many inferior and weak worlds throughout the eras," Heaven and Earth replied as an ethereal version of their avatar materialized before Noah. "We didn't want to create more non-laws or multiple versions of ourselves, so we used you to cut away those meanings for us." A lesser expert would blame himself for the event, but Noah could see through Heaven and Earth. He knew that the rulers would have found a way to solve the issue even without his team. Still, his problems didn't end at that shallow taunt. The array of boulders contained all the meanings that Heaven and Earth wanted to cut away from their existence. Yet, they still shared a connection with them. That attack wouldn't have been possible otherwise. A joint blow capable of using the power expressed by countless worlds would fill anyone with fear. Moreover, Heaven and Earth had made sure to stuff those boulders with crystal energy. The offensive promised to be the strongest attack the higher plane had ever witnessed, and the entirety of Noah's organization was its target. Truth be told, Noah had long since steeled his resolve. He was ready to launch his attack and condemn the entirety of his organization to survive. He wouldn't even hesitate to do so, but he had a valuable alternative. The dark world materialized at Noah's side and expanded to engulf the area encircled by the offensive. Screeching noises resounded inside it as small creatures shot through the dark matter and attached themselves to the array of boulders. Noah retracted the dark world and allowed his companions to inspect the scene. An immense pack of black worms had landed on the boulders and had started to dig through their surface to eat their fabric. "June!" Noah shouted, and June knew what he meant. Clouds quickly covered the worms while they devoured the boulders. Thunders resounded through the black gas, and giant lightning bolts soon shot out of them. Each lightning bolt was a peak rank 9 attack, and some even threatened to surpass that limit. The inscriptions and weaker experts would crumble against them, but June made sure to attract all of them. Those involved with the Cursed Labyrinth recognized the worms even if their life inside Noah's dark world had partially altered their bodies. Those creatures could eat Heaven and Earth's materials and imitate their lightning bolts. Noah had never found the chance to use the worms while the sky was smooth and impenetrable. However, the array of boulders didn't carry the same structural stability, so the pack could take care of it and its threatening energy without causing any worldwide explosion. As for June, the similarities with Heaven and Earth's attack allowed her to absorb the lightning bolts without suffering any damage. Actually, the worms' offensive allowed her to fix some of the injuries that filled her body. Chapter 2353. Shock The ethereal version of Heaven and Earth's avatar inspected the dark clouds without showing any expression. The array of boulders was losing power due to the worms, and the attack appeared impossible to complete in that situation. Noah felt glad that Cursed Reality and the others had hidden something so valuable from Heaven and Earth's gaze. The rulers appeared speechless in front of the worms. They probably didn't expect their opponents to have that trump card. The array of boulders continued to lose power as the worms ate and expanded their domain. The number of lightning bolts leaving the clouds increased because of that, but June took care of them. Everything pointed in the direction of a prevented tragedy, but Noah didn't dare to underestimate Heaven and Earth. He remained in front of the ethereal avatar, ready to react to any unforeseen counterattack, and his companions imitated his stance. Heaven and Earth concluded their inspection of the worms quite quickly. Those creatures weren't complicated lifeforms, and Noah's influence didn't change that. They were annoying magical beasts born to eat the sky, but that didn't make them too dangerous. "You can't stop us," Heaven and Earth announced. "Not completely." The ethereal avatar didn't move, but another humming noise came out of the sky behind the blockage anyway. The sound altered the boulders' behavior and the flow of the energy inside them. The crystal energy inside the boulders started to gather in a spot behind the ethereal figure. The worms instinctively moved toward that rich area, but painful screeches resounded as soon as they entered its range. The meanings contained by the boulders went through some changes. Heaven and Earth reassembled and enhanced specific effects so that they could counter the worms. The worms in the transformed area ran away to escape that new influence, but many died in the process. That didn't change the overall threat posed by the pack, but it opened a path from which Heaven and Earth could attack. Heaven and Earth had sacrificed part of the energy inside the array to achieve the transformation, putting Noah in front of that terrifying attack once again. The accumulation of power resumed, and the white rays also changed their position to reinforce the boulders involved in the offensive. "You won't let us use this on the entire world," Heaven and Earth exclaimed. "We'll use it on you." Heaven and Earth's speech didn't consider the weaker experts in Noah's organization at all. They knew that an attack focused on Noah would probably kill most of his organization anyway, but they didn't care. As for Noah, he immediately acknowledged that his trump card had failed. The inscriptions and his weaker companions were in danger again, but he had countermeasures in that new situation. The offensive wouldn't come from every side anymore. It would retain the same power as before, but Noah could avoid creating an explosion that would kill his companions now. Noah retreated to reach an area between the clear spot among the black clouds and the inscriptions. The experts who had proven their worth in the final battle and were still able to fight gathered around him, and a defensive line soon formed. Alexander, Wilfred, and Supreme Thief were in no condition to join that offensive. The two hybrids needed to heal for a bit, while Supreme Thief had to disperse the tainting influence gathered during his interaction with the sky. Vesuvia also remained behind since her world couldn't do much in a battle of sheer power. The same went for the experts involved with the inscriptions since they were too exhausted to join the offensive. June couldn't do much in that situation either since she had to take care of the lightning bolts. Her presence would be greatly appreciated, but the entire organization would have to face the worms if she didn't remain in her place. Sepunia had the chance to leave the inscriptions to join the main team, and Cursed Reality also sent a series of yellowish items forward to help the face-off. Meanwhile, Noah and the others summoned their power to replicate something similar to their previous attack. The Eternal Snake charged forward without bothering about preparations, and its companions didn't stop that reckless charge. The creature pierced the ethereal avatar and headbutted the boulders, but the impact only destroyed part of its head. Of course, the Eternal Snake could endure far more than that, but the boulders didn't let it launch another attack. The crystal energy flowing through those materials reached the critical point and sucked dry the materials assaulted by the worms before unleashing its power. The Eternal Snake summoned as much ice as possible, but the torrent of energy released by the boulders pierced it anyway. The violent attack flew through the void until it reached Noah's group, and the experts were ready to welcome it. Teamwork and cooperation became pointless at that point. Heaven and Earth didn't do anything special. Their offensive was a mess of weaker worlds and laws fueled by crystal energy. It had no harmony, so their opponents could fight it with sheer might. Noah and the others attacked almost simultaneously, launching incredible attacks. Their abilities had only one rule. They didn't have to clash with each other. Everything else was allowed in that situation. The impact between the two attacks unleashed a circular shockwave that expanded through the void and reached the pack of worms. Those creatures were too frail to withstand that aftermath, so they crumbled into dust as soon as pressure landed on them. The pressure wasn't even linear. The shockwave soon expanded alongside the pack, destroying its clouds and the creatures inside them. The worms had been in the open for a mere minute, but the clash turned them extinct in an instant. The worms' death would typically give the rest of the array a chance to launch another attack. However, the exposed spot had drained the other boulders to perform its offensive, so the shockwave ended up turning the entire blockage into dust. The disappearance of the clouds freed June from her task, but she didn't have the chance to join the main offensive since the two attacks had already clashed. Nevertheless, shockwaves and violent consequences of the clash expanded through the void, and the inscriptions fell on their path. June didn't hesitate to turn her figure into a mass of energy that reopened many injuries and put her in a bad state. Her technique allowed her to launch multiple precise lightning bolts that destroyed any threat flying toward her weaker companions. The clash ended rather quickly, without revealing a clear winner. The two offensives stopped each other and dispersed once their energy reserves became empty. Gales made of dust took control of the higher plane during the aftermath, but they soon fell into the void and cleared the area. The experts' mental waves also stabilized enough to make them inspect their surroundings, but gasps quickly followed that event. Noah was one of the first to regain control of his senses. A ringing noise had taken control of his ears, and white patches hindered his vision, but his consciousness worked more than fine. The scene that materialized in Noah's mind as soon as his consciousness expanded generated a series of wild emotions that could be best summarized as utter confusion. The sight of the white sky didn't surprise him, but its features almost crushed his confidence. The sky stood proudly around the higher plane, but its appearance had slightly changed. It was brighter than before, and its smooth surface radiated a purity that Noah couldn't describe. Yet, the innate pressure radiated from the sky remained its most shocking feature. The white layer had lost its quasi-rank 10 features. It was a proper rank 10 structure now. Chapter 2354. Food Groans, gasps, and other sounds filled the areas. Heaven and Earth's attack had left most of the main team tired, with some experts in desperate need of rest. Yet, nothing could distract Noah from what had entered his consciousness. 'What?' Noah couldn't help but exclaim in his mind before flying forward. Noah's consciousness expanded far past its normal limits and allowed him to sense the entire higher plane. Every member of Heaven and Earth's army had disappeared. The higher plane now featured only his organization and that new sky. The emptiness of the higher plane wasn't enough to distract Noah either. He continued to fly forward until he arrived in front of the white layer. The sky didn't hide anything from him, but he still struggled to evaluate its power. Noah's instincts didn't cry in fear before the sky, but he still hesitated. He could feel the immense difference in power between him and the white layer. There was a high chance that his senses couldn't understand the type of danger it posed. Yet, as seconds passed, Noah realized that the sky wasn't only harmless. It was also motionless and silent. Its fabric didn't belong to a lifeform or a world. That white layer felt like nothing more than an inscribed item. 'Is it empty?' Noah wondered as he stretched his arm to touch the sky. The sensations that flowed through Noah's limb were impossible to describe. He could feel an amount of power far greater than the higher plane, and he also sensed that his mind couldn't see all of it. The meanings contained in the sky were another topic altogether. Noah recognized something vaguely familiar to what Heaven and Earth had summoned during the final battle, but his senses were mostly in the dark. His mind couldn't reach the depths touched by the white layer. 'What does this even mean?' Noah cursed in his mind. The matter was quite confusing. Noah didn't know how a mere item could contain such deep meanings, but he eventually threw those thoughts to the back of his consciousness. His mind might simply be unable to understand the type of lifeform that Heaven and Earth had become. "What does this even mean?" King Elbas voiced, announcing his presence near Noah. "I have no idea," Noah responded while more experts left their position to approach and study the sky. "Can-?" King Elbas tried to ask before interrupting himself. His gaze went on Noah before moving it to the rest of his companions, but his expression only showed helplessness. Noah could understand King Elbas' incomplete questions because similar thoughts ran through his mind. Noah's first instinct was to pierce the sky, but that urge vanished as soon as he touched it. The white layer was a proper rank 10 item. Rank 9 existences couldn't destroy it. "What about Heaven and Earth?" Alexander asked in a weak voice while multiple healing abilities worked on his injuries. "Heaven and Earth are dead!" A familiar voice resounded in the distance. The entirety of Noah's organization turned toward the source of the voice only to see a pale radiance coming out of the sky. Caesar and the other members of Heaven and Earth's army appeared in the void, but the process didn't end there. More and more patches of pale light appeared before the sky and teleported items into the world. Soon, planets, landmasses, and other types of planes filled the void and accumulated at its center. Noah couldn't believe his eyes. Some landmasses only had materials and living beings in the human ranks. Others barely met the requirements to be higher planes. There were even a few dead creatures among them, and their level spanned between the heroic and divine ranks. A sense of familiarity filled Noah, and he didn't need to think too hard to understand why. He had actually seen some of those planes before. They were the Mortal Lands and other landmasses that Heaven and Earth had imprisoned in their influence. "Heaven and Earth are dead!" Caesar repeated while stepping forward to separate himself from the rest of the army. "Congratulations. Your survival marks your victory in the final battle." "What exactly does that mean?" Noah asked, and growls mixed with his human voice. "It means exactly what I said," Caesar stated, revealing his iconic broad smile. "You won. You defeated Heaven and Earth." A black line suddenly ran through Caesar while connecting two opposites of the sky. The attack unleashed all its power on the marked area, so the weaker lands nearby didn't suffer any damage. Yet, the same went for Caesar. His body shattered into a white gas before reforming. "You can't hurt me," Caesar happily revealed. "I won't die as long as the sky stands." "What about your companions?" King Elbas threatened while summoning a mass of fake quasi-rank 10 energy in his right hand. "They…," Caesar uttered before glancing at his underlings and moving his gaze back to his opponents. "They will have to decide where to stand. Heaven and Earth made an exception, but that won't happen again." "How can they make an exception if they are dead?" Noah wondered. "You should have understood this by now?" Caesar teased. "You have some of the best experts when it comes to higher forms of energy. The jump to Heaven and Earth's situation isn't too long." Noah and King Elbas exchanged a glance before focusing back on the sky. Everything they knew about Heaven and Earth flowed through their minds, and understanding eventually dawned upon them. "Exactly," Caesar exclaimed as soon as he noticed understanding appearing on the experts' faces. "Heaven and Earth are the children of a single path. The breakthrough would have always been impossible if they didn't eliminate that flaw." Noah couldn't help but look at the sky again. The sensations from before were on point. The sky was nothing more than an item, but that wouldn't be true forever. "Death and rebirth," King Elbas commented. "Correct," Caesar declared. "The only way to cultivate as a being from two paths is to be born as one. Your efforts and Heaven and Earth's magnificence led us to this achievement. The rulers will die only to be reborn as the strongest type of rank 10 existence in the entire universe." Everything made sense now. Noah gained a complete understanding of the situation. Heaven and Earth had never planned to win. They had never even cared about the final battle. They had always worked to reach that phase. The struggles of Noah's organization had allowed Heaven and Earth to perfect their crystal energy. The severing of useless meanings had completed that procedure, pushing the rulers to their last state. Now, Heaven and Earth had the right fuel, so they only needed to be born again. The rebirth would remove any latent weakness and turn them into a new, powerful being powered only by their crystal energy. "What about these lands?" Noah asked. "They are food for Heaven and Earth's rebirth," Caesar explained. "What about us?" Noah wondered. "Rank 9 existences can live forever." "Theoretically," Caesar pointed out. "World can survive on their own, but the absence of trials and external inputs can wither them. It might take eras, but Heaven and Earth aren't in a hurry." The answer transformed inside Noah's mind. Caesar didn't explicitly say it, but Noah knew the truth. His entire organization and the lands inside the sky were nothing more than food now. Chapter 2355. Maybe Noah immediately came up with alternatives. Heaven and Earth might be indestructible in their current form, but there were other paths that could lead into the universe. His gaze went to the void as his body transformed into a sharp gust of energy that dived deep into the darkness. Space worked on multiple dimensions, so there could be paths outside Heaven and Earth's domain inside that blackness, but Noah soon found himself in front of a familiar wall. The journey through the void barely lasted a few seconds. Noah didn't even escape the range of his companions' senses when he found a white layer standing in front of him. Heaven and Earth had pushed everything touched by their influence inside the sky, so journeying through the void could offer a potential path toward the universe. The travel wouldn't be easy, and only rank 9 existences would be able to survive it, but the rulers had considered that option. The sky was slightly different in that location, but it retained its incredible level. Noah's understanding of space also allowed him to understand that the unusual features only came from the specific space-time array of the area. Exploring the other areas of the void became useless at that point. Noah knew that Heaven and Earth didn't limit themselves to a single place. The sky existed all around the higher plane and in every separate dimension. The rulers had locked any path that could lead to the universe. A feeling of defeat expanded in Noah's mind. He was lost and without ideas. His instincts and destructive thoughts were in the same situation. His organization had won, but the victory didn't arrive. 'Victory isn't victory,' Noah thought as he recalled Alabatia's words. Everything began to make sense. The last dots finally connected and showed the big picture to Noah. Many privileged cultivators had warned him throughout his journey, but he had never understood what they meant until now. Noah couldn't blame himself. Heaven and Earth had put the tenth rank in front of him. Even the best plans and preparations in the world couldn't do anything against that. Heaven and Earth had practically cheated. The final battle had always been rigged. Noah's organization could have fought multiple times better, but the outcome would have been the same. The sky would have still shown its rank 10 form sooner or later. Noah could only reunite with his companions at that point. His gaze ran through them, but he only saw the same sense of defeat that had taken control of his mind. Even the arrogant Eternal Snake couldn't muster the strength to speak. The creature had reappeared after enduring Heaven and Earth's last attack, but the sight of the rank 10 sky had killed any confidence it had. The situation was honestly worse for the Eternal Snake. The creature was a magical beast to its core, so it felt instinctive inferiority before the new sky. Its very species made it aware of the defeat. "Don't be too hard on yourselves," Caesar announced while stepping farther away from his underlings. "You have exceeded Heaven and Earth's expectations. You have pushed your power farther than any other rebel. Take pride in your achievement and wither in peace." "What's your endgame?" Noah asked. "How do you fit in Heaven and Earth's grand scheme?" Caesar laughed and spread his arms. Crystals came out of his figure before returning under his skin. A faint trace of Heaven and Earth power flowed through his body, but that also disappeared quickly. "An avatar," Noah commented. ꜰʀᴇᴇ ᴡᴇʙ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ. ᴄᴏᴍ "Indeed," Caesar exclaimed. "Heaven and Earth will become the strongest type of rank 10 existence in the universe, and I'll be their avatar. Once they take over the paths, I'll be able to envelop the universe in my fate. I'll be infinite and eternal." "I bet Heaven and Earth had plans for the others too," Noah stated. "Not everyone," Caesar explained without bothering to glance at his companions. "Only a few loyal experts were aware of the big picture." "And Heaven and Earth are asking them to decide now," Noah continued. "I guess the offer stands for my organization too." "Correct," Caesar confirmed. "You can join the sky if you wish, but not as part of Heaven and Earth. Your worlds aren't necessary anymore. You'll turn into partially mindless avatars, but you'll be alive." The Eternal Snake snorted when it heard those words, but it didn't attack. The magical beast turned to fly toward one of the best lands it could find and settled on it. The creature wouldn't join Heaven and Earth, but its interest in the rebellion had vanished. The event only intensified the sense of defeat in the experts' minds. Many decided to go back to the inscriptions to rest or isolate themselves. Their thoughts were messy since both options would lead to their demise. Noah glanced at the group of privileged cultivators behind Caesar. Marcella showed confidence, but her companions appeared conflicted. Decumia kept her head lowered while the weaker experts studied each other, hoping to find answers in their allies' faces. Caesar didn't specify what the privileged cultivators would become, but their expressions revealed a lot. Heaven and Earth were probably ready to cast them away if they didn't choose to become mere servants. It seemed that only Marcella had received a valuable offer. "What's the matter with you?" Marcella asked when she noticed Decumia's behavior. "You knew what this goal involved." "Yes," Decumia responded while finally lifting her head. "I thought I could be happy as long as I could spread my chaos through the universe." "You can still get that chance," Marcella explained. "Hurry up before it's too late." Marcella wasn't talking about Heaven and Earth. She was worried that Noah and the others would vent their frustration on her companions. Decumia would die if she didn't accept the rulers' offer. "I have doubts," Decumia admitted. "We won as planned," Marcella snorted. "Divine Architect should have survived," Decumia responded. "That was part of the plan." "Our opponents surpassed our expectations," Marcella declared. "That doesn't change the outcome." "They have surpassed them once," Decumia whispered before turning toward her underlings. The few surviving privileged cultivators were extremely confused. Only a couple of them knew about Heaven and Earth's plan, but Noah's ambition had given birth to reasonable doubts and desires. The privileged cultivators didn't know what to think anymore. They had seen the true core of the journey, but the scenery hinted at its defeat. Noah almost felt like a natural ally due to his mindset, but Heaven and Earth had defeated him. Noah lost interest in Caesar and the privileged cultivators during that conversation. He had a complete vision of the situation, but he lacked answers. The many lifeforms on the new lands in the higher plane eventually attracted his attention, and he found himself inspecting them while his mind wandered. It felt nostalgic to see environments rich in life. Noah's landmass had recreated that scenery, but he knew it was artificial. Instead, the Mortal Lands and planes stuffed inside the sky offered a natural and harmonious scene that triggered many valuable memories. Millennia had passed since the events of the Mortal Lands. Noah couldn't even count them, but they felt to belong to a different life, a life where the white sky wasn't part of his problems. The living beings roaming through those lands were mostly unaware of Heaven and Earth's victory. Many even lacked the intellect or cultivation level to realize that a rank 10 structure stood around them. Their innocence was almost heartwarming and forced a sigh out of Noah's mouth. 'The sky must contain its pressure or lack it altogether,' Noah thought as he brought his attention back to the sky. 'None of those lands would survive its presence otherwise.' Noah approached the sky to touch it again. His senses didn't lie to him. He didn't have the power to pierce that material. The entirety of the rank 9 existences in the higher plane wouldn't hurt it even if they decided to work together. A faint, almost imperceptible thought eventually appeared in Noah's mind. The idea immediately vanished, but Noah didn't miss it. His gaze promptly went back to the various lands, and countless calculations happened. 'Maybe,' Noah thought, and as power filled his figure and generated a massive slash that crashed on the sky. Chapter 2356. Help The attack filled all the experts in Noah's organization with hope. Their leader didn't give up. There could be a path that their inferior minds couldn't see. Yet, their despair returned once the slash vanished. Noah's attack had been stronger than before. He had strived for an even superior level of power due to the empowerment provided by his recent success. However, the sky didn't carry any trace of that event. Noah couldn't even make it shake. Caesar sighed and shook his head before retreating toward his allies. Some of Noah's companions did the same as they flew toward the new lands or inscriptions. That single attack had been the last proof they needed. Nothing and no one in the higher plane could pierce the sky. The outcome didn't demoralize Noah. His face lost any trace of emotion and revealed only coldness as he lifted his arms again to launch another attack. An even bigger slash crashed on the sky. The attack seemed to express the utter peak of the ninth rank and the best aspects of Noah's world. It ran in a straight line for more than half of the white layer. Nevertheless, the sky didn't move or shake, and the dispersion of the slash even revealed its perfectly intact surface. Noah's attack had been pointless once again, proving how his power couldn't touch that realm. Noah truly didn't care about the outcome. His arms shot upward again, and another slash fell on the sky. The attack was even bigger than before but led to the same results. "Your resolve is commendable," Caesar declared from a distance, "But you should understand when it's time to give up." Caesar's words reached Noah's ears but didn't enter his mind. Noah completely ignored the privileged cultivator as he launched an even stronger slash. His power was increasing, becoming more effective with each exchange, but the sky didn't budge. Noah pressed on even when most of his companions had left the sky to settle on the various lands. He appeared entirely captivated by his task. Only the white layer existed in his mind, and that determination pushed his power even further. King Elbas remained near Noah during that offensive. He inspected each slash that crashed on the sky, and part of him even marveled at their increasing might. Still, the scene didn't change his opinion. Noah wasn't actually getting stronger. He wasn't accomplishing any feat, so his world didn't expand. He was simply getting better at expressing his power, but that process had clear limits, and the sky wouldn't budge even at that point. "Noah," King Elbas called, but Noah ignored his companion. His world depleted potential as more attacks left his figure, but he didn't care. Only the sky existed in his mind. "Noah, enough," King Elbas called again. "Caesar is right." Noah couldn't hear King Elbas. His entire being had turned into a machine built only to launch slashes. His attacks strived toward perfection as he continued to unleash them, but the sky didn't care. Its realm was too distant for that tiny ant. "Noah!" King Elbas eventually shouted, teleporting before Noah and unleashing a sea of golden flames that blocked the path toward the sky. However, a black slash shot out of Noah, pierced the golden sea, and landed on the sky anyway. The power that reached the white layer couldn't match the previous offensive due to the hindrance of the flames, but Noah didn't seem to care. "You'll only shorten your life like this!" King Elbas pointed out, condensing his sea into a fiery spear that he aimed at Noah. "So what?" Noah asked while another slash flew past King Elbas and landed on the sky. "What's your great plan?" "We have materials and time," King Elbas explained. "I can come up with something." "Don't lie to yourself," Noah snorted while launching another slash. King Elbas felt invisible. Noah was attacking the sky, uncaring of the conversation. He didn't even want to discuss the topic, but King Elbas didn't have valuable answers. The plan to use the new materials had multiple flaws. King Elbas' ability couldn't make him reach the tenth rank, and most of the new planes were Mortal Lands. They would burn before he achieved some form of enlightenment. Still, the nature of the plan didn't make King Elbas completely wrong. He was right about Noah, and he couldn't leave him in that state when his organization desperately needed him. "Stop," King Elbas threatened as his spear brightened, "Or I'll stop you." Noah didn't answer. He launched another slash and gathered potential once again. In his mind, the conversation with King Elbas had already ended. "Did you lose your mind?" King Elbas shouted. "Do you think you can destroy a rank 10 item all by yourself?" "Help me then!" Noah growled without halting his offensive. The growl expressed mostly coldness, but King Elbas recognized different feelings behind all of that. Noah's anger, pride, and determination were still there. King Elbas frowned. He had initially believed that the defeat had been too hard on Noah. Any expert could go crazy after suffering such a major blow to their confidence. The event would even be reasonable in Noah's case due to how much he had invested in the final battle. Yet, the growl revealed something different. King Elbas couldn't consider Noah crazy anymore after hearing that order, but he couldn't explain the reason behind that determination. King Elbas' gaze fell on the new lands as he searched for answers, and scanners even came out of his body to help him. Slashes continued to fly past him to reach the sky, but his inspection never stopped. Noah had yet to give up, and he had to understand why. Countless calculations happened in King Elbas' mind. He performed hundreds of simulations, but all of them led nowhere. The issue wasn't in the potential power of the higher plane. He simply didn't know the limits of a rank 10 item. King Elbas eventually glanced at the sky before focusing back on Noah. His eyes shone, but that glow quickly disappeared. Part of him understood Noah's intentions. King Elbas couldn't call that a plan, but it was better than nothing. Another slash fell on the sky, and a loud explosion of fake quasi-rank 10 energy soon followed. King Elbas had left his position to start a personal assault on a different area of the white layer. He didn't exchange words with Noah, but that didn't matter. He knew what he had to do. "And here I thought you were really considering withering away as an option," Divine Demon laughed as he positioned himself in another area of the higher plane to start a personal assault on the sky. "We are still alive," Alexander stated as he imitated his companions. "No point stopping now." "Don't you dare leave me behind!" The Foolery squealed as it joined the offensive. June limited herself to a snort, but she also approached the sky to launch her assault. Soon, more and more members of the core team reached the edges of the higher plane to summon their best attacks. The entire white layer was the target, and Noah's organization had enough experts for the task. Caesar shook his head at that scene. The sole idea that a joint assault could work against a rank 10 material was simply ludicrous. The tenth rank would lose value if it could actually lose. Nevertheless, Decumia and the privileged cultivators affected by Noah's ambition saw the situation differently. They could sense something faint building up inside the higher plane, but that force remained too weak to clear their minds. **** Author's notes: Shoutout to Ian337 for the Magic castle! Chapter 2357. Life "What are they trying to accomplish?" Marcella wondered. The offensive had never stopped. Actually, more experts had left the array of inscriptions to join the assault on the sky. Noah didn't give orders or explanations, but a small army of rank 9 experts had gathered anyway. "The defeat broke them," Caesar sighed. "Their obsession has long since overcome the realm of insanity. They wouldn't have reached their current level otherwise. Yet, that incredible quality turned into a flaw now." Noah and his companions launched a relentless offensive, uncaring of their draining worlds or the injuries they suffered. Alexander, Wilfred, and other experts barely had the time to heal, but they had still jumped into the frontlines to join the assault. June couldn't reset her Perfect Circuit, so the energy she released hurt her body. However, that didn't stop her, and the same went for all the companions in a similar situation. Caesar was right. Noah didn't explain anything or give orders. Yet, his efforts naturally unleashed ambition that carried his intentions. His influence told a story to anyone willing to hear it, and many minds decided to fall for those tempting words. The ambition didn't stop at the array of inscriptions. It enveloped the entire higher plane, seeping into the Mortal Lands and corpses that had occupied the world. Noah's influence forced everything to improve quickly, but it also conveyed his innate desire to strive for higher levels of power. The beings in the human ranks didn't know anything about Heaven and Earth, and the same went for many in the heroic ranks. Most of those lifeforms couldn't even see as far as the sky, and the void between them remained a deadly zone they couldn't traverse. However, even the void changed while the offensive continued. The appearance of new lands quickened the fixing of the space-time array proper of the higher plane, and a black atmosphere eventually formed. A chunk of the higher plane remained immersed in the void. After all, Noah and the others were unleashing incredible attacks that could shatter any weak space-time fabric. Nevertheless, they instinctively focused most of their destructive power on the sky, which spared the world from their might. The scene was incredible from the perspective of the weaker beings. They had teleported inside the higher plane only to appear in front of a colorful spectacle. They couldn't actually see Noah and the others, but some flares and flashes reached their atmospheres and created wonders in their worlds. The incredible scene only enhanced the effects of Noah's ambition. More and more living beings began to feel a pulling force drawing them toward the distant sky, but none of them could explain that urge. Noah didn't plan to have that effect on the world. He was merely going all-out, and each attack pushed him closer to a perfect form that could express the best version of himself. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ꜰʀᴇᴇ ᴡᴇʙ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ. ᴄᴏᴍ Noah's desire to seize higher forms of power wasn't reasonable. That feeling was an unstoppable urge that had led him into the greatest battlefield the higher plane could ever create. The beings immersed in his influence were only experiencing part of that immense passion. "What a reckless power," Caesar commented once the army gathered before the sky grew far more numerous. "There is nothing more dangerous than blind ambition." "Will Heaven and Earth be fine?" Marcella asked. "Do you think they can defeat the sky by amassing enough ants?" Caesar wondered. "I'm talking about their energy," Marcella pointed out. "Many will exhaust themselves to death if they keep this up." "Heaven and Earth don't need them," Caesar explained. "These rebels are nothing more than a quick meal for their awakening. It will save them the trouble of roaming the universe in search of something suitable." Marcella nodded and let go of the matter. Everything worked as long as the rebirth succeeded. As for Noah and the others, she had already lost interest in them. The assault continued, and the ambition intensified until many rank 8 existences decided to leave their homes to join Noah and the others. They understood what was at stake there, and Noah's influence convinced them that dying fighting was far better than slowly withering away. The addition of more people in the assault only reinforced the ambition inside the higher plane, and it didn't take long before many rank 7 existences joined the offensive. The sky's lack of pressure allowed even weaker experts to stand in front of it, so they found no real reason to remain behind. That trend stopped at some point. Most divine beings had joined the assault, but that seemed to be it. Many lifeforms in the heroic and human ranks had no connection with Noah's cause, and his tempting ambition couldn't force them to abandon the safety of their homes. Of course, those weaker beings were unaware that their fate was doomed either way. Remaining behind or consuming themselves during the assault would lead to the same conclusion. Every natural resource would eventually vanish, and even the stronger worlds would wither after entire eras spent without achievements. Time flowed without providing any change in the scenery. Years went by, but the experts involved in the offensive didn't increase. Life thrived on the lands, entire organizations appeared and fell, and legends started to spread. The presence of Noah's ambition accelerated the breakthrough of many weaker beings. Some became strong enough to leave their homes and make the journey toward the sky in search of higher forms of fuel. They all discovered that the world had an invisible force that made the journey easier and safer. Those beings didn't know why, but the very higher plane seemed to want them to reach the sky. Some of those beings managed to get in touch with experts belonging to Noah's time during their journeys. They heard stories about Heaven and Earth and the overall fate of the world, but they struggled to believe them. Those beings honestly weren't to blame for their lack of trust. The fact that their whole reality was nothing more than a lifeless trap was simply unacceptable. However, those thoughts changed once they managed to get a proper sight of the offensive. Needless to say, chaos spread through the higher plane. Those weaker beings returned to their homes and told what they had witnessed. Many didn't believe them, and wars happened as different ideologies clashed. Noah was unaware of those changes. His thoughts existed for the sole purpose of destroying the sky. He was perfecting himself as potential appeared and vanished. He was turning himself into a worthy weapon, but his world was much more than that, and the higher plane benefitted from his improvements. The weaker beings who believed in the stories about Heaven and Earth gained greater benefits from Noah's ambition. They didn't realize that, but part of their minds had already accepted Noah as a leader. The innate advantage granted by Noah's ambition allowed those beings to overcome their opponents and win wars. Many organizations that shared the same mindset and purpose came to life and even more changed when they interacted with the beings living in the golden inscriptions. New schools appeared, and newborns started to fill the lands. The natural resources diminished, but the whole world slowly unified under a single banner. Meanwhile, Noah's ambition continued to intensify. **** Author's notes: Shoutout to Kabbourim for the Spacecraft! Chapter 2358. Tremor Noah didn't know that, but he had already overcome his previous achievement. He had united what remained of the higher plane under a single banner to fight Heaven and Earth, and the same happened during the relentless offensive. Yet, his influence had unified multiple Mortal Lands at that time. The scene was truly spectacular, but Caesar remained unfazed. Noah had pushed every being previously contained in Heaven and Earth's influence to evolve according to his ambition. The event filled Noah with potential, but he didn't notice that change. As the new organizations expanded, new experts started to join the offensive. Heroes of lands far inferior to the higher plane left their homes to complete the journey through the world and reach the sky. The army before the sky finally resumed its growth, and Noah's ambition intensified in the process. Every new expert joining the assault seemed to add power to his innate influence, and the world improved because of that. Noah's influence became so thick that the very space-time array transformed. The world was already helping the weaker experts during their journey toward the sky, but it slowly gained a new resilience as the army grew. The new resilience shrunk the areas occupied by the void and allowed the weaker experts to stand closer to the sky. The lands also became able to expand their atmosphere in that space-time array, granting the chance to creatures in the heroic and human ranks to explore more of the world. The changes didn't end there. As the years passed, the space-time array created safe areas near the sky that shielded the weaker experts from the violent energy released by superior existences. Soon, even heroic beings could join the offensive without risking death in the process. The Eternal Snake eventually became unable to stand that sight. It left its domain to approach the sky, and many new members of its species followed. The creature had expanded its pack during those years, but those magical beasts were now part of the joint offensive. That trend never stopped. Every newborn born in the higher plane developed an innate knowledge of the situation and understood its higher role. The magical beasts disregarded their innate aggression to push themselves toward that universal purpose. The humans and hybrids put aside their differences to learn from each other and work together. New species meant to counter the sky appeared, and their mutations soon became a common sight in the higher plane. Their birth only accelerated the overall growth of those weaker lands and partially compensated for the withering natural resources. The lands as a whole grew weaker. That process was unavoidable due to the increased number of lifeforms appearing in their environments, but Noah's ambition somehow delayed their death. It seemed that the very ground wanted to do its part in providing as many resources as possible. The privileged cultivators could see how Noah's ambition had long since started to overcome its structural limits. That influence didn't affect pure materials anymore. Noah had managed to turn the very higher plane on his side. The space-time array, the many new lands, and anything else inside the sky evolved in a specific direction. The world wanted to see the sky fall, and the join offensive was its only available weapon. "Enough with this," Decumia announced when the first being in the human rank crossed the world to reach the sky and join the offensive. "What are you doing?" Marcella promptly asked when she saw Decumia stepping forward. "The world needs my chaos," Decumia declared before teleporting to an available spot of the joint offensive to begin her assault on the sky. "Fool," Caesar sighed, but he didn't do anything to stop his companion. It was within Decumia's rights to pick a side. Marcella studied Caesar's uncaring face for a few seconds before moving her gaze back to the higher plane. She couldn't completely blame Decumia. The sight was truly spectacular. Noah clearly was the best rank 9 existence in the world, but his opponent remained a rank 10 item. Decumia's departure didn't go unnoticed, but the experts busy with the assault didn't say anything about the matter. However, her decision intensified the privileged cultivators' doubts, and some eventually decided to step forward to fight the sky. Only a few privileged cultivators had to leave before the entirety of that group joined the assault on the sky. Marcella and Caesar remained alone, but they didn't say anything. Caesar radiated pure confidence, while Marcella was utterly captivated by the scenery. Years continued to flow, but the trend never stopped. The world gave birth to lifeforms that evolved with a sole purpose. Noah's ambition only intensified as his army grew, and the lands soon started to change too. Heaven and Earth had initially stuffed all their Mortal Lands and planes at the center of their cage, but they had unified into a single landmass in the following years. Yet, that wasn't the end of it. As the migration toward the sky continued, the lands stretched toward the white layer to help their weaker children fulfill their purpose. The landmass transformed into a spiked mess of immense lands that offered environments right before the sky. That allowed many beings in the human ranks to join the assault without giving up on their lives, granting constant growth to the army without sacrificing the overall birthrate. The natural resources obviously suffered during that trend, and Noah's ambition soon became unable to keep up with that issue. Those lands were doomed no matter how intense his influence became. It all began with a single patch of dry land. The ground in that spot lost too much energy and transformed into powerless dust that vanished into the higher plane. That issue occurred more often until entire flourishing environments transformed into dried lands that crumbled under their own weight. Big chunks of the new world vanished, but the feeding process never stopped. Dying was worth it as long as the newborns could pursue their goals. The process continued until the central parts of the new world completely vanished, leaving behind only the spikes that had stretched toward the sky. The array of inscriptions sent power in every direction to delay that shattering, but its energy reserves also ended at some point. The giant spikes crumbled too. Nothing could stop that destruction. The world was on the verge of exhausting its natural resources, but no one in the army cared. Only the sky existed in their mind, and they wouldn't stop until it crumbled. The disappearance of natural resources would typically give birth to a bloodbath. The stronger beings would kill those under them to secure energy that could increase their survival chances. However, nothing similar happened even after the last patch of land vanished in the vastness of the higher plane. Except for Marcella and Caesar, every living being inside the sky became part of the joint assault at that point. Even the weakest rank 1 worm launched attacks toward the sky in an attempt to open a path toward the universe. Caesar didn't say anything, but Marcella faltered inside her mind. She started to believe that the universe had to be utterly unfair to allow such a majestic effort to fail. Something told her that Noah deserved the tenth rank more than Heaven and Earth. Then, something spectacular happened. Attacks fell on the sky as usual, but the latter didn't stay still. A tremor ran through its surface and released a thudding noise that spread through the entirety of the higher plane. Chapter 2359. Fall Noah had long since stopped thinking. Thoughts barely flowed inside his mind. He was completely unaware of all the changes that had happened in the higher plane. He didn't even know how long had passed since the beginning of the assault. However, the tremor that ran through the sky worked like a switch that reactivated every function in Noah's existence. He suddenly became aware of the new state of the higher plane, and he even sensed all the new assets who had joined the assault. The rest of the army experienced similar emotions. The offensive had continued for so long that most experts had shut their minds to maximize their power output. Yet, the tremor awakened all of them. The thudding noise spread through the higher plane and forced the assault to a stop. The sky had finally moved. The world had created something that could affect a rank 10 material, and the event naturally gave birth to a wave of shock that took control of every expert. Still, countless destructive thoughts filled Noah's mind and made him aware of the next necessary step. The army couldn't stop now. He couldn't give the sky any time to breathe, so a deafening roar promptly left his mouth. The volume of the roar almost shocked Noah. He didn't expect it to be so loud, but the new space-time array transformed it and made it safe to hear even for the weaker creatures in the army. The roar carried different meanings. Some saw it as a simple order. Others experienced a complete awakening of their powers under its might. The event was even more shocking for the beings that had never heard Noah's voice. They felt as if their very cores had finally found their true home. Nevertheless, no matter what effects the roar had, every member of the army resumed the assault with a newfound rhythm. The offensive found instinctive coordination under Noah's order, and that wasn't the end of it. The assault had been almost robotic until now. Every expert in the army simply launched their best techniques before gathering power and launching more attacks. No real emotion filled those abilities. Only Noah's ambition found its place there since it slowly enhanced everything. However, that changed after Noah roared. Pure and selfless fury seeped into the worldwide offensive, and countless cries even started to resound among the entire army. "More!" Noah couldn't help but roar again. Noah's destruction fused with his anger and the other violent aspects of his world before seeping into his voice. The feelings conveyed by the roar became an infective influence that took over his companions and pushed them toward higher forms of power. A few exchanges had to start and end before a second tremor ran through the sky. That miraculous event happened again, but no one stopped at that time. Noah only roared again to imbue the army with more fury. Caesar was speechless, but his confidence still held strong. Noah had made the entire higher plane surpass his expectations, but a mere tremor didn't mean anything, especially now that the army couldn't grow more numerous. Yet, the lack of natural resources didn't stop the army from growing stronger. The entire world helped Noah spread his ambition and fury, intensifying their effects and giving birth to natural power-ups. The process continued until every exchange gave birth to new power-ups. The army improved after each attack, and the trembling sky soon became a common sight. "Amazing," Marcella couldn't help but comment once the sky forgot about its motionless version, but the surprises had just begun. A shattering noise eventually resounded through the higher plane. The assault didn't stop to inspect the event, but Noah saw it clearly. A tiny dent had appeared in an area of the sky above him. Another roar left Noah's mouth. His cry explained the event to the whole army, which added fury to the overall assault. Soon, more dents appeared on the sky, and a proper crack formed at some point. "This can't be real," Caesar muttered as his smile finally vanished. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ ꜰʀᴇᴇ ᴡᴇʙ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ. ᴄᴏᴍ ᴏɴʟʏ. Of course, the offensive was far outside Caesar's grasp. He couldn't affect it at all. He could only watch as more and more cracks appeared on something supposed to become the best type of rank 10 existence in the universe. Losses inevitably happened during the offensive. Noah's influence was empowering everyone, but his power was no replacement for the natural resources. Many creatures in the human ranks attacked until their whole bodies dissolved into clouds that disappeared into the higher plane. The beings in the heroic ranks didn't escape that fate, and the same went for the divine experts. Noah's core team wasn't an exception. Wilfred had suffered significant injuries during the fight against Heaven and Earth, and the worldwide assault didn't give him any chance to heal. Still, he never stopped attacking, and he even managed to launch his best technique yet while his body and world crumbled into dust. Vesuvia's world had never been battle-oriented, and the scenery in her vision already depicted the essence of her existence. She launched a few more attacks, but she eventually wore a smile and let herself disappear. Similar scenes happened everywhere in the army. Experts and creatures of various levels died and disappeared while putting everything they had into some last attacks. Those deaths didn't weaken the overall assault. Noah's ambition was always there to bring more power to each attack, so the shattering of the destruction of the sky continued. The first deep fissures appeared, and they expanded while experts continued to sacrifice themselves for that higher goal. The whole world had achieved inhumane selflessness, and Caesar could only remain speechless in front of that scene. Eventually, a hole that connected the insides of the higher plane to the universe formed, but the army didn't find any satisfaction in that achievement. The worldwide assault continued, and more of those channels formed inside the sky. Unstable properties took over the entire white layer. Its structural stability vanished, leaving only its sheer power in charge of keeping it together. Still, the army overcame that issue too, and giant holes soon opened inside the sky. The path toward the universe was finally in sight, but the assault didn't stop. Noah wouldn't let it end there. Massive cracks expanded from the deep holes and connected to each other to create proper canyons. The smooth state of the sky became a distant memory, and everything ended when the first shard finally fell. Noah halted his offensive, and the rest of the army instinctively imitated him. A tiny shard left the sky and fell toward the center of the higher plane, but more followed. In the end, the entire structure fell apart and released massive boulders. Many experts and creatures in the army lacked the power to avoid the boulders. Those beings ended up squashed under their weight, and the same happened to the new space-time array. The void took over the higher plane as the entire sky fell to converge at its center. The white layer finally abandoned the position it had occupied for many eras and transformed into lifeless lands that gave birth to a new landmass. Many boulders didn't have the chance to fuse into a single plane and vanished into the void, but a new home formed anyway. The army saw the birth of a new landmass free from Heaven and Earth's oppressive influence. The new landmass didn't have plants or lifeforms, but it stood in the middle of the universe without cages. It was a home that could thrive without worrying about the threatening sky standing above it. The scene generated tears among the army, but Noah and the major experts didn't have time for that. Their attention was on an ethereal crystal that had remained behind while the rest of the sky had fallen. All of them could sense pure rank 10 energy coming out of the item, and cold smiles inevitably appeared on their faces. Chapter 2360. Hunt The ethereal crystal was clearly some type of core that Heaven and Earth had nurtured. It even carried resemblances with the energy they had tried to concoct during the final battle, but the major experts in the army recognized it for what it was. Magical beasts had bodies, and hybrids and cultivators had worlds. Every lifeform that walked on the journey toward power eventually developed cores, and the shattering of the sky had revealed Heaven and Earth's one. Nevertheless, unlike worlds and other types of centers of power, Heaven and Earth's core didn't carry any innate influence. The rulers had been technically dead since they had strived for a complete rebirth, so their existence contained nothing more than energy and knowledge. There was no other way to put it. The fall of the sky had allowed the appearance of a rank 10 resource ready for the taking. Almost everyone looking at it realized that breakthroughs would be possible if they absorbed its contents. Yet, only a few experts could join that hunt. Noah could sense the many deaths that his army had experienced. Lifelong friends had died, and the time to mourn them and drink in their honor would come, but he had something else to do now, and he wasn't alone. King Elbas' eyes lit up at the sight of the ethereal item. A rank 10 material full of energy and knowledge was within his range, and his very being was begging him to seize it. Supreme Thief was no different. He was born for that moment. He had founded his world on that task, and he could finally show that he was the best at it. The rest of Noah's main team experienced similar reactions, but they weren't the only ones. Many privileged cultivators had survived the assault and felt deep ownership toward Heaven and Earth's core. After all, they had served for far too long. Caesar and Marcella were in the same situation. Their confidence had crumbled, but the existence of a rank 10 core could fix that issue. They only had to seize that incredible item. No one dared to move. The experts interested in the item knew that a mere gesture could give birth to a bloodbath, and no one wanted to fall in the first wave of attacks. Many gazes fell on Noah, King Elbas, and their companions. Those experts had caused the fall of the sky, so everyone preferred for them to kill each other. The weaker existences wouldn't have a chance otherwise. "The time has come," Noah announced. "We knew it would have been like this," King Elbas stated. "Weaklings should retreat now if they don't want to die in the aftermath," Supreme Thief exclaimed. "Why don't you start by stepping away?" Divine Demon teased. "I will never retreat in front of food!" The pig squealed. "Oh my," Divine Demon laughed. "Everyone wants to be a demon now." Everyone fell silent at that point. The experts set on seizing the ethereal crystal prepared their energy for the imminent clash. Tension spread in the area and shattered the few leftovers of the space-time array. The hunt was about to start. The tension became too heavy for the weaker experts. The privileged cultivators were the first to shoot forward. The group didn't exchange words, but silent teamwork formed. They would work together as long as the ethereal crystal fell in their hands. However, Alexander's gory figure materialized on their path and forced them to halt their sprint. The privileged cultivators didn't know what he wanted, especially in that condition, but he didn't hesitate to explain his stance. "Don't even think about it," Alexander announced before interrupting his line to cough some blood. "There is only one being worthy of that resource." Meanwhile, the other experts involved in the hunt also shot forward, and Noah soon fell into the lead. His power had reached unfathomable heights during the offensive, and his incredible speed proved that. Marcella managed to gain some ground since her condition was almost perfect, but an expert materialized on her path and forced her to stop. She remained speechless at the sight of her old companion, but she also understood her. "We don't deserve it," Decumia exclaimed. "We'll see about that," Marcella snorted. "Marcella, Heaven and Earth lost," Decumia pointed out. "Seizing that core would only prolong that failure." "I can do better than them!" Marcella shouted. "Yes, you can," Decumia agreed. "You can now that our enemies freed us." Marcella had started to summon her energy, but that fuel dispersed. Helplessness filled her entire being as her gaze fell on the hunt. Every inch of her body wished to be part of the assault, but she knew she had missed her chance. Noah flew undisturbed until a series of lightning bolts gathered before him and generated June's figure. Her condition was awful. Countless injuries filled her world and body, but her eyes shone with pure battle intent. June didn't need to say anything. Noah understood her intentions perfectly. Lightning bolts came out of her Perfect Circuit and added injuries to her body, but all that power suddenly vanished. "Fight me!" June shouted when Noah used that chance to surpass her. "We'll have plenty of time for that," Noah whispered while pressing forward, but it didn't take long for an azure figure to appear at his side. "Do you really think you can beat me in a stealing challenge?" Supreme Thief asked while flying side by side with Noah. Noah was ready to attack, but a blood-red radiance suddenly fell on the area and forced Supreme Thief to slow down. Noah used that chance to accelerate even further, but he didn't miss how Divine Demon materialized above Supreme Thief and sat on his head. "What are you doing?!" Supreme Thief shouted. "How is this worthy of a demon?!" "It would be unbecoming to steal from my heir," Divine Demon explained. "Besides, I have no interest in that item. You are the same, am I right?" Sword Saint teleported next to Divine Demon and pointed a sharp mass of silver energy at Supreme Thief's throat. Blades also appeared in the area and made Supreme Thief's escape impossible. "He is so fast," Sword Saint sighed while keeping his attention on Noah. "His blade is faster than mine." "We are just letting him go ahead," Divine Demon laughed while materializing three cups of wine that floated toward the experts. "Indeed," Sword Saint whispered while grabbing his cup. "The path is still long. We'll catch up with him." Supreme Thief wanted to struggle, but he eventually settled for the wine. He could probably break free of the hindrances, but Noah had already gotten too far for him. Noah flew freely, using everything in his world to push himself closer to the ethereal crystal, but he had to stop when a sea of golden flames exploded in front of him. "Do you have any idea how long I've waited for this moment?" King Elbas' voice came out of the flames as the sea condensed to form his flaring quasi-rank 10 body. "Don't die," Noah warned as he raised both arms. "I was about to say that," King Elbas scoffed while conjuring a fiery spear that sucked him dry of all his fake quasi-rank 10 power. A golden torrent of energy and an immense slash clashed among the void. The impact surpassed anything witnessed during the worldwide assault. There seemed to be two quasi-rank 10 beings fighting each other in that corner of the universe, and the dispersion of the chaos didn't reveal a clear winner. King Elbas and Noah reappeared in their respective positions once their attacks dispersed. The lack of injuries hinted at a draw, but a black mark eventually materialized at the center of King Elbas' chest and threatened to infect his flames. King Elbas quickly cut away the infected flames, but Noah used that chance to surpass him. Still, King Elbas set his world on fire again to achieve the fake quasi-rank 10 state and pointed his arm at the flying Noah. "Our battle is far from over!" King Elbas shouted as flames gathered in his palm to give birth to the spear, but he suddenly lost control of that massive energy. The spear crumbled into a series of flames that flowed toward a distant spot on King Elbas' left. The expert turned only to see a fuming figure charging at him while munching the golden fire. "Xavieeer!" The Foolery shouted while absorbing all the fake quasi-rank 10 flames and crashing on his companion. "What are you doing, you stupid pig?!" King Elbas complained and tried to summon his technique again, but the Foolery ate any energy that tried to go beyond the ninth rank. "Didn't you want to get the crystal?" King Elbas continued while failing to push away the Foolery. "But I would become too strong for you if I got it," The Foolery explained before licking King Elbas' head. "And I don't want you to get too strong either. I wouldn't be able to tease you otherwise." Noah ignored the funny events happening behind him as he pressed forward. He was almost there. He could already feel the ethereal crystal in his grasp, but a last opponent managed to appear on his path. "That doesn't belong to you!" Caesar shouted. "I've seen it in my fate. I'll expand until the entire universe falls under my power." "Your fate is already broken," Noah coldly remarked before transforming into a piercing slash that flew right through Caesar. Caesar couldn't understand what had happened. Noah had been too fast for his senses. Yet, he soon noticed that a hole had appeared on his torso. Its edges even expanded, and nothing in Caesar's power seemed able to stop it. Caesar turned in time to see Noah materializing next to the crystal and throwing it into his mouth. Some curiosity appeared in Caesar's mind at that point, but it was already too late for him. The hole continued to expand until his whole body disappeared and his consciousness turned dark. **** Author's notes: You probably know this already. The next chapter will also be the last. Chapter 2361. Staircase Immense knowledge accumulated for many eras, an unfathomable amount of energy, and countless meanings that never had the chance to be reborn flowed through Noah's world. Everything felt too much for a rank 9 mind, but the ethereal blackness' potential helped and allowed Noah to go through that seemingly unlimited stream of information. Noah could see countless opportunities unfolding before his closed eyes. The ethereal crystal was Heaven and Earth's core. If he wanted, he could complete their path and become a personal version of the rulers. The crystal offered far more than that. The countless meanings that Heaven and Earth would have wielded after their rebirth were for Noah to seize. He could pick anything he wanted freely and alter his path according to his decisions. That abundance of resources and meanings tempted Noah's greedy and hungry mind, but his pride put an end to any dangerous and possibly deadly thought. Noah had defeated Heaven and Earth. He knew that his path had surpassed what the rulers had tried to achieve. Everything shattered. Noah's mind worked at full speed as it split and analyzed any meaning that tried to taint his world. He could use aspects of those unborn laws to deepen his existence, but the rest was useless in its current form. The useless parts crumbled into pure energy that fused with Noah's centers of power and enhanced their structure. His world overviewed the entire process, and it soon realized that Noah's current form carried unbreakable limits. He had to change to achieve a complete breakthrough. Noah was no stranger to deep modifications, especially when it came to his centers of power. His body, mind, dantian, and black hole exploded into a gory domain that didn't let any fabric escape, and only the ethereal blackness remained at the center of that structure. The process didn't end there. Night, Snore, and every other companion contained in Noah's world exploded without losing their consciousness or life. Everything remained alive among the gory and dark domain as Noah delved deep into himself to choose what he would become. Making his mind about a form wasn't an issue. Noah had always known what he was. The dream in the academy had come true. He only needed to perform one last step to complete that vision. Potential beyond the ninth rank left the ethereal blackness and filled every corner of the gory domain. That superior fuel fused with the materials and mental waves in the area before pulling everything back to its center. The domain condensed into a pitch-black uneven form that shook and transformed while its insides solidified. Soon a sharp tip became clear, and the rest of its structure followed. Two sharp edges and a scaled body materialized above the tip. The void already started to bend due to the pressure generated by that new presence, but the transformation continued. The blade eventually completely condensed, and its edge started to take form. A fiendish face materialized and turned into a guard that radiated a threatening pressure. The sole sight of that item seemed able to kill and destroy worlds, but the transformation wasn't over yet. A partially ethereal handle grew from the guard and wavered left and right as it merged and came out of the void. That item barely seemed real, but the power it radiated solved any doubt about its existence. The whole sword still shook and underwent some changes as its entire structure stabilized. Yet, when the process ended, a familiar ambition expanded from its fabric and enveloped the void in its empowering properties. The army couldn't avoid the expansion of the ambition, but no expert dared to move in that situation. Moreover, when that energy touched them, their injuries completely healed, and their worlds regained their peak power. A black substance soon emerged from the sword and enveloped it in its dense waves. The blackness recreated Noah's figure, and time itself seemed to stop when he opened his reptilian eyes. Noah had his eyes pointed at the army, but his attention was elsewhere. He could see his many friends, but something far deeper claimed most of his interest. The immense darkness of the universe lost its seemingly empty form and took life. Noah became able to see strands of greater and deeper meanings flowing through the blackness and converging toward distant areas. The space-time fabric of the void also began to make sense. Noah only needed to focus on a spot to bend the laws that ruled that area and change them according to his will. Noah felt almighty. He could sense that he had reached the very peak of a journey, but his superiority also made him aware of something deeper and more powerful hidden everywhere around him. The void had something that Noah couldn't inspect or recognize. The waves of meanings also reached depths his mind couldn't fully comprehend. The universe carried secrets he wasn't equipped to study, and the pull of unfathomably powerful beings even landed on his senses. Those secrets could make many experts experience a sense of loss, but Noah only smiled in excitement. He could finally sense how immense the path above the cultivation journey was, and he rejoiced at that sight. 'I can become far stronger,' Noah thought. 'The tenth rank is only the beginning.' ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ ꜰʀᴇᴇᴡᴇʙ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ. ᴄᴏᴍ. The powerful beings that Noah's senses uncovered felt right behind him, even if they were incredibly distant. He only had to turn to study them, but he held himself back. Noah knew that he would never look back once he set his gaze on the universe, but he still had a few matters to settle. His organization was right below him, staring in awe at the birth of a rank 10 existence and waiting for his next move. A few words couldn't explain what Noah felt, and spending valuable time with his companions was simply impossible in that situation. He was barely holding himself back from flying toward the depths of the universe. That resolve couldn't last long, but he had something to do before his inevitable departure. The scenery before Noah's eyes contained his dearest memories and much more, but it lacked many of the experts who had helped him throughout his journey. Noah knew that his power had led the world to its current state, but he couldn't have accomplished so much on his own. He was alone at the peak, but he had gotten there with his entire organization. Memories about Lily, William, Ivor, and much more flowed through Noah's mind until he eventually felt able to hear the time dragon's last words. He had seized the ultimate reward, but each member of his army deserved something. Noah stabbed a hand inside his mind before pulling out a pitch-black strand of ethereal energy. He inspected the item for a few seconds, but he eventually shattered it and let its dust fall on part of the army. "To the magical beasts," Noah announced, "I grant the spark of my ambition. May you never see your species as a limit." The dust fused with every magical beast in the army. Those creatures could refuse it, but even the stubborn Eternal Snake decided to accept it. Those beings' eyes immediately shone after the process, and changes happened to their very species. Noah stabbed his mind again to take out another strand of ethereal energy, and a few lines followed when he shattered it. "To the cultivators, I grant my greed. May you never settle for lower forms of power." The cultivators grew restless when they absorbed the dust, but Noah's presence kept them in line. Yet, broad smiles appeared on their faces, especially when they looked at the universe. The countless opportunities hidden among that blackness almost became too tempting for them. "To the hybrids," Noah continued after shattering another strand of ethereal energy, "I grant my pride. May you never feel inferior to anyone." The hybrids couldn't help but voice loud cries when the dust fused with their existence. The gesture tried to apply heavy pressure on the area, but Noah's presence prevented all of that. The speech seemed to end there. Noah even lowered his arm, but his close friends could see that he wasn't done yet. He soon showed his left hand, but his eyes remained still. "And to my lover," Noah shouted, "I offer my hand for her to hold during an endless journey." A loud snort resounded among the army, but many gazes already happened to be on its source. June appeared beyond pissed, but her expression melted into a challenging smirk while she kept looking at Noah. June transformed into a lightning bolt that made her reach Noah in an instant. When she materialized, she stared at the lifted hand for a few seconds before heaving a sigh and finally taking it. "This is just the beginning," June warned. "I'm betting on that," Noah smirked before giving one last look at his companions. He wanted to say so much, but the tempting forces became too strong for him to hold back. Noah finally turned, and stars shone in his reptilian eyes. He could see the traces left by incredible beings among the blackness of the universe. He couldn't even fathom how strong those existences had to be to give birth to something so bright and lasting, but he had every intention to find out. June didn't even need to look at Noah, but their legs moved at the same time as they stepped upward and walked across the blackness. It seemed that they were climbing a staircase leading toward the depths of the universe, and their figures soon disappeared under the happy gazes of their companions. THE END **** Author's notes: I plan to make 2-3 after-story chapters and publish them in the side story. They should come out in the following days, but I don't know exactly when. Anyway, I really can't express how I feel right now and how grateful I am for the support you gave me during these past years. I hope you enjoyed the story and the conclusion that has been in my notes since the distant 2020. I can only end with another thank you. You made all of this possible, and I'll forever love you for that.