Birth of the Demonic Sword

Alexander didn't leave immediately, but everyone could feel that the time for his departure would arrive soon. The hybrid had to make sure that his abilities expressed his new cultivation level and that he understood the depths of his new power before venturing into the stormy regions alone.

However, that was a solitary process that the other experts couldn't affect. The end of the meeting started another long period of seclusion that culminated in another exchange of goodbyes, orders, and promises. Alexander left the orange city right after that.

The team of eight that left the black landmass lost its current strongest member, but no one felt sad about it. Actually, Alexander's departure inspired his companions to do better and approach the last realm of the cultivation journey quickly.

The seven who remained in the orange city knew that their existences would force them to imitate their companion. Staying in a group would only slow down the growth of their laws once they entered the ninth rank. The silent understanding that the team would shatter in the following year fell on the experts' minds, but no one spoke about it. They took it as the natural progression of the cultivation journey.

Noah continued his dull training in those years. He had never been the type to enjoy the low and steady improvements, but that process appeared mandatory due to his lack of other options.

The environment of the stormy regions only had powerful forces that he couldn't affect. The mission with the old rulers had been a spectacular achievement, but it had also forced Noah's group to face their limits. Everyone had gone all-out, and Alexander even had to experience a surprising power-up to overcome his challenge. That threat marked the edges of their power, which couldn't help but appear incredibly low in their minds.

The events involving the cauldron weren't too dangerous when Noah thought about it. The ghosts and their peculiar power were the main threat in the mission, but everything around it barely touched what his mind considered as a threat.

A simple rank 9 cultivator in the gaseous stage could only force Noah to go all-out, but that was it. Dwight's power came from the counters that Heaven and Earth had developed, but switching opponents had been enough to solve that issue.

The cauldron was a rank 9 inscribed item in the middle tier, but it did nothing other than generating ghosts. That massive tool had no defenses. It relied on the innate toughness of its materials, which turned out to be quite unreliable since its inscriptions required a seamless surface.

Noah could argue that finding the item was already a spectacular feat, but his standards were completely off due to the fantastic experts in his group. Seeing existences who wielded multiple elements or could ignore the limits among the ranks had become normal after spending so long with King Elbas and his other companions.

Destroying the cauldron had been a challenging mission for his group, but Noah believed that his group had to aim to do more than that. Challenging had to become their new normal since the stormy regions mostly contained monsters. His team's influence on the balance of the world would remain negligible otherwise.

'I'm back in the Mortal Lands,' Noah thought when he managed to find the hilarious aspect in his situation. 'I'm a small force in a world filled with monsters. The only difference is the lack of intermediate challenges. The storms only have the lowest and the highest level. Well, many realms of highest.'

The storms had random rank 9 existences roaming among the regions and major forces involved in the struggle against Heaven and Earth. Some of those powers didn't end up against the rulers by choice. Still, that didn't change the overall situation in that environment. There didn't seem to be any middle ground that Noah could exploit as his cultivation level increased.

The constant threat of the rulers had polarized the living beings inside the storms into two separate categories. One of them contained existences that minded their own business and focused on their personal cultivation journey, while the other had forces busy fighting Heaven and Earth.

Still, even those trying to remain outside of the struggle against the rulers would eventually end up facing their suppression once their level reached threatening realms. Those existences could either join Heaven and Earth, fight them, or hide at that point.

Noah reviewed that layout multiple times. Ideally, he wanted to find a force on Heaven and Earth's side that he could face at his current level, but they didn't seem to live inside the storms. Yet, approaching the sky wasn't a viable option, and fighting against forces that opposed the rulers felt stupid when he considered the world in its entirety.

'Maybe I should stop thinking like a leader and go on a hunting spree,' Noah wondered as his reasoning and seclusion continued.

The storms seemed to put Noah in front of a crossroad. He could do his best to help against the great battle against Heaven and Earth or ignore everything and focus only on his cultivation level. Finding a balance between those two paths seemed hard, but he didn't want to commit to either one yet.

Those thoughts and issues afflicted Noah's mind while he tested the understanding that the four spheres provided continued to deepen. His priority was to develop new techniques while the old rulers come up with a plan to create a mess.

It was unwise to go out of the city now since he had basically revealed all his techniques. The next punishment sent by Heaven and Earth would probably lead to his defeat if he decided to face it before improving.

Luckily for Noah, the city offered something that even the constant pressure released by the sky struggled to provide. He didn't only focus on deepening his understanding of the four aspects of his law. He had access to countless resources that could benefit his mind in ways that the whiteness failed to achieve.

The orange city was a paradise built on Kesier runes. Noah could enjoy potions meant to expand his mental walls, a rank 9 Kesier rune, drinks that improved his mental sphere, and a constant pressure that lacked negative effects.

Noah's mental walls had set a new record of sturdiness when it came to rank 8 existences since he had forsaken the protections against the whiteness for millennia already. He could go all-out with his training, and his mind even approached the limits of the eighth rank. However, something seemed to hold him back from touching the actual edges of that realm.

Noah didn't hesitate to investigate the reasons behind that issue, but something interrupted his study while he was about to find an answer.

The entire city suddenly shook, and a violent earthquake spread among its firm streets and buildings. The experts in Noah's group immediately came out of their training areas to inspect the nature of the event, and they remained speechless when they saw a raging array of white lightning bolts fighting against the orange sparks that hid the area.

The barrier around the city was inactive. Noah and the others immediately prepared for the worst, but the old rulers' ancient voice echoed from the buildings and streets before they could act.

"Do not worry!" The old rulers said through the materials that made the city. "We had to bring something back, and the barrier was on the way."

The experts immediately shot higher in the sky to inspect the edges of the city. The buildings stretched almost immensely, but faint figures eventually became visible in the distance as the Tribulation continued to rage. Noah and the others noticed hordes of magical beasts led by rank 9 Kesier apes entering the city from every direction.

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Author's notes: Special thanks to IndraDeus again! Thank you for the castles! I'm happy to announce no delays today.