Birth of the Demonic Sword

'The studies have already improved my movement techniques,' Noah thought while inside his cave, 'But I can't understand the core aspects of these laws. I'm still far away from approaching the transformation into a dark element.'

Noah was continuing his studies during his time inside the cave. He didn't care that his behavior was wasting the group's time. Heaven and Earth's mission would have to wait for him.

His friends were partially aware of that behavior. They knew Noah enough to guess how long it would take him to recover, so they understood that he was up to something once that period expired. Still, they didn't even bother to contact him and waited patiently in the last area of the dimensional tunnel.

The cultivators from the human forces eventually understood that Noah was doing far more than recovering, but they decided to ignore the matter. Noah's mental resilience had surprised them. Some had even developed a deep respect for him.

Noah left his cave after spending a few years recovering and studying the black marks. His mind had returned at its peak, but his project with the dimensional abilities didn't meet a similar success.

"I needed to spend these years in seclusion," Divine Demon exclaimed after leaving his cave right after Noah. "Rank 9 magical beasts sure are scary!"

"Indeed," Wilfred continued after leaving his cave. "It has been hard to disperse this stress. Our companions must be better than us to be already here."

"I'm the best there is!" The Foolery shouted after imitating the experts.

"Shut up," Divine Demon whispered, but everyone in the area could hear his words. "We are trying to cover for my heir. Don't ruin our act."

"Oh, sorry," The Foolery replied before turning toward the cultivators from the human forces. "I am the best, but I also needed to recover. I didn't require much, but it's better to be safe when dealing with Heaven and Earth. I can be as reckless as I want, but I need to be at my peak to help you all. I've delayed my time in seclusion due to my crucial role in this mission."

The Foolery's words made no sense, but those who knew the creature could understand what had happened. The pig had tried to blame that delay on itself, but its pride had eventually taken over its pretense.

"Do you always behave like this?" Isaac Putgan asked.

"All the time," King Elbas sighed while joining the rest of the team. "You should ignore most of what they say."

"My latest disciple is too shy," Divine Demon sighed. "He will never achieve greatness if he doesn't accept the true source of his power."

"And what would that even be?" King Elbas asked.

Divine Demon waved a hand, snorted, and announced the answer to the group. "I'm your greatest inspiration, the true source of your power. Come and kowtow to me. Pay respect to this benevolent master."

King Elbas turned toward Isaac and nodded. The latter could only show an awkward smile at that scene. He would take King Elbas' advice and ignore Divine Demon and the pig. Only Wilfred still deserved a second chance.

"And I'm his greatest inspiration!" The Foolery joined that conversation while placing one of its short legs on Divine Demon.

Noah had his eyes on the two idiots, but he was ignoring their words. His mental waves were inspecting the Foolery since something had changed inside the magical beasts after the travel.

Faint red strands had begun to gather inside its head. They were nothing more than soft lumps of energy, but Noah's eyes widened at that sight. That power resembled the mental waves.

'Is it developing a sea of consciousness?' Noah wondered, but his thoughts soon went in another direction.

Noah had seen seas of consciousness inside magical beasts during the events in the other Mortal Lands. Those creatures were transforming into hybrids, but they still had developed human centers of power during the process.

Yet, that new center of power seemed different when it came to the Foolery. It resembled a complex Bloodline Inheritance that could work as a proper mind.

'The pig has gone through enough suffering to develop a Bloodline Inheritance,' Noah thought. 'I can address the other unusual features to its divine state and my ambition. I wonder what will come out of this process.'

The Foolery's new center of power was far from complete. The creature was only acc.u.mulating strands of energy that resembled mental waves into the inferior sea of consciousness of the magical beasts.

It would take time to complete the process, but Noah would be there to study it. He even guessed that he had to blame his ambition for that sudden evolution.

"Can we go now?" Althea asked in a pissed tone.

The cultivator didn't mind that delay, but she felt bothered by the attempt to conceal it. There was nothing wrong in asking for more time to recover, especially when they were about to approach the actual mission.

Her companions limited themselves to nod before their expressions turned stern. The time for jokes was over. They were about to discover why Heaven and Earth had decided to summon them there.

The experts didn't bother dividing themselves into smaller teams to approach the exit. They had built some trust during the travel through the dimensional tunnel. Surviving the attack of a rank 9 creature had made them believe in their good intentions.

The teams obviously had different purposes, but none of them seemed inclined to betray their new companions. Some of them even sided with Heaven and Earth, but they wouldn't endanger the mission to fight over their belief.

The experts wielded their weapons and activated their defenses before jumping into the white light at the end of the dimensional tunnel. A familiar pressure soon landed on them, and their senses quickly allowed them to inspect their surroundings.

The group could immediately understand that they had left the dimensional tunnel. They were in the outside world, and the familiar pressure of the sky landed on their figures.

Still, the scene that had unfolded in their eyes was far different from the Immortal Lands that they recalled.

'What happened here?!' Noah shouted in his mind as his eyes became able to inspect his surroundings.

Large chunks of the azure ground floated in the sky and reflected its white radiance. A dense layer of air filled the almost empty surface, and sparse lightning bolts flew in every direction.

The lightning bolts shot from dark clouds that had gathered in the layer of air over the surface. They flew toward the floating azure chunks above them and tried to remove their laws from the world.

Fissures that led to the void opened on their own. The azure ground where Noah and the others were standing seemed to be the most stable aspect of that place, but chunks still rose in the air from time to time.

'Are these the effects of a Worldwide Heaven Tribulation in the Immortal Lands?' Noah wondered, but his instincts told him that he was wrong.

His consciousness quickly spread and began to study the laws that filled the matter. His mind quickly noticed that something was off. The true meanings in the area seemed to have different natures, even if they belonged to the same field.

The chunks of ground didn't separate due to external effects. The laws inside them were the reason behind that unusual behavior. They fought each other until that material changed nature and escaped Heaven and Earth's system.

The air and the other materials in the area were going through the same process. The laws inside them fought against Heaven and Earth's true meaning until they managed to transform their nature.

It was as if an entire world had started a rebellion against Heaven and Earth.