Noah didn't know why he had suddenly felt able to create those black sparks. Maybe it was his period inside the Divine Architect's separate dimension, or his experience with the Tribulations, or even his connection with June, who carried the scent of the Heaven's Spark.
Yet, he knew that he had understood how to recreate the lightning element carried in the Tribulation as soon as he saw the black clouds.
Black sparks formed between Noah's palms and condensed to create a thick lightning bolt that emitted crackling sounds even if its form was mostly solid.
Meanwhile, some disturbance ran through the lightning bolts of the Tribulation that were falling toward him.
Noah was ready to receive the attack of the black clouds when he saw their lightning bolts deviating and falling on different spots of the barren ground. It was as if something had forced them to change their trajectory.
The same disturbance hit the clouds too. Noah saw how the crackling noise inside them became more violent, and their surface trembled.
It seemed that some battle was happening inside the Tribulation. Yet, Noah couldn't sense anyone else on the scene, and even his enhanced awareness couldn't pick up anything.
The aura of the Tribulation started to change during that struggle. It had only emitted a pure sense of destruction before, but some deeper meaning had begun to appear in the black clouds.
The lightning storm was slowly shifting from being a mere punishment sent by Heaven to destroy a rebellious existence to a fair trial that featured a reward. It was changing into the same kind of Tribulation meant for beings that were about to step on a higher level of existence.
'Who is doing this?' Noah thought at that sight. That strange event was taking over Heaven and Earth's will and changing the composition of the Tribulation.
Noah would benefit from destroying the clouds now. It wasn't a matter of survival anymore.
'Is it the world?' Noah thought before the lightning storm started again, and he felt forced to defend against the incoming attacks.
Noah saw a dozen lightning bolts coming in his direction, but he was ready at that time. He threw the black bolt in his palms before wielding his Demonic Sword to launch more attacks.
The Tribulation's lightning bolts exploded into a series of sparks when they met the black lines launched by the Demonic Sword. Noah's martial art was more than enough to deal with that threat.
Instead, his dark bolt created a loud shockwave when it met with the Tribulation's offensive. The two bolts destroyed each other and dispersed into the world when they clashed.
Noah didn't feel too disappointed about the power of his lightning bolt. That was his first time imitating a phenomenon of the world, and he didn't use spells either.
His sudden creation was just an imitation of the attacks that were coming at him, but they were far away from being optimized.
Noah could destroy the Tribulation quickly if he used all his powers. Nevertheless, he knew that he wouldn't get another chance like that.
How many times could a cultivator test himself against a Tribulation? And how many of them could test their imitation of Heaven and Earth's lightning bolts?
So, Noah decided to focus on his dark sphere and used only his lightning to fend off the Tribulation.
As he kept fighting, the differences between the lightning element and the darkness became evident.
The lightning element was direct and violent. It wasn't meant to be controlled. It only needed a target to pierce and destroy.
Noah felt the black sparks trying to escape his control as he manipulated them to take specific forms. They wanted to go wild and cause havoc everywhere, without even minding their targets.
On the other hand, the darkness element was vague. It encompassed almost every field, but it didn't have any specific feature or innate behavior.
Noah guessed that such behaviors were simply an innate feature of the elements. The less rare aptitudes had more transparent conduct compared to the rarest ones.
The Tribulation started to fall apart after some time. After all, Noah had kept launching lightning bolts like crazy through the entirety of the battle.
His ability to imitate the Tribulation increased as he kept fighting too. It had reached the point where his lightning bolts weren't just the imitation of that phenomenon again.
They kept on becoming stronger and denser until they were able to overcome the Tribulation's attacks and land on the black clouds.
Noah eventually destroyed the entirety of the Tribulation, and a humming sound spread in the area at that point. He felt as if the world was trying to announce something, but it didn't understand it completely.
He could only hear some random pieces of information, but most of his understanding came from the instincts that ran through his body.
He could understand that the world had reacted at the appearance of such energy. Winning against the Tribulation would make the world accept his higher energy as one of the matters allowed in those Mortal Lands.
The laws released from the Tribulation at the moment of its demise improved Noah's understanding of the laws of creation. Those effects weren't limited only to a quicker growing speed. They nourished his dantian too and pushed it toward a superior stage.
Noah felt that his dantian had started to compress under the influence of the muscles around it. The darkness inside it slowly turned into a single and minute drop of a dark liquid that seemed made of swords.
A roar escaped his mouth at that point. Noah couldn't help but express his triumph to the world since he had just taken a significant step forward in his cultivation.
He had become a rank 5 cultivator in the liquid stage!
'Finally!' Noah exclaimed in his mind. 'It has taken me a century to reach this level!'
He had become a rank 5 cultivator when he was only eighty or so years old. Yet, he had to spend the following sixteen years focused on creating his darkness so that he could cultivate.
Now, after a bit more than a century, Noah had taken another step forward in his path.
Noah meditated and cultivated for a few days right on that spot in the central areas of the new continent. He had yet to stabilize his dantian, and he wanted to review what his new understanding had brought.
Everything had suddenly become evident in his mind. Projects and ideas that he had stored inside his random thoughts appeared easier than ever.
It was as if he had been born to create. After the acceptance of the world, Noah had become a proper maker.
'I guess I can focus on my battle prowess now that I've found a path for my higher energy,' Noah thought as he opened his eyes and began to fly in the direction of the neutral city.
'I need to create a Blood Companion first,' Noah evaluated as he remembered the utility of the Body-inscription spell. 'I even know which will to give it.'