Noah's ambition couldn't push his centers of power past the peak of the sixth rank. His individuality didn't appear able to cross that limit just yet.
That wasn't a surprise. The divine ranks marked the beginning of an entirely new type of cultivation journey. That level also brought an immense amount of power with it, and Noah didn't know if his existence could contain it.
His individuality couldn't replace actual growth. Noah's real strength came from his foundation, and his ambition reflected the power of a cultivator who had just reached the last stage of the heroic ranks.
He was sure that his individuality would eventually manage to make him cross the limits of the heroic ranks. Yet, he needed his centers of power to be closer to the divine realm to achieve that.
His ambition needed to grow before it could succeed in that task. Still, Noah knew that he would obtain more significant gains if he tested his prowess against the quasi-rank 7 Eternal Snake.
Noah flew in the sky above the Snakes' leader. His desire to kill that powerful creature didn't make him forget about the advantages that he could wield.
Cultivators were stronger than magical beasts for many reasons, which was even truer for an existence like Noah. He knew how to exploit his superior awareness and abilities, and he didn't hesitate to rely on his knowledge to obtain the upper hand in the battle.
The Snakes' leader had begun to express its anger as soon as Noah made a hole in the frozen layer. The creature recognized the aura of the invader that had almost destroyed its plans to return to the Immortal Lands.
Its anger was boundless, but the creature didn't let its feelings blind its mind. The quasi-rank 7 Snake knew that Noah was resourceful and elusive, so it began to deploy its abilities before he could make his move.
The Snakes' leader raised its head and began to fill the sky with its silver liquid. Its instincts told it that the world could finally endure its power, so the creature didn't try to hold back anymore.
A massive cloud formed high in the sky, and silver rain started to fall from its surface. The creature had already turned the whole world into its lair, but its abilities could transform the area around it into its ideal battlefield.
Noah observed how frozen structures formed above and around his target's lair. That ice carried the entirety of its power, making it impossible to cut unless he used his full strength.
However, that was what Noah had come out of the separate dimension to do. He wanted to test his power against a specimen that stood on the absolute limit of a lower plane.
The world in Noah's vision changed as he focused on the presence hidden by the frozen structures. Laws became visible in his eyes as he gathered his power to release his strongest attack.
He didn't have the chance to test how strong he was in the past. Noah had yet to polish his fighting style, but he planned to complete that task in the next exchanges.
It was finally time to learn how strong he was, and the best way to do it was to go all-out since the first attack.
Corrosive smoke and dark matter seeped out of his skin and created two fiendish armors around his figure. The Demonic Sword began to tremble as higher energy amassed inside its structure.
Dark matter eventually came out of the Demonic Sword after it filled every inch of its fabric. The living weapon had reached its peak form, but it didn't stop producing higher energy.
The world didn't restrain Noah anymore. He could finally reach his real limits and see how the Snakes' leader reacted to that.
'Pierce the cloud, the ice, and your enemy,' Noah repeated those words inside his mind as he raised his weapon above his head.
The dark matter leaked by the Demonic Sword condensed to enlarge its shape. The weapon became bigger and larger, and dense trails of higher energy began to flow around its form.
Those trails soon became storms of dark matter that surrounded the Demonic Sword while it kept growing. It was as if Noah's blade had started to generate pure destruction.
The sky couldn't endure the pressure radiated by Noah and his weapon. His sharpness filled every brim of dark matter that flew out of them, and cracks opened even if his ambition had improved the area's structure.
The quasi-rank 7 Snake sensed the events happening in the sky. A dark cloud had begun to spread above the silver one created with its innate ability, and the danger that it radiated made the creature decide to remain under its protections.
The Snake felt boundless anger toward Noah, but that only made it more focused. Its goal was to kill that threat, and the best way to do it was to take him seriously.
'I see,' Noah thought as he inspected how preparing for that attack had modified the environment. 'I create a world of destruction.'
Noah shut his mind after that thought. Everything about him focused entirely on the quasi-rank 7 Snake as he began to perform his slash.
The Demonic Sword was heavy. Noah felt as if he was trying to move an entire continent as he slashed toward the ground.
The slightest movement of his weapon broke the sky. The power he had accumulated in the area tore its structure apart and created passages to the void.
The world promptly redirected energy toward those spots to close the cracks, but the storms of dark matter and the massive blade opened new ones as they continued to fall downward.
Then, when Noah completed his slash, a black mass fell from the sky and filled the whole area under him with the power that it carried.
The world fell into chaos. Eternal Snakes screamed in fear when they sensed that they couldn't escape the range of that attack.
Noah's slash covered entire regions. Its width didn't affect its speed. The attack clashed with the leader's abilities in less than an instant.
It was hard to understand the black mass's shape when observing it from the side or above. Only the target of Noah's attack could see its true form.
The ice accumulated in the area was an extension of the leader's mind, so the creature could inspect the attack in its entirety. It could see how that dark mass was a rain of sharp pillars that tore the world apart during their descent.
The silver cloud couldn't even attempt to slow down that attack. The sole pressure radiated by Noah's slash destroyed it and stopped the silver rain.
The frozen structures came next, but Noah's attack engulfed them as it crashed on the ground. His slash covered the whole area and gave birth to multiple earthquakes when it touched the terrain.
The world trembled. The shockwaves radiated by Noah's attack opened cracks on the frozen landmass and sky. Large chunks of ice separated from their main structure and sunk into the sea.
The perfect environment created by the Snakes' leader couldn't endure Noah's might, and only the ice born from the divine silver liquid remained intact as his attack continued to ravage the land.
Sharpness also leaked out of the black mass. Cuts opened everywhere that aura spread, and Noah's destruction soon began to fill every inch of the area.
That destruction continued for a while, but the dark matter eventually dispersed. Still, Noah's aura continued to create cuts in the sky even if his attack was over.
A peculiar sight appeared in his vision once his attack stopped disrupting his analysis of the surface. Most of the frozen ground under him had sunk into the sea, and only the divine ice had remained intact after that slash.
On that piece of intact land, Noah could see the badly injured quasi-rank 7 Snake staring at him while wearing a mocking expression.