"Do you want to test him some more?" Divine Demon asked. "I can always invent something."
"There's no point," Noah announced before patting June's shoulder.
June left his c.h.e.s.t, and Noah teleported next to Kirk. He grabbed his arm, and the duo vanished from the battlefield.
The audience didn't have the time to cheer for Kirk's spectacle, but the Foolery suddenly gave voice to a loud squeal that made everyone go back to the celebrations.
Meanwhile, Noah reappeared in a nearby region and let Kirk fall on the ground. The cultivator lost his balance when his feet touched the terrain, but he quickly straightened his position and took a battle stance.
"You can lower your arms," Noah laughed. "Your techniques are interesting, but I have my own path to follow."
"Is this another test?" Kirk asked without lowering his arms.
"That was only to kill time," Noah smirked. "We only wanted to understand if you could match our expectations."
"And?" Kirk asked.
Noah shot a cold glance toward Kirk. His reptilian eyes studied the expert while his instincts tried to gain a clear understanding of his power.
"You aren't bad," Noah revealed, "But you have a long way to go. Try to follow me from now on. My influence will help you."
"Help me how?" Kirk asked.
The cultivator still didn't believe Noah. The last test had ruined part of the blind trust that he had toward his Master.
Noah scoffed before unfolding his aura. His energy ignored Kirk and focused on the rest of the region.
The world began to change right in front of Kirk's eyes. The ground grew darker, and its fabric evolved. It transformed into a metal that radiated a black light. Instead, the air turned into a dense gas that began to devour the "Breath" in the area.
Kirk didn't know what to think. He had learnt how resilient the higher plane was, but Noah could transform it easily. The simple decision to spread his influence could force everything to evolve.
Heaven and Earth didn't like that event. Noah was stealing pieces of the higher plane from their domain, so their defenses had to activate. It didn't matter if they knew that Noah could take care of them easily.
Black clouds that contained enough power to threaten rank 8 existences acc.u.mulated high in the sky. A massive lightning bolt fell, but Noah limited himself to wave his hand to destroy it.
Kirk remained speechless as an invisible slash pierced the lightning bolt and forced its energy to disperse. The attack flew until it reached the clouds, and the Tribulation crumbled.
"Don't look so surprised," Noah said while looking toward the sky. "The Tribulation was in the lower tier. I bet that Heaven and Earth have no control over them."
"Heaven and Earth?" Kirk repeated.
"They don't have much energy to waste on battles they can't win," Noah explained. "We just took care of a trial in the ninth rank. Do you think that they would send something in the eighth rank if they had control over it?"
"Why did they send it then?" Kirk asked.
"Because they have to limit the amount of control over the world," Noah continued. "Part of their Tribulations have to activate on their own. They would waste too much energy to keep their consciousness spread all the time otherwise."
"You are talking as if Heaven and Earth were normal cultivators," Kirk complained. "They are in control of the entire world! They don't get tired or reckless."
"They are existences like everyone else," Noah sighed. "They are the strongest in the world, but that doesn't make them omnipotent. You'll learn about their flaws during your life in the Immortal Lands."
"Tell me one now," Kirk asked, but his expression froze when Noah shot a cold glance toward him.
"They can't understand what they did wrong," Noah revealed after Kirk lowered his head. "They don't know why their centers of power couldn't reach the tenth rank. They use their light to take new laws, but they aren't getting closer to their goal."
"How can you know all of this?!" Kirk asked as astonishment filled his face. "How can you be so sure about this knowledge?"
"I'm only sixty percent sure about part of it," Noah winked toward Kirk. "I know that they failed the breakthrough and that they absorb laws. Everything else is just theory for now."
Kirk couldn't take so much in such a short time. He had basically just stepped on the higher plane compared to Noah and other rank 8 experts. He had yet to develop a proper domain even.
"Sit," Noah said while pointing at a random spot on the ground. "I'll tell you what I know about the Immortal Lands and Heaven and Earth's system in general. I might even add some information about the cultivation journey. You'll decide what to do with it."
Kirk immediately forgot about the previous test. He didn't care about that battle anymore. A rank 8 existence wanted to explain the world to him, so he sat and remained silent.
Noah started from the beginning. He described the same details that he had learnt from Great Builder before moving to other features. His speech eventually started to involve his theories, and Kirk's mouth inevitably hung from his jaw once the talk ended.
Noah then dragged Kirk back in the celebration and threw him among hybrids engaged in far from proper activities. The party was nearing its end, so everyone was trying to enjoy their last moments of peace.
It wasn't a secret that Noah's return would bring chaos. Almost every higher-up in all the organizations of the higher plane knew that his actions often generated battles, wars, or crises.
The Legion had an advantage over the other organizations. The latter didn't know that Noah had returned with a series of rank 8 cultivators willing to follow him in battle.
Noah intended to exploit that advantage, but he had another project to complete first. Heaven and Earth were his true enemies, and stealing pieces of their body could hurt them. He had to transform the Legion's domain before creating a training area and working on his power for a while.
"How did it go?" June asked when Noah landed behind her.
"He is still young," Noah sighed while sitting next to his lover. "I'll keep him around to improve his growth, but I don't think he will become relevant in our battles."
Noah didn't mean the battles of the Legion with his last statement, and June understood the meaning behind his words. He was talking about the struggles against Heaven and Earth. His cultivation level also fell a bit short, but he had taken the first step into the final battlefield at least.
"I bet they didn't expect you to become such a problem," June commented. "Their last plan failed, so the next one will be even harsher."
"I'll be ready," Noah exclaimed while taking his lover in his arms. "I'll make Heaven and Earth feel that I'm getting close."
"Why is that?" June asked as a puzzled expression fell on her face.
Remaining unnoticed as long as possible was the proper approach when dealing with existences in control of the entire world. Buying time until your power reached the intended level was the best path in those situations.
"I want them to feel fear," Noah revealed. "Their worry will make them commit mistakes that we can exploit."
"What if you can't exploit them?" June wondered. "What if you end up bringing the rage of the world on us?"
"That's exactly what I want," Noah laughed. "How much energy do you think they'll have to waste for something like that? How reckless will they get if we end up surviving that challenge?"