The cruelty and coldness showed by the old Heaven and Earth didn't affect the group's mood. Noah and the others were monsters who had done their fair share of nefarious acts.
Still, the existence in charge of the city was the reason behind the current state of the world, and their mission was to help it. Noah even wanted the old Heaven and Earth to regain a part of their previous might, which inevitably created doubts in the experts' minds.
Noah had always preferred crazy plans that could give huge benefits over the steady and slow improvements. Helping the old Heaven and Earth would cause many problems for the current rulers and directly benefit his situation, but the dangers connected to the plan were quite massive.
A lot could go wrong, but Noah considered his situation bad enough to pursue seemingly bad ideas. He didn't care if the old rulers ended up going against his plans as long as they bought him enough time to explore the ninth rank.
Dealing with one, two, or countless versions of Heaven and Earth wouldn't be a problem anymore at that point. Noah firmly believed in the power of his existence. He knew that he would be the strongest, so he didn't care about how many problems appeared as long as they helped him stalling until the ninth rank.
The experts had the tracker created by the old rulers, but the item didn't work as everyone had initially imagined. It didn't lead to the ghost because those creatures didn't technically exist. Heaven and Earth had created them to be the counters to their shadow, which made them even fainter than their target.
Placing a bait was the only method that could work against them, and the tracker did exactly that. I didn't only point back at the city. It even carried a piece of the old rulers that the experts could spread in the land that they chose as a battlefield.
The tracker also worked as a shield for the old rulers' existence, so roaming across the stormy regions didn't attract unwanted attention. The group could keep flying until they found an area that seemed to suit them.
Two tall mountains that created a large valley where their bases connected attracted the group's attention as soon as they passed through the area. The storms were relatively thin there since the ground absorbed energy quickly and transformed it into an azure glow that never stopped illuminating the scene.
The area appeared quite marvelous, but the experts could only consider it for their needs. A few formations placed in specific spots could turn the mountains and the valley into the perfect ambush zone.
The old Heaven and Earth had described the ghosts as an army ready to invade the city, but the group didn't meet any of them after leaving the city. The creatures were using their peculiar existence to hide somewhere, and King Elbas used that knowledge to come up with formations that could counter those opponents.
The old rulers had also provided crucial information to counter the ghosts, but they couldn't be too specific either. After all, Heaven and Earth had created them to go against their old version. There was a limit to how much the old version could understand even after fighting those creatures for so long.
The group immediately got to work. Noah and the others knew that Robert had to be the core of their offensive, but they didn't limit their traps to his power.
King Elbas could easily imitate the features of Robert's law through many quasi-rank 9 inscribed items, and Alexander had innate abilities that could unleash similar effects.
Divine Demon could also help in the matter, but the experts would rather avoid relying on his unstable power unless it was necessary. The ambush required a lot of planning, and the cultivator could almost become everything he wished for. Still, his law required time to activate properly since he had to develop techniques, which made him unsuitable for the plan.
The remaining experts would cover other roles. Noah and Wilfred would make sure to send the ghosts back inside the valley whenever they tried to escape, and Steven would use his determination to keep the formations active and increase their efficiency.
Sword Saint probably was the expert with the highest piercing power in the group, but he had to go through a few exchanges to tune his sharpness to the ghosts. The group decided to leave him free to act as he wished, and the expert didn't mind that role.
It took a while to prepare everything, and the mountains changed color after all the defenses were in place. Their previous azure shades vanished to make room for a faint golden light that made the area hard to inspect with mental energy.
Noah and Wilfred were at the two entrances of the valley, while the other experts occupied specific positions on the mountains. Everyone was ready to start the hunt.
The old rulers' aura spread through the sky as the sphere flew toward the other mountain. A formation even activated and helped move that presence throughout the entire valley and its surroundings. King Elbas' inscriptions were basically enhancing what that small brim of power actually carried, but that was enough for their mission.
The sphere stopped flying once it reached the exact center of the area. It floated above the sky and in the middle of the two mountains to make sure that the ghosts needed to pass through the formations if they wanted to reach it.
A long wait started at that point. The group didn't go too far away from the city, but they still traveled for a few months. That distance shouldn't be much for existences that could threaten the old rulers, but the ghosts didn't come even after the experts remained in those areas for a few years.
Waiting wasn't a problem for existences at that level, especially after the few initial gains from the city. Noah even had the four spheres to handle, so he never wasted time during that dull period.
Strange tentacle-like dark flares of mental energy seeped out of the ground at some point. The event was almost unnoticeable, but some of King Elbas' formations reacted to that event and alerted all the experts busy cultivating.
Everyone went battle-ready at that point. Something was finally coming, and Noah didn't hesitate to make the first move.
The tentacle-likes flares were shooting toward the bait, but their power didn't seem too dangerous. Actually, those attacks only appeared powerful only on the outside. Noah couldn't sense much with his mind, and even his instincts felt conflicted about the whole matter.
Night quickly came out of the separate space and flew forward. The creature could sever the laws, so the texture of its opponents didn't matter as long as it had enough time and power to cut.
Noah didn't even need to blink to see the scenery changing immediately. More than a dozen tentacles had come appeared, but the Pterodactyl severed all of them in no time.