Alexander had to rely on multiple tracking abilities since the trip forced the group to fly across the raging storms that filled almost the entirety of those regions. The chaotic laws kept interfering with the faint trace of the ghosts that the hybrid was using to lead his friends, so he had to use different techniques depending on what the environment favored.
King Elbas helped Alexander choosing the best tracking ability since his understanding of the environment was unmatchable. The two experts had to work together to get the best out of their knowledge and techniques.
Flying through the dense storms never stopped being a strange experience. The raging chaotic laws suppressed the mental waves and made distant areas impossible to see. The experts could see countless true meanings moving around them, but they couldn't feel the progress in their advance. Their surroundings only had winds that blew endlessly.
The years passed slowly in that situation, but Noah's group had grown used to that unique environment by then. King Elbas and Alexander had it harder than their companions since they had to focus on the tracking abilities and the study of the area. Instead, the others could spend their time cultivating. Noah even started giving his everything on the four spheres since the journey appeared endless.
Noah's understanding of the four fundamental aspects of the world continued to increase. Life and death remained the quickest to study, and space followed closely, but time didn't stop being that complicated subject he didn't know how to approach.
Still, Noah didn't feel too disappointed or in a hurry. His study already improved his base abilities. It even gave him new ideas on how to improve, which he desperately needed due to Heaven and Earth's counters. He had yet to reveal two abilities to the world, but they weren't enough against the rulers.
The situation felt even worse when Noah considered his peculiar relationship with Heaven and Earth. The rulers would definitely focus on him once he became strong enough to force their hands. He didn't believe for even a second that they would ignore him to concentrate on other existences.
However, an existence, even one as broad as Noah's, had limits. It expanded and deepened specific fields, but it couldn't endlessly generate new abilities.
Noah's laws had many aspects, but he already expressed them at their best. He had even fused some of them to create threatening abilities, but he didn't know how to expand further.
Part of him believed that his battle prowess had reached the extreme limit of the eighth rank. His law would need to hit the next realm to gain access to meanings that could expand the variety of his attacks or show him new ways in which he could deploy his already incredible techniques.
That belief felt quite reasonable when Noah considered his many achievements. He had been incredible in many fields of the cultivation journey, but only the battles managed to make him express his entire greatness. His battle prowess had been the main aspect that had sealed his position as a monster among monsters.
The journey through the sky eventually led to another area where the storms grew thinner. That spot resembled a dead zone, but it didn't feature the natural absence of winds iconic of those unique regions. The space didn't have lands. The chaotic laws there flowed toward a massive dark structure that floated mid-air and monopolized the energy in its surroundings.
The structure resembled a cauldron with large openings at its sides, above, and below its massive form. Those four holes generated a pulling force that attracted the laws in the area and forced them to condense in its insides as multiple inscriptions lit up on its surface.
The inscriptions created complicated drawings that the group struggled to memorize. Moreover, they didn't seem to stay still. The various lines dug the thick metal surface of the peculiar cauldron, but they ran through its surface as if they were snakes slithering freely on the item.
King Elbas forgot about his mission as he deployed an army of sensors to study the item. Those inscriptions matched the studies that the old rulers had given him, but they appeared improved. He could also sense that they tried to express a specific meaning, but he couldn't understand those details during that short inspection.
Noah didn't let the eerie aura of the massive cauldron distract him from the goal. His senses had noticed something disheartening. His mental waves could reach the structure and understand its level. The group was in front of an inscribed item in the middle tier of the ninth rank.
"Well," Noah sighed while scratching the side of his head, "It's not in the upper tier. It could have been worse."
"It doesn't make this good," Wilfred snorted. "How do you plan to destroy it?"
"Are we even sure that this is the source of the ghosts?" Steven asked.
"It should be," Alexander revealed while uncovering his right eye and revealing its poor condition. "I can't see anything else past this. They must be inside."
"We have found our target then," Noah exclaimed before turning toward Sword Saint. "Do you think you can cut it?"
"Eventually," Sword Saint replied while wearing a faint smile. "How many millennia can it even survive my slashes?"
"I'm glad that we are on the same page," Noah showed a broad smile, and Divine Demon stepped forward to express his desire to join that offensive.
"Elbas?" Noah asked while activating the empowerments of his abilities and focusing everything on his attacks.
"Go ahead," King Elbas replied while wearing a frenzied expression. "I'll see how it reacts to a few attacks before stepping in."
Wilfred, Robert, and Steven stepped forward without waiting for Noah to call them. Alexander healed his red eyes and returned it to a normal condition before joining the experts.
Everyone except for King Elbas prepared their best abilities and launched them toward the cauldron. The item didn't seem to have defenses or dangerous barriers, so they didn't hesitate to do their best to destroy its incredible structure.
The attacks illuminated the area and generated intense shockwaves when they exploded on the cauldron. A deep clanging noise spread through the sky and made the fabric of space tremble. The world couldn't endure that clash. The sky began to shatter, but the chaotic laws couldn't fix it since the pulling forces monopolized that energy.
Noah's expression darkened after the mess of energy dispersed and allowed him to see the outcome of the attacks. The cauldron didn't show any mark on its surface. Its inscriptions had continued to move normally, and the structure didn't even tremble after that powerful offensive.
"Again!" Noah ordered, and the experts attacked.
The second wave of attacks didn't do anything, and the same happened with the third, fourth, and fifth offensive. The item didn't budge, but Noah expected as much. The ninth rank wouldn't be so spectacular if a group of rank 8 experts could overcome the difference in power by grouping up.
Understanding flowed inside Noah as the waves of attacks continued to land on the cauldron. His destruction did its best to find flaws in that seemingly seamless item. He felt like staring at perfection, but he knew that something had to appear sooner or later. His group only had to assault it with a relentless offensive.
King Elbas eventually joined the offensive, but his attacks didn't carry the entirety of his power. He was still testing the different reactions of the item, so he made his golden flames gain various features to see how that dark metal behaved.
The experts had enough energy to keep attacking for months. They had an endless number of chaotic laws behind them, so refilling their centers of power wasn't an issue. Noah had to deactivate his ambition from time to time, but he didn't feel overwhelmed by the constant use of his law.
A blinding white light suddenly appeared after the experts completed their first year of a relentless offensive toward the cauldron. A male figure with long white hair descended through the storms and revealed his cultivation level in the gaseous stage. His deep words even resounded in the area as an army of ghosts came out of the cauldron's four openings. "You are really annoying."