Chapter 1878 - 1878. Tactics

The rank 9 cultivator in the gaseous stage filled the area with heavy pressure. Long white hair combed into a simple ponytail fluttered in the winds generated by the chaotic laws. His young face didn't have any beard, and his eyes shone with a green light that seemed to carry white shades.

The cultivator's robe was completely white and radiated Heaven and Earth's iconic aura. The storms seemed unable to make his long sleeves flutter and revealed the presence of inscriptions hidden in their fabric. Moreover, the thousands of ghosts that came out of the cauldron flew toward him and created a dark army ready to obey his commands.

Needless to say, the sudden appearance of the expert left the expert speechless. They expected Heaven and Earth to do something about their interference, but that had happened after only one year of relentless offensive.

The rulers' decision to send reinforcements so soon could lead to two conclusions. The first saw Heaven and Earth willing to invest enough energy to teleport a cultivator on the battlefield to handle the matter because Noah and the others were high-value targets. Instead, the second hinted at the fact that the cauldron was already reaching its limits.

'Did we come close to destroying it?' Noah wondered as the tragic scene unfolded in his eyes.

Fighting the ghosts with the item that could produce them right behind the army felt quite pointless, especially since the cauldron didn't stop absorbing the winds after those creatures came out. Noah's group could end up in an endless battle if they didn't take care of the source of that problem.

Of course, that could only provide part of a solution to the issue, but Noah found no point in falling prey to desperation. He was only thinking of plans that could get him out of that dangerous situation.

Noah had never deluded himself. He knew exactly how strong he was, and he felt able to give a proper evaluation of his friends' power too. His entire group was close to the ninth rank, and all its members had enough energy to launch attacks at that level.

Only a battle against an actual rank 9 existence could prove that their battle prowess had reached the ninth rank, but the experts didn't have the chance to meet opponents at that level so often. Noah had managed to fight Lord Lewis on his own, but that was a mere exception. Still, he believed that they had enough power to succeed in the task, which meant that they could potentially threaten the cauldron.

The experts couldn't do much against a single rank 9 item in the middle tier on their own. Even Noah would struggle to make his destruction understand the flaws in the cauldron's structure. Yet, the situation changed when those eight experts worked together. They could very likely reach the peak of the gaseous stage in terms of pure destructive power.

The cauldron carried another aspect that Noah didn't dare to ignore. The slithering inscriptions were on its surface, on its most exposed part even. He had initially thought that Heaven and Earth didn't bother to build defenses due to the sheer power of the item, but he had started to consider a different possibility now.

Those inscriptions had been so interesting that King Elbas had continued to refuse using his real power for an entire year. Those lines had caused an intense reaction in his curiosity, leaving him unable to stop studying them even after that period.

It was clear that the inscriptions were incredible. The sole fact that they could generate creatures capable of rewriting reality explained their power. Still, that feature didn't speak for their resilience or requirements in terms of the smoothness of their material.

There was a high chance that the inscriptions required a perfectly kept cauldron with a completely smooth surface to generate ghosts. Noah could understand how a small dent could ruin the overall harmony that the item needed to achieve to allow that process.

That would explain why Heaven and Earth had intervened so soon. The rulers had to prevent even the slightest damage from appearing on the cauldron's surface, and Noah's group had probably come close to that result.

'We can put an end to the ghosts,' Noah eventually concluded, but his problems didn't end there.

His reasoning had lasted for less than a second. The cultivator had yet to give orders. His annoyed voice had yet to disperse even. Noah had the time to think about the situation as a whole, but everything appeared quite hopeless even after his recent conclusion.

Noah didn't fear the rank 9 cultivator, but the ghosts behind him were too strange to deal with. A defeat would arrive as soon as the illusions replaced the reality, and Noah had no counter for that.

"Do we run?" Wilfred asked after he completed his inspection of the area.

The hybrid had reached the same inevitable conclusions. The group had already lost against the ghosts, and they had a rank 9 cultivator on their side now. The battle only had one conclusion that Noah and the others didn't seem able to avoid.

"How long can you remain immune to the ghosts?" Noah asked, and everyone knew the target of his words.

"In theory?" King Elbas pondered. "Endlessly. The problem is their aura. It will affect you at some point, and everything will fall apart."

"What if I gave you a place where to keep them busy?" Noah continued.

"Like a separate dimension?" King Elbas asked before a faint smile appeared on his face. "That might work, but the cauldron will create more of them in the meantime."

"So we destroy it before it's too late," Noah announced. "We have a plan then."

Noah and the others had obviously shielded their words with their mental waves to prevent the cultivator from understanding their conversation. However, their intentions were quite clear. Heaven and Earth's follower could see how determination appeared on their faces as they prepared themselves to attack.

"Thank you for not escaping," The cultivator snorted. "I didn't want to chase you through the storms. It would have been too annoying."

"I bet you'll take care of him," Alexander smirked.

"Someone has to keep him busy," Noah confirmed, "And I need to have a complete view of the battlefield to keep the ghosts away. I can't focus only on the item."

"Someone might complain about your greed sooner or later," Robert laughed.

"I'm sorry if a rank 9 inscribed item in the middle tier isn't a worthy opponent," Noah mocked. "I'll see if Heaven and Earth are available next time."

"Tell them to send more of them next time!" Sword Saint shouted as his sharpness exploded outward and pierced the barrier of mental energy before condensing in a silver blade.

"Maybe a spear is better for this task," Divine Demon wondered while scratching the side of his head and closing his eyes to focus on his law.

Part of the storms changed color before converging toward his figure and creating a tall trident that radiated an ominous aura. The experts next to Divine Demon couldn't help but shoot curious glances at him. It was surprising to see the cultivator activating the full power of his law without challenging anyone.

The other experts also deployed and prepared their techniques, but the cultivator didn't let them complete everything after the overall power that they generated made him worry. His hand pointed at the group, and the ghosts moved toward them.

The dark army resembled a tainted sea expanding through the white area, but an even darker figure suddenly appeared on their path. The cultivator tried to make them dodge the attack, but ghosts had nowhere to run. Shafu's mouth had materialized around them, and it was blocking every escape route.

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Author's notes: Bad news first: I'm still writing. Good news: The second chapter is almost done, so I've almost shortened my delay by an hour. Hopefully I can repeat this tomorrow and be on time. Right, I guess I'll give you more info in the next chapters on why I keep being late to reassure you about my condition.