Chapter 2017 - 2017. Approach

Undoing Heaven and Earth's transformation was theoretically possible. Noah would have to remove all the modified dark metal from the dragon, take away the organ that had learnt to produce it, purify the rest of the body, and shatter it so that it could regain its natural state.

The process would obviously feature issues that Noah had yet to decide how to handle. The modified dark metal was toxic for his existence due to its conflicting nature with Heaven and Earth's system. He didn't know how to approach it, but a solution would eventually arrive as long as he worked with King Elbas.

However, reverting the transformation would only bring the dragon back to square one, among the other magical beasts that were already losing against Heaven and Earth. That wouldn't help anyone. Noah would probably benefit from that act of defiance, but he wanted far more.

Heaven and Earth's fairness was tilting in the rulers' favor, and Noah couldn't stop that trend. Getting stronger had always been mandatory, and the same applied to his companions. It might even reach a point when that system started to create flaws for them, so he had to amass enough power to ignore eventual suppressions.

Noah was a true master in empowering others and forcing them to fulfill their true potential. He could even make them go beyond what their natural state and experiences allowed, but that required time and drastic approaches.

"I can't do it against your will," Noah explained. "Well, I can, but the transformation will fail if you don't work with me. Becoming an actual threat to Heaven and Earth will also depend on you."

"What do I have to gain from that then?" The dragon asked through a low growl.

"A chance," Noah exclaimed. "Every existence in the world has innate abilities, but they turn into limits when it comes to your kind. Even the higher ranks of the cultivation journey can't remove them completely. You have been lucky enough to be born as a dragon, but not as the best of them, and surely not as something capable of hurting Heaven and Earth."

"I am a proud dragon!" The dragon roared angrily. "I won't let you belittle my species."

Noah's eyes grew cold before he lifted his head to voice a deafening roar. The dark matter around him shook and echoed his proud cry, but nothing left the dark world. Still, King Elbas and Sepunia interrupted their study of the dark metal to glare at him.

Noah ignored those admonishing gazes and remained focused on the dragon. He knew how magical beasts thought, but he needed to see if the creature could transcend its natural state and strive to be more than a mere mass of hunger.

"Pride is useless if you die," Noah stated. "Heaven and Earth have built an army of insects to counter your kind, and they have succeeded. The dragons will lose, and I'll respect your decision if you decide to die among them, but don't use your instincts to justify your actions."

A cultivator wouldn't have been able to affect the dragon's mindset, but Noah was different. He wasn't only a hybrid. He had transcended the three species and had stepped on a realm that the creature couldn't describe. It could only feel through its instincts that Noah was above everything it had ever seen.

"Will you turn me into you?" The dragon eventually questioned.

"No one should become someone else," Noah scolded. "I will give you a chance to become you, your true you, but nothing else."

"You suck at bargains," The dragon complained.

"This has never been a bargain," Noah revealed. "I don't care about you, but you have been lucky enough to meet us after experiencing long years of mental torture. You have experienced enough to suit a possible transformation, but the decision must be yours."

The dragon lowered its head as conflicting thoughts filled its mind. The creature wanted revenge against Heaven and Earth, but it desired to accomplish that in its original form.

However, the dragon wasn't dumb or delusional. It had even spent enough time away from the island to have recovered the entirety of its mental faculties. The beast knew how hard accomplishing that feat would be. After all, it had already lost against Heaven and Earth once. The event had even been entirely one-sided.

"What will become of me if I accept your offer?" The dragon voiced its last worriers. "Heaven and Earth have already taken away a lot of what I was. How much of me will remain if I transform again?"

Noah's eyes flickered in surprise. He didn't expect such an existential question from the dragon. He felt forced to reevaluate the creature. It seemed that its experience inside the island had already made its mindset evolve past its species' limits.

"You will be nothing more than yourself," Noah explained.

The dragon raised its head and fixed its reptilian eyes on Noah. Its instincts warned it about the power that he held over magical beasts. Those sensations were an innate part of its species, and a tinge of annoyance eventually appeared next to them.

The restraints on the dragon didn't prevent it from inspecting the battle in the void. It had seen Noah and the others fighting against an expert far stronger than them. It had witnessed a defeat that didn't lead to their deaths. Instead, the trio was even planning to raise the stakes with the next mission.

The limits enforced by its instincts felt pointless in front of that scene. Noah was right. Pride was useless if it led to death, especially if that feeling came from features outside its control.

"I'll allow you to transform me," The dragon announced, and Noah limited himself to nod before glancing at the two experts near the massive slab of dark metal.

King Elbas and Sepunia had also experienced the enlightenment that the dark metal awarded to those worthy of carrying its destructiveness. King Elbas had resisted that force easily since his existence didn't have anything specific against Heaven and Earth, but the process had been harder for Sepunia. Noah's ambition had filled the seed that had given birth to her new world. It was only normal for her to share part of his hostility.

Luckily for her, King Elbas had interrupted the process when he sensed that Sepunia was transforming into an avatar of the dark metal. He wouldn't mind if she truly wanted her world to reach that state, but he couldn't watch his creation experiencing that corruption.

Noah's inspection had no special meaning. He was simply looking at the metal while the dragon's existential question and Dinia's words resounded in his mind. His new companion deserved the best treatment in the world, and the privileged cultivator had probably given him an idea on how to proceed.

'Mere energy can't do the trick when it comes to the ninth rank,' Noah thought. 'Purity generates power. I can cut the dragon into pieces and rebuild it according to a powerful blueprint, but that might be the wrong approach.'

Noah moved his eyes back to the dragon and fused his mental waves with the dark world to enhance his inspection. His higher energy partially allowed him to ignore the effects of the modified metal and inspect it properly. He could see how the material was basically identical to the melted part of the giant slab. Heaven and Earth had only affected its nature and changed its effects.

'I can probably avoid an invasive procedure,' Noah guessed. 'I might even gain some battle experience about the actual ninth rank.'

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Author's notes: Well, still slow.. Maybe it will go better with the third chapter.