Chapter 2026 - 2026. Clueless

Noah, King Elbas, and Sepunia unfolded their minds to inspect the three cultivators following them inside the sky. Some relief appeared on their faces when they noticed that only one of them had a world that didn't belong to Heaven and Earth's system. The other two had borrowed powers.

The group didn't interrupt their escape. They sensed the presence of enemies behind them, but the tunnel allowed them to fly toward the stormy regions without encountering hindrances. Noah and the others didn't need to fear the avatars that had survived their sudden attack, but the three cultivators seemed as fast as them, even if they moved through the white fabric of the sky.

'Why aren't they attacking?' Noah wondered as he continued to shoot forward.

Similar thoughts filled his companions' minds. The three cultivators limited themselves to follow the invaders, but they didn't exit the sky nor try to interrupt that escape.

The answer to those doubts arrived quickly. A series of crackling avatars appeared on the group's path and forced them to prepare attacks since one of those puppets was in the upper tier.

The new platoon tried to trap the group, but Noah and King Elbas wouldn't let that happen. They didn't slow down even when a barrage of lightning bolts left the white material of the sky and traveled through the tunnel to fly toward them.

Noah stored his blades and let roots pierce his palms. The parasite gave birth to two swords that drained his energy to express a level of destructiveness that his existence wouldn't be able to radiate on its own. That power was so intense that King Elbas felt forced to slow down and hide behind Noah's back.

Black lines appeared on the tunnel's surfaces as Noah's destructiveness reached its peak. Different aspects of his existence fused to enhance his ability to hurt Heaven and Earth. The roots in his hands started to tremble as dark matter entered their structure to give them even more power. Everything around him began to crumble, but the real chaos started after he unleashed his attack.

A dark wave of energy that radiated shockwaves and a corrosive liquid flew out of Noah's roots and forced the tunnel to enlarge. The core of the attack was already enough to trigger his destruction, but the dark-red and dark-purple shades that enveloped it enhanced those effects in ways that left even him surprised.

The tunnel's walls shattered. Noah's sharpness, bloodlust, and corrosiveness created an attack that expressed the entirety of his destruction and enmity against Heaven and Earth.

The barrage of lightning bolts could only crumble in front of the might of Noah's attack. Even the blow that carried upper tier energy shattered after it attempted to contain that destructiveness. Its power surpassed what Noah had released, but he had too many advantages against a mere puppet that expressed Heaven and Earth's aura.

The piercing slash crashed on the new platoon and almost completely annihilated it. Even the middle tier avatars couldn't survive that wave of power. Only the upper tier puppet remained in one piece, but black lines now covered the entirety of its crackling body.

Noah retracted his roots and focused on absorbing all the primary energy that his destruction had released in the environment. Meanwhile, King Elbas jumped in the frontlines and pointed his fingers toward the upper tier avatar to emit a golden beam that reached the puppet in no time.

King Elbas' attack wasn't powerful, but it triggered the destruction accumulated in the avatar's body. The puppet shattered and released its energy in the tunnel, but Noah quickly absorbed it as the group continued to fly forward.

"That will be enough," One of the cultivators inside the sky said before the whiteness in the area intensified.

Noah finally understood why the three cultivators didn't act until now. The light was teleporting the experts from different areas of the sky. The trio wasn't actually there. Heaven and Earth had tried to trick his group by sending those auras forward, but making them appear in the tunnel ended up requiring additional energy.

The three cultivators materialized on the group's path and unfolded their worlds. Noah and the others couldn't approach that fight lightly, but they couldn't stop either. Wasting time among the sky would only force them into worse situations, so they immediately launched attacks at the whiteness next to them to open another path.

The action ended up being useless since the three cultivators simply crossed the patch of sky that divided them from the new tunnel to appear in front of the group again. They had no restrictions in that environment after Heaven and Earth teleported them, and the experts silently accepted that a clash was inevitable.

Noah, King Elbas, Sepunia, and the dragon launched their best attacks without interrupting their charge. A corrosive wave of sharp energy, a spear, liquid flames, and a series of pinkish chunks flew forward.

The sky couldn't withstand the power discharged during that exchange. The group's abilities relied on the dark metal, so their effectiveness in the area was immense. A large hole appeared in that spot even if the three cultivators used their power to contain that destruction.

The man and the woman with worlds borrowed from Heaven and Earth found themselves unable to contain the massive power flying toward them. Noah and King Elbas had long since become able to deal with ordinary liquid stage cultivators, and the addition of their two companions only highlighted their superiority. The dark metal also played its part against opponents that relied so heavily on the rulers.

The exchange would have resulted in an overwhelming victory if it weren't for the other woman. The latter had a young face, but her blue eyes carried wisdom that only eras of struggles could generate. She even smiled in front of the incoming attacks before sending a series of spears forward.

The spears had appeared out of nowhere. The woman had taken them out of her world, but they weren't identical in their power. Each weapon carried a different meaning that could go from pure piercing power to destructive thrusts.

The weapons ended up shattering the wave of attacks flying toward her and forcing them to disperse among the sky. Noah did his best to recover all the energy he could, but most of the power came from the broken sky. The fuel released by his companions' attacks seemed toxic now.

"Let me guess," Noah commented. "You are a weapon master."

"I'm the weapon master," The woman replied while performing a deep bow. "I'm Axia. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"It would be a pleasure if you moved out of our way," Noah stated.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Axia chuckled. "You have taken Heaven and Earth's cores. I can't let you leave with them."

"Everything seemed fine before we destroyed the avatars," Noah mocked before pointing at the puppets still following from behind him. "What is it? You can't win without reinforcements, can you?"

Axia closed her eyes to endure Noah's taunt, but she eventually decided to fall prey to his words. She raised a hand and pointed it at the avatars that had survived the sudden assault in the empty area before sending a barrage of arrows toward them.

The weapon destroyed the puppets and filled the area with energy that Noah didn't hesitate to absorb. All the injuries caused by the Cursed Sword and parasite healed, but a frown inevitably appeared in his mind. He knew that his destruction wasn't enough to affect Axia's mind, but she had decided to help him anyway.

"Are you also doing Caesar a favor?" Noah wondered.

"Nonsense," Axia snorted. "I would never help that lunatic. I was only repaying a favor. It's thanks to your friend that Heaven and Earth are still clueless about my world."

****

Author's notes: I swear, this one is not on me. I was sticking to my schedule perfectly, but I had to help my brother with something in the deep of the night.. The third chapter should come soon.