Another major player joined the apocalyptic event. Noah only needed to glance at the peculiar orange shade of the portal to understand that the old rulers had decided to help in the battle.
The improved magical beasts that the old Heaven and Earth had developed in the past years during their relentless expansion joined the crisis to help the dragons. They belonged to different species and had multiple features that didn't initially come from their bloodlines. Also, they had naturally developed a resistance to the rulers' power after fighting their assets for so long.
The newly arrived magical beasts immediately showed their value. The flying cockroaches could counter the army of dragons, but the old rulers had sent troops capable of taking care of those annoying insects. Dog-like, eagle-like, elephant-like, and rat-like creatures jumped into the battlefields and unleashed area of effect attacks capable of fending off the threatening swarms.
The modified magical beasts' abilities didn't even rely on the same features. The rats used their high numbers but superior bodies. The dogs radiated a toxic orange halo from their fur. The eagles could voice deafening cries, and the elephants could share their innate resilience with the dragons.
The arrival of the old rulers' modified magical beasts turned the situation upside-down in a matter of few exchanges. The dragon had the chance to fight back and overwhelm the opponents built to counter them. The presence of privileged cultivators on the scene didn't help either since they couldn't defeat the upper tier leaders before the inevitable demise of the flying cockroaches.
The situation benefitted Noah. The flying cockroaches were a significant source of energy due to their high numbers, and he soon had to leave the time dragon's battlefield to visit the other fights.
Heaven and Earth's opponent quickly seized important victories, which allowed Noah to absorb a massive amount of energy. He had to rely on his ambition to empower his pulling force from time to time, but his gains remained immense anyway.
The steep requirements that had afflicted his cultivation journey for so long lost their challenging nature when the environment offered countless energy sources. Everything felt even greater since Noah knew that he had been the very reason behind that situation. He had created an environment that could satisfy his demanding existence, and his incomplete world understood that.
Heaven and Earth found themselves with far too many problems. Noah was only a single issue that they had no time to suppress there, but he was still fine in the grand scheme of things. However, the dragons and the monster had the chance to inflict significant damage to the sky and the higher plane as a whole if left unchecked, and the rulers couldn't allow that.
The dragons weren't really fighting to win. The sky was still untouchable for now, but they managed to keep the monster safe through their efforts. The empty creature advanced freely and destroyed everything in its path. The storms and the fabric of space crumbled as it pressed forward to destroy everything contained by the hated white layer.
Heaven and Earth initially sent more flying cockroaches. They had countless breeding grounds for those creatures, so they could treat them as disposable armies. Yet, those tiny puppets could express their real power only against the dragons. Every other creature at their level could destroy them at ease.
It was clear that Heaven and Earth were trying to buy some time while they found a solution to the apocalyptic crisis, and Noah didn't mind that. The massive swarms only meant more energy for him, and he happily welcomed them.
Nevertheless, that trend had to come to an end. Heaven and Earth suddenly stopped sending reinforcements and even called their privileged cultivators back. The event initially triggered a series of happy roars and elated cries, but the magical beasts couldn't remain immersed in their ecstasy for too long.
The retreat of the privileged cultivators had marked a small victory, but everyone knew that Heaven and Earth wouldn't simply give up on the higher plane. That defeat was only temporary, and something bigger would come in no time.
Heaven and Earth didn't take long to confirm everyone's idea. The sky suddenly dimmed as it gathered its light in a spot above the exact center of the higher plane. The event initially had the shape of a large white lake, but it continued to shrink until it became as small as a person.
Noah instinctively retreated, and the magical beasts on the scene also followed his example to hide behind the monster. The sky had remained slightly dark after condensing so much of its power in a single area. It seemed that Heaven and Earth were ready to unleash something massive, and no one dared to face it head-on.
The small white spot slowly seeped out of the sky. It was as if a big drop had started to fall from a smooth surface. The event had yet to unleash any aura, but the monster stopped its advance to inspect it. Something deep and innate had attracted its attention, even if nothing had spread into the area.
Then, a dense aura filled the entirety of the higher plane. Noah and the dragons didn't sense it coming. It was as if it had always been there, but they had become able to feel it only after the drop had left the sky.
The drop fell slowly before stopping under the sky and condensing. Crackling noises echoed throughout the higher plane as arms and legs grew out of the liquid whiteness that had fallen into the world. That massive amount of power took the unclear shape of the avatars, but it appeared far denser. It didn't even have lightning bolts as skin and muscles.
Noah remained astonished to realize that he couldn't connect the aura that had filled the entirety of the higher plane to a cultivation level. It felt in the solid stage, but he also sensed that there was something else hidden in its dense fabric. Moreover, the strange avatar didn't seem to be its source. The appearance of that figure had only revealed its existence to weaker beings.
'Is that the tenth rank?' Noah inevitably wondered, but the battle started before he could continue inspecting the issue.
The monster couldn't stand the presence of that blinding figure. A giant flare shot out of its blackness and engulfed it, but whiteness soon seeped out of that attack before obliterating it.
The threatening non-laws did not affect the strange avatar, and the audience could immediately understand the reason behind that odd outcome. Heaven and Earth's puppet simply had far more laws than the opposite energy inside the flare.
The avatar didn't remain still after that attack. It pointed a hand downward, and a narrow pillar fell from its palm. An angry growl followed as the monster saw a hole appearing on its structure and piercing it from side to side. Even its non-world ended up suffering injuries after that precise attack.
The monster shot upward and launched multiple flares to overwhelm the avatars with all the non-laws contained in its structure, but the latter returned inside the sky to dodge the incoming attack.
The flares and non-laws fused with the sky after falling on its surface.. Meanwhile, the avatar came out from another spot of the white layer and launched another precise attack that pierced the monster from side to side.