Chapter 338: 338. Elder Iris

'The insides of the exoskeleton!?'

Noah shouted in his mind when he registered Roy's words.

The Coral archipelago was formed on top of the exoskeleton, it made it a safe location for humans since the purple radiance prevented the attacks of the many magical beasts of the sea.

He would have never thought that the headquarters of the Chasing demon sects were built inside such a precious material.

'That's why the purple halo is so intense and the density of "Breath" is so high. There is nothing that blocks the radiance and the absence of other lifeforms maintains the concentration of the "Breath" at high levels. I wonder how they managed to keep this location hidden to the representatives of the continent.'

Noah pondered as he continued to walk, he was now sure that his sect had to be quite important for it to maintain control over such a privileged location.

"How did you hide this place from the continent?"

In the end, Noah couldn't contain his curiosity and simply asked the man that seemed not to care about the information that he gave him.

"We didn't completely hide it. Before the continent became anxious about the possibility of the archipelago becoming independent, the excavations of the insides of the exoskeleton spanned for the entirety of its body. When the representative came, we were forced to make ninety percent of the tunnels collapse, we would rather destroy this place than hand it to the continent. Of course, we managed to save some areas and hide them behind the collapse."

'Quite ruthless, I like it.'

Noah approved that action, a victory was profitable only if the winner could plunder the resources left by the defeated, it was just a waste of money otherwise.

Roy and Noah left the large residential area and entered one of the many tunnels that filled its edges, Noah would often touch the metallic purple walls to try to understand the level of the material.

'It's far stronger than a simple rank 4 material, I don't think I can even make a dent on it. The Purple corals should have died when they were in the fifth rank or above.'

Noah thought as he wondered how the sect had managed to dig those tunnels, piercing a rank 5 material wasn't easy, a cultivator in the heroic ranks was needed to create passages in that place.

Roy noticed his interest in the exoskeleton and became curious, ultimately probing the young man behind him.

"Are you interested in magical beasts?"

Noah returned to reality when he heard that question, he stayed silent for a while before deciding to speak honestly.

"As a matter of fact, it's my specialization. I was wondering about the level of the corals, they should have been in the fifth rank or above when they died but I can't be more precise, my cultivation level prevents me from investigating further."

Roy released a surprised gasp at Noah's explanation.

The reports about Noah Balvan mentioned that he was knowledgeable in the field of the magical beasts but the exact value of that information wasn't set since it depended on the social environment from which it was taken.

For example, any cultivator would appear as the most knowledgeable human in the world in the eyes of a commoner.

Like that, the fact that the reports about Noah mentioned that he was educated about magical beasts didn't mean much since that information was paired with his young age, there was a limit to how experienced a twenty-three years old cultivator could be.

Yet, Noah had received the best education of the Utra nation, his mind was strong and allowed him to memorize many pieces of information, and the Bloodline inheritance had left him with a peculiar instinct that further improved his understanding when it came to matters related to magical beasts.

"Our experts think that the Purple corals have died during the hibernation for the breakthrough to the sixth rank, they have misjudged the amount of "Breath" needed for the evolution of their body apparently."

Roy explained, the exoskeleton had been studied for hundreds of years by then, those details could be easily obtained by an elder of an underground organization.

"Oh, I was really inaccurate."

Noah nodded at his explanation and moved his gaze back on the metallic material, no matter how much he looked, he wasn't able to reach a similar conclusion.

'My level is too low, I still can't be accurate when the heroic ranks are concerned.'

He sighed internally as he moved his gaze toward the end of the tunnel, another large area could be seen there.

Roy had paid attention to Noah's reactions, he saw how he seemed disappointed by his wrong judgment.

'Is he really unsatisfied? He has managed to pinpoint the rank of the coral in a few minutes but he isn't proud of it?'

Roy wondered in his mind, the young man behind him was indeed unusual.

The tunnel then ended and the two of them entered the large underground room that followed it.

"Let me do the talk now and don't mind too much what she says."

Roy warned Noah before he stopped to a seemingly normal location and lightly knocked on the purple ground.

"Reporting to Elder Iris, we need to modify the mission about Noah Balvan."

The floor trembled after his words were spoken and the terrain transformed into the entrance of a cave.

Roy wore a solemn expression and entered it, gesturing to Noah to follow him.

The cave was simple, with not much furniture, a middle-aged woman with white hair could be seen sitting on the floor surrounded by sheets.

"What's the matter, Roy? I thought that you were ready to send some disciples on the continent to ambush the kid when he went out of the Odrea nation. Our contacts with the Utra nation are willing to pay a large sum for his head."

Elder Iris spoke without raising her head, her voice sounded aged, it didn't match her appearance.

"Something happened, there is no need to send the team. Noah Balvan is here by my side."

Roy's answer made Elder Iris raise her head, Noah felt naked under her probing gaze.

'Heroic ranks!'

Noah's mind gave that warning but there was nothing he could do, he couldn't even struggle in front of such a power.

"Good, he is worth even more alive. Take care of it and make sure that our contacts receive him."

Elder Iris performed a slight smile when she spoke but her expression froze when the tattoo of a horned head appeared on her hand and began to shine.

Noah's tattoo did the same, it moved on the back of its hand and began to shine with a similar light.

It was with furrowed brows that Elder Iris began to stare Roy, her irritation was easily discerned by her expression.