Chapter 434: 434. Face

Noah watched the two naked figures jumping back on the inscribed ship before turning his gaze away.

He had their space-rings and robes in one hand, all he had to do was hope that his threat would be able to buy him some time.

Noah knew that the Royals would never let him go, the information that he held could change their public image, making many noble families join the Cause instead of supporting them.

Also, the matter about the Royal Inheritance could very well bring a war on them: Maybe the other countries under their influence wouldn't dare to challenge them for the Inheritance but the Empire wouldn't let go of such a profitable opportunity.

The Inheritance most likely contained the complete accumulation of the previous Royal family, the Inheritance ground was set up before it was dethroned after all, there was no reason to hold back some resources as Divine Demon had done.

The wealth contained there might surpass that retrieved by Noah, the Elbas family obviously wanted to keep that information a secret.

The current Royal family worked like any other organization, it had factions and sides, they didn't always have a unified opinion when it came to these matters.

That's why Noah was quite confident that his threat would leave him off the hook for some time, it would take a bit before the Royals decided on how to handle him.

Noah went for the other side of the islands, where he had sent the criminals before.

He soon found Roy and the group of fifty rank 3 cultivators, some smirks appeared on their now uncovered faces when they saw the robes in his hands.

"Prince! This will be a huge boost to our power, we have almost completely recovered from the losses in the separate dimension!"

Roy excitedly spoke when he noticed Noah, the latter simply nodded as he dropped Ruth and Errol's belongings next to him.

Heated gazes were fixed on him, the criminals couldn't help but admire Noah even more when they learnt about his position in the sect.

"How did you know that they would switch side? Well, convincing the elders to help you on this matter is already an amazing feat!"

Roy continued to talk, he couldn't contain himself when he saw the human assets of the sect suddenly becoming stronger.

"Criminals understand each other. Be sure to deploy them in the valuable islands after you're done with the introductions."

Noah plainly explained before leaving for the teleportation matrix that would bring him back to the island where he was appointed.

After obtaining the Inheritance, the sect had set a series of special missions linked to the merits accumulated in the war.

In that way, the cultivators with the highest battle prowess would grow even stronger while the weak ones would be forced to focus on their power if they wanted to obtain those benefits.

That method was commonly seen in organizations engaged in a war, it was a way to motivate the captains and disciples while rewarding those worthy.

Of course, the new reward system didn't concern Noah, he could simply ask for anything he wanted from the inventory.

The news of the ship from the Utra nation being defeated quickly spread on the continent.

It was clear for the three big nations that the Hive had stopped hiding now and was actively opposing the domain of the continent.

The specifics of the failed invasion were kept hidden by the Royals, they had only lost criminals after all, their forces out in the open hadn't been affected so it was easy to mask that invasion as a simple probing mission.

Face was something that they needed to maintain due to their peculiar status, they couldn't show signs of weakness to the Empire and the noble families affiliated with the Cause.

Yet, learning that the Hive was openly opposing the continent forced the three big nations to take action, they could turn a blind eye as long as the legal organizations sent valuable resources back in the continent but they couldn't tolerate someone directly opposing their rule.

Ships containing threatening forces sailed from the continent in the direction of the Coral archipelago, rumors said that even a few heroic cultivators were among them.

Noah didn't care about those in the heroic ranks, they were left to handle to the elders of his sect and the heroic assets of the other underground organizations.

However, some preparations had to be made for the incoming tide of rank 3 cultivators coming to reconquer the peripheral islands.

What bothered Noah the most was that he didn't know when the copying technique would be completed, all he could do was hold the ground until the Chasing Demon completed that task.

Once the copying technique was completed, the archipelago would become impenetrable by forces below the heroic ranks, leaving only the internal islands left before the Hive could announce its rule to the world.

'Almost all the underground organizations are siding with us now, we should be able to defend the islands for a few months at least. I wonder if that's enough…'

Noah thought as he cultivated inside the castle, where his training area was.

He had never stopped cultivating, the ships would take a few months to arrive anyway, that period wasn't enough for Noah to drastically improve his strength but it could still improve his foundation.

Also, his mind was improving quickly, the continuous execution of the Divine deduction technique forced his sea of consciousness to work at full speed, further increasing his training speed.

It was a pity though that his deductions didn't manage to produce any satisfying result yet, the "Breath" blessing on which Noah usually sat was slowly seeing its size being reduced.

Noah didn't mind losing his "Breath" blessing if that gave him a rank 4 cultivation technique, his piece of the mineral would have become useless soon anyway.

Yet, he was somewhat worried that his mineral wouldn't be enough for him to create something, he began to wonder if he should request for more "Breath" blessing from the sect or simply wait for his mind to reach the heroic ranks.

Nevertheless, the war impended, forcing him to focus on more reliable sources of improvement rather than on his experiments.

In a bit more than two months, the ships of the continent reached the Coral archipelago.