Chapter 530: 530. Snow

The Utra nation was the only force that the Hive could target.

The Papral nation knew about the existence of a fourth force on the new continent, and the Shandal Empire was about to be attacked by two big countries, targeting the Elbas family was the only option that the cultivators from the Hive had.

Also, the southern coast was connected with the territories under the control of the Royals, the Hive had to weaken them if it wanted to maintain control over the lava lake.

The lava lake was the most crucial territory discovered by the Hive, it was a place that contained traces left by divine beings after all, nothing could match the value of that place.

Two weeks passed after Elder Austin shared the information concerning the attack on the Empire, the Papral nation didn't contact the Hive in that period.

Then, on the morning of the fourteenth day, the inscribed notebooks of the rank 4 cultivators of the Hive notified them that they had to gather in the area where the noble of the Shosti family had died.

Seven heroic cultivators gathered over the land inhabited by species of ape-types magical beasts, with the five rank 4 cultivators standing behind the two elders in the fifth rank.

Only Elder Duke and Elder Morgan were absent, they had to defend the teleportation matrix while the rest of the group tried to benefit from the battle between the three big nations.

"We kill everyone on our path and explore the territories on the other side of the southern coast. They will probably notice that someone else is scheming behind their back, but we won't be the first suspects if we leave no survivors. You will take care of the cultivators in the fourth rank, leave the stronger ones to us. Good luck."

Elder Austin spoke a few words before disappearing right in front of the other elders.

Elder Julia waved her hand before doing the same.

A peculiar gale swept the five cultivators, the wind seemed to affect their consciousnesses, Elder Julia was covering their presences once again.

A series of nods were exchanged between the five of them before they began to fly east, they moved carefully, wary of any possible threat that could appear in front of them.

The environment below them changed as they advanced along the southern coast, even the temperature diminished as a tall snowy mountain appeared in their fields of view.

The mountain radiated a dangerous aura, it seemed that something powerful ruled that territory.

"It's a magical beast, we can fly past it."

Noah spoke to his companions through his consciousness.

His instincts clearly told him that the powerful creature inhabiting the snowy mountain was a magical beast, he had felt some sort of primordial fear when he entered its range.

Yet, it was pointless to explore it now since it didn't seem to contain something that belonged to the divine ranks, the group could just investigate it on its way back to the lava lake.

The cultivators from the Hive flew around the mountain, avoiding becoming too close to its sides.

Snow fell on that area, the coldness radiated by those snowflakes seemed able to affect even rank 4 cultivators since Noah's companions shivered from time to time.

Only Noah was unaffected by that environment, his body burned more "Breath" to fend off that coldness, but it didn't suffer any damage.

'I might be able to block some of the weakest attacks of a heroic cultivator with my body alone now, I should have more confidence in my status as a hybrid.'

Noah thought when he saw that his body didn't suffer the slightest damage in that place.

Not even a month had passed since his breakthrough in the upper tier, Noah hadn't been able to test the limits of his new strength in that short amount of time.

He didn't find the chance to engage in a fierce battle against some powerful creature due to the tuning of his martial arts, the learning of his new spell, and his two new Blood companions.

Also, he knew that a battle was coming, he couldn't risk ruining his form due to his testing.

Yet, he knew the power of peak rank 4 magical beasts quite well, and he knew that he was supposedly stronger than them since he was a hybrid, which gave him a general grasp of his limits.

The group crossed the mountain only to see that the snow didn't stop falling even as they reached the eastern coast, a vast white plain expanded in their view and connected the two coastlines with the layer of ice under the azure ground.

It was at that point though that Elder Hope signaled to the group to stop and performed her investigative methods.

Cold winds blew on the faces of the heroic cultivator of the Hive, Noah could vaguely understand their power from the number of tremors that swept their bodies.

"There are two cultivators at some distance from here, one of them seems to be in the liquid stage."

Elder Hope spoke as she turned to see the reaction of her companions, she saw how some of them showed signs of uncertainty.

"How strong are you compared to other rank 4 cultivators in the liquid stage?"

Noah asked when he saw that no one wanted to formulate a battle plan.

Elder Hope thought for a while before answering with a simple word.

"Average."

Noah nodded at her answer and turned to look at Elder Jason.

Noah had observed each one of them as they flew past the cold environment, Jason had been the one who had shivered less during the flight.

"Jason and I will take care of the cultivator in the gaseous stage, you three can focus the other. Whoever wins first will help the others."

Noah's plan was simple, he was going to team up with the strongest of his group and quickly end the life of the weaker enemy.

Elder Hope was in the liquid stage, so she was needed against the stronger one.

"We attack from the sky then."

Elder Hope spoke after she agreed with Noah, the group flew higher in the sky as they used the clouds above them to hide their bodies.