Chapter 896: 896. Strength

The sky of Shandal's separate dimension was beneficial for the seas of consciousness, and the territories of that landmass contained various fauna filled by many powerful creatures.

The winds made of laws were the real treasure though. Cultivators could improve their understanding of the later stages of the heroic ranks thanks to those gales. They were what made the Mausoleum an incredible training area for experts at that level.

It was needless to say that all the members of Noah's group didn't want to leave that place. Only the snakes were an exception because they had been stuck there since the fall of their Mortal Lands.

However, there were pressing political matters in the outside world that required those cultivators' presence.

June had to inform the Elbas family about the contents of the Odrea nation. Noah had to take back his place in Divine Market city to reestablish the influence of the Hive on that neutral territory. The same went for Daniel, who was another valuable asset in the ranks of the Hive.

They couldn't remain there since the outside world needed to know that they were available and not in some mission.

Of course, time was relative when it came to rank 5 existences since hey could spend decades in their caves or habitation to complete experiments. Being missing for a year or two was entirely understandable for experts on their level, especially since their mission involved divine entities.

Faith had a little better than her companions. The Council was powerful even without her, and the higher-ups wanted to regain her trust.

The Elders of the Papral nation would look for her only if she had been missing for decades, and that wasn't in the group's plan.

Yet, even if they couldn't stay there for decades, they could still spend a few years seizing as benefits as they could. After all, anyone could exit the separate dimension and contact the organizations behind them to keep them updated about their status.

Making up a story for their organizations wasn't an issue since Shandal was open about his behavior. The will would just run away with most of his belongings as soon as a significant raid arrived, leaving no proof of his imitation of the Immortal Lands.

Noah's group could say that they had found an inheritance ground and that only the members of the Hive had obtained some rewards.

There was a risk with that approach. Flying Demon had to inherit Shandal's individuality, which was a slow and dangerous process.

Exposing the existence of a divine inheritance ground could make the invading troops start another war to seize it. That would take away precious time from Flying Demon, and Noah wanted the inheriting process to be as smooth as possible.

Also, the invading forces weren't ready for an all-war again. They were still recovering from the previous battles, and exploiting the benefits of the new continent was the perfect way to put more distance between them and the Empire.

They had to find a justification that didn't trigger a mass invasion. Something that would buy enough time not to ruin both Flying Demon's gains and the war that they were waging.

In the end, they decided to remain in the separate dimension for three more years.

The six of them mostly trained and made use of the incredible features of those lands in that period. With Shandal's cooperation, they didn't need to return near the void to escape from the central storm and could make use of the teleportation matrices inside the castle.

They would go out and search for the winds or isolate inside the structure to focus on their power.

Of course, Noah went out often since he needed to appease his hunger, but June always followed him and kept herself busy fighting other powerful creatures to express her individuality.

Flying Demon spent most of his time in a separate hall with Shandal, and his companions didn't fail to notice how his aura slowly changed as the months passed. Still, they weren't worried about his well-being since Dreaming Demon would often observe his training session to make sure that the will didn't try anything funny.

Noah even resumed experimenting with higher energy.

Shandal didn't want to give him a private training area at the beginning because he felt that he was spoiling the group too much. Yet, he soon provided Noah with what he needed once his experiments started to explode and spread their destructive effects through the castle.

Noah's failures couldn't create structural damages to that structure, but Shandal felt worried that the shockwaves released in the explosions could affect some of the weaker items in his collections. So, he appointed him to a reinforced room that didn't even bulge when his experiments detonated.

Nevertheless, the group eventually left the castle through a teleportation matrix and reappeared near the formation that led to the third layer of the Mausoleum.

The two Demons weren't there, but Noah had managed to submit another hybrid during his hunts. It was a rank 5 River Beaver whose intelligence was still childlike since it had evolved from an Elite beast when the compound activated.

Noah would leave the matter to educate it to Danielle once he returned to the outside world. Still, for now, he just kept it sealed, just like he did with the other two snakes.

The group didn't hesitate to activate the teleportation matrix, and the seven of them soon saw the walls of the Mausoleum again.

A small commotion happened inside the third layer when the rank 3 cultivators saw the appearance of the three powerful hybrids. However, Noah quickly suppressed it with the words that they had been waiting for their entire lives. "Gather everyone. It's time to take you out of this wasted nation."

Chaos swept the entirety of the Odrea nation after his declaration. Still, the citizens of that country didn't take much to gather everything they had and reach the edge of the defensive formation that isolated them from the outside world.

A crowd made of thousands of human cultivators gathered in a spot that Noah had pointed. He then activated the door that the Demons had previously created to bring that crowd to the separate dimension of the Hive.

"Where should they go?" Thirty-seven asked when he saw Noah and the others following the crowd through the door.

"Send them to the Coral Archipelago," Noah answered. "I've already warned the others of their arrival."

Noah noticed Lisa looking for him through the crowd, but he ignored her. He had far more pressing matters to handle.

Faith neared him and handed him her divine bracelet. For their story to work, only the members of the Hive could reveal their gains from the separate dimension, and Faith couldn't hide her reward.

So, the Hive would store it and wait for her to pick it up after the political situation calmed down.

After all, someone could be waiting for them outside of the separate dimension, and that encounter could require a show of strength.