Chapter 1171: 1171. Defea

It was the first time the entire world worked together to plan a battle against a common enemy. The Hive and the Council had already helped each other in the past. Still, the Shandal Empire's addition improved that already solid alliance.

Something similar had happened during the winged beasts' crisis, but the situation was different at that time. The organizations could prepare defenses together and plan strategies that involved all their forces at that time.

The usual divisions that involved those forces fell apart in front of King Elbas' threat. The Matriarchs and Noah knew that their lofty status in the world would crumble if they let the Royals' leader retake control of some regions.

The goal was to kill him or banish him again. Sending any heroic cultivator in the void would condemn them to certain death. King Elbas had managed to survive the last time only because the separate reality behaved differently.

The three organizations deployed defenses on their respective domains, but they also reinforced the Hive's borders.

Chasing Demon, his divine item, and Noah's dark world had been crucial assets in King Elbas' banishment. The Royal would most likely unleash his rage on the main culprit behind his defeat.

Noah helped in the preparations whenever he could. His expertise could only cover certain aspects of the defensive formations, so he completed his tasks quickly.

There were only so many resources in the world. Noah couldn't create Instabilities and living weapon without limits, so the negotiation with the Ape God signaled the end of his obligations.

He would return to King Elbas' palace once Thirty-seven and his disciples were about to free the quasi-rank 7 beast, but he could focus on himself in the meantime.

Even if King Elbas' return could lead to their deaths, Noah and June didn't spend much time together. They were both busy trying to improve their chances to survive, and they needed power for that.

Noah didn't have methods to improve quickly. He had completed all his projects, and there were only details to polish in his battle style. Some of his spells could match martial arts, but his main offensive remained connected to the dark world.

Cultivating in his underground quarters and training with the Seventh Kesier rune were core parts of his daily schedule, but he had something else that kept on polishing both his existence and battle style.

Sword Saint continued to exchange slashes with Noah. The divine will kept on teaching him everything he knew about sword arts.

Yet, Sword Saint didn't have any new techniques to teach. He had already shown Noah the apex of his path. Noah could only grow as a law to improve his battle prowess.

Noah was in the liquid stage of the sixth rank now. His path required him to solidify a personal law and obtain a true meaning that expressed his existence.

That was the exact purpose behind Sword Saint's training. The more Noah poured his existence into his slashes, the more he would strive forward, slowly becoming a law in the process.

"I can see your savagery!" Sword Saint exclaimed as he slashed against Noah's attack. "I can see your techniques, your creation, and your destruction!"

Sword Saint's slash clashed with Noah's attack and pierced it. The blow dispersed before it could reach Noah, but he didn't seem satisfied about that result.

"What am I lacking?" Noah asked while his thoughts reviewed the last exchange.

Noah never failed to analyze all his slashes. That had always been his approach. He rarely pressed forward unless he had flaws to fix.

However, his slash appeared perfect. It expressed the entirety of Noah's existence, and it carried all his features.

Noah couldn't understand why he didn't manage to defeat Sword Saint. That was his apex, the very peak of his expertise. Still, the divine will didn't budge.

"You are too bound by the heroic ranks in this state," Sword Saint replied. "You have strength and power, but you lack true meaning."

Sword Saint unleashed his aura at that point, and Noah struggled to keep his mental sphere safe from the existence's sharpness.

"You fail to see what it is to be a god," Sword Saint continued as a blade appeared in his ethereal hands. "I am a sword. I am the apex of the sword. Sword arts advance because I exist. This is the influence that you have to reach."

Noah couldn't help but remain speechless at that announcement. Sword Saint's sharpness had become more intense as he spoke.

His aura had managed to affect Noah. He felt weaker as that speech continued. It was as if his sharpness lost intensity during the will's expression of power.

Noah couldn't believe his senses. Having his sharpness losing power due to a similar law's effects was an outcome that he didn't think possible.

Yet, Sword Saint, even in the form of a will, could affect all the sharpness in the world. Noah could only feel amazed seeing his influence on a world far away from his main body.

"What is your law?" Sword Saint asked as his aura became even more intense. "What is the meaning of your existence? What do you want to represent once you reach the Immortal Lands?"

The will's words created waves in his mental sea. That was a representation of Noah's mental state when hearing his speech.

Sword Saint had always tried to push Noah toward the divine ranks. His techniques and teachings had to unify Noah's existence to the point when he could evolve it.

Noah understood that after the speech. His aura surged, and his sharpness retrieved its intensity when he made his mind.

Laws were unique, but every heroic cultivator had to form their own once they reached the sixth rank. Many would create it only when they arrived at the solid stage, but there were exceptions.

Noah had reached the liquid stage without bothering to build a law. His cultivation journey had always been relatively smooth, and his dark world had solved his latest bottleneck. Still, that speech pushed his power further forward.

All the memories involving his core drive appeared in his mind. Noah saw the dragon from his childhood, the attitude test in the Royal Academy, and his dreams in the wilderness at the same time before he understood who he was.

Laws were hard to explain, but Noah didn't have any doubt when he reviewed who he was. Powerhouses would usually spend entire years secluded to decide which path to take, but Noah didn't even hesitate when he thought about that.

"I have an eternal fuel," Noah said as he raised his ethereal sword. "Nothing can suppress it, and flawed raw laws detonate when they touch it."

Noah's ethereal blade began to grow as his aura flowed inside it. Sword Saint felt sharpness, savagery, creation, and destruction coming out of Noah's figure, but they weren't enough to express his existence.

Tension spread inside the area. Noah's mental sphere endured the new pressure, but it seemed quite used to it. The only one who appeared to suffer from that was Sword Saint.

"My ambition can't stop," Noah said as his blade grew until it touched the limits of his mental world. "It is boundless, and it had fueled every aspect of my individuality even before I reached the heroic ranks."

Sword Saint saw Noah slash in his direction and launched an attack of his own. His expert eye could identify the properties of that blow in an instant, but he didn't feel able to copy it.

"My law is ambition," Noah announced after his slash pierced the will's attack and dispersed before reaching his figure. "I know I will reach your level. This is the reason why I can defeat you now."