Chapter 1558: 1558. Ecstasy

Sword Saint experienced different emotions. He felt confused at first. Noah didn't do anything specific, but he had managed to express more power seemingly out of nothing.

Then, an idea popped into Sword Saint's mind. Noah's second slash carried something that an expert like him couldn't find with his usual training.

Sword Saint was a maniac. He had dedicated his entire existence to the sword and had exchanged blows with countless experts to polish his arts. His mind didn't even contemplate the idea that there could be something outside the centers of power.

However, there had to be an explanation for Noah's superior prowess. His might didn't come from his centers of power, so there had to be something else, a different source of energy that Sword Saint had never considered before.

The answer to his doubts suddenly dawned on his mind. Cultivators and hybrids primarily relied on their centers of power, but they had something else. They had a path that influenced their might and gave them laws.

"The power of an existence," Sword Saint murmured before standing up and inspecting both cuts.

"It's not "Breath"," Sword Saint continued. "It's not mental energy either. Your body didn't play a role in this attack, and I didn't even sense your strange black substance."

Sword Saint raised his eyebrows and dropped them from time to time. Ecstasy and confusion alternated on his face. His whole world was falling apart, and he didn't know whether to be happy or sad about it.

"Existences can generate power!" Sword Saint suddenly exclaimed. "Of course! I have been so stupid! Millennia spent side by side with my existence, and I didn't even realize that it was my most powerful source of energy!"

Sword Saint started to laugh maniacally. Noah remained silent while that scene unfolded in front of his eyes.

Part of Noah understood the expert's feelings. The cultivation journey could become a curse for those who met unsurmountable bottlenecks.

'All those who have reached these ranks are crazy,' Noah thought while moving his eyes toward the white sky. 'We force our personalities to evolve. Our good traits transform into laws, and our flaws become curses that we have to carry throughout our entire life.'

His ambition had the power to ignore the gaps between the stages and tiers, but it also made him constantly unsatisfied. Noah always wanted more, and he knew that he would stop at nothing to fulfill his desires.

"Of course! Of course!" Sword Saint shouted in an ecstatic tone. "The centers of power fuse to create existences. They can generate energy, so the existences can do the same. The "Breath" isn't the only fuel for the laws!"

Sword Saint's cultivation level seemed to increase during his shouting. His existence purified, and large cuts opened on the ground under him due to that enlightenment.

"Noah Balvan!" Sword Saint shouted while turning toward Noah. "How did you reach this solution? How did you find the path that can include every path?"

Noah hesitated before letting go of his mental restraint and politeness. Sword Saint's enthusiasm managed to affect his mind. The expert wasn't holding his cultivation level back in that situation.

The world around Noah turned dark, and the ground began to evolve. The cuts also closed, and the air transformed into a dark gas.

"I have met countless experts and hundreds of geniuses," Noah replied in an aloof tone. "I have overcome every expectation, prediction, and label. I have surpassed every existence who could suppress me with a simple thought."

Crackling noises began to resound in the sky as his words seeped into the world and forced the matter to develop wills. His ambition was so intense that the laws around him rebelled against Heaven and Earth's rule.

"I am a mistake, the flaw in a rotten system handled by failures," Noah continued. "I paid the price in blood and sweat for everything I have. I built myself to be the best existence that has ever stepped onto this world. Now, tell me. How could I not reach this solution?"

"Do you think you are better than me?" Sword Saint asked as his aura expanded.

"I am better than Heaven and Earth!" Noah shouted, and a white lightning bolt fell from the sky.

The attack had power near the peak of the middle tier. It instantly filled the sky with blinding light while it descended toward Noah.

"Shut up!" Sword Saint snorted before the lightning bolt could reach the ground. "My disciple is speaking!"

Sword Saint's fingers took the shape of a sword while he waved his hand toward the sky. A colorless line came out of his figure and cut the falling lightning bolt until it reached the source of the Tribulation.

The lightning bolt exploded into a storm of sparks that rained toward the ground. Duanlong promptly materialized next to Noah and absorbed that energy, sending half of it toward his Master.

Sword Saint began to laugh again while he shot toward Noah. The expert hugged him and patted his shoulders without dropping his feverish ecstasy.

"Thank you, Noah Balvan!" Sword Saint said without separating from Noah. "You have given me the greatest of the gifts. I can finally see the path toward the peak."

A sword-shaped lump of mental energy flowed out of Sword Saint's head and floated in front of Noah.

"I have no care for politics and organizations," Sword Saint continued. "But I recognize a debt when I see one. I owe you. If the situation requires it, I swear that I will abandon everything and come in your aid."

Noah inspected the sword-shaped mental energy. It resembled a flare that could echo Sword Saint's power. Still, he couldn't understand its range from that quick inspection.

"Where will you go now?" Noah asked after the expert let him go.

"I was coming back from the Outer Lands to find a source of inspiration," Sword Saint replied. "I found it. I don't need to go further. The lands filled by storms are far more interesting than that peaceful place."

Noah wanted to question Sword Saint. He desired to know everything about those lands. Yet, the expert flew away before he could ask anything.

Sword Saint appeared far faster than before. His figure cut through the world and disappeared from Noah's view in an instant. Even his influence vanished once he left.

Noah's eyes continued to watch the spot where the expert had left. The previous scene had felt like a dream. Both he and Sword Saint had let their drives take control of their mind and speak in their place.

Noah's mind became calm after Sword Saint left. His usual coldness returned and filled every corner of his mental sphere. Countless plans and strategies also spread through his thoughts.

He couldn't live like Sword Saint. Noah was a different type of existence. His enemies were always stronger than him and more numerous. Only constant and careful planning could give him the chance to survive until he reached the peak.

The sword-shaped mental energy seeped into Noah's mental sphere and hid inside his mental energy. Noah instantly learnt how to activate it, but he remained doubtful about its actual utility.

'Can he sense this from the Outer Lands?' Noah wondered. 'Even if he can, how long would it take him to reach me?'

Noah wondered whether Sword Saint had given him that item without considering the reality of their situation. Yet, he soon suppressed those thoughts and moved his attention elsewhere.

His friends were waiting for him, and Noah felt the intense desire to reunite with them.