The Legion's willingness to join the assault on the Sailbrird family delayed the beginning of the fight. There was far more to organize with the addition of those troops and powerful existences, especially when the plan involved a peculiar transport.
"Are you sure that you can make us reach the Sailbrird family?" Noah asked while studying the expert placing countless formations on the ground.
"It will be different from the attack on the Crystal City," King Elbas replied without moving his gaze from his work. "I could use the pagoda and your connection with Divine Demon back then. I can only bring us all into the right region this time around."
"No surprise effect then," Noah sighed.
"You should be grateful that I memorized how the pagoda worked before that brute destroyed it," King Elbas snorted. "I can't believe how stupid an existence can be to break such a valuable rank 8 item."
Noah left King Elbas to his complaints and returned to his cave. His pack lived in that region to benefit from his influence, and only June could go into his training area without announcing herself.
June wasn't in the cave, so Noah resumed his usual training sessions. He had to wait for King Elbas to complete the teleport anyway, so he didn't mind investing that time to increase his cultivation level.
A lump of azure mental energy came out of his mental sea whenever Noah completed one of his sessions. The images stored there were quite interesting, so he often inspected them in the hope of gaining some insight. NovelsToday.com
The world in Noah's vision changed when he inspected that lump of mental energy. His thoughts also morphed as he experienced what Sword Saint had gone through during that event.
Storms filled the sky. The number of chaotic laws that filled the sky were so numerous that they could partially cover the white light. It was as if yellowish dust had taken control of those lands.
Sword Saint felt unable to expand his consciousness. His senses also suffered in that dangerous environment. The gales of chaotic laws suppressed his sight and hearing, and his aura barely managed to defend his skin.
It was clear that an existence in the eighth rank couldn't survive for long in those lands. The upper tier was the minimum requirement to live inside the stormy regions.
Sword Saint could see a mountain-sized figure moving in the distance even if the storms were clouding his senses. That creature carried so much power that even the chaotic laws couldn't stop its aura from spreading and surrounding his figure.
Sword Saint felt as if his body was about to crumble under that pressure. An instinctive fear filled his mind and spread through his existence, and a cold realization also seeped into his thoughts. He had found a rank 9 magical beast!
Few words could describe that meeting. Sword Saint had always been proud of his achievements, but his immense power couldn't do anything against that force.
His sword had always been able to cut through everything, but he had finally met a wall that no amount of sharpness could overcome. His law was meaningless. Even his domain was nothing more than energy in front of that power.
The storms suddenly stopped raging. The chaotic laws froze in the sky before flowing backward. They converged toward the mountain-sized monster and returned the area to its natural whiteness.
Sword Saint could finally lay his eyes on the monster. He saw a massive armadillo standing in the distance and keeping its mouth open.
The chaotic laws naturally flew toward the creature's mouth. The armadillo wasn't resorting to any technique. That was the amount of pulling force naturally generated by its breathing.
Sword Saint knew that the massive magical beast had noticed him. He couldn't differentiate among the various intensities of the creature's aura, but his instincts had no doubt. The armadillo had seen him and was purposely ignoring him.
The expert didn't dare to move, but an intense danger soon filled his mind. The armadillo had raised its head after completing its meal, and energy began to gather in its mouth.
That energy went through different stages. It first created a large vortex that eventually gave birth to a massive sphere. That mass enlarged until it reached a breaking point that threatened to make all the power accumulated in its structure burst outward.
Still, the pulling force generated by the armadillo was too strong. The energy couldn't leave its grasp, and it soon began to condense into something more threatening.
The sphere transformed into a minute black spot that gave birth to an immense gravitational field. Then, even more chaotic laws converged toward that structure and slowly expanded it.
The process seemed endless. Sword Saint lost track of the passage of time while he observed the magical beast gathering enough energy to power an entire army of peak rank 8 cultivators.
A crack appeared on the singularity when it gathered enough energy. Space bent as the fissure enlarged and spread through the entire black hole.
Then, Sword Saint's vision went dark. He had only been able to sense a massive discharge of energy before his whole existence went numb.
His senses eventually began to work again. Sword Saint found himself among storms of chaotic laws, with injuries filling every inch of his body.
The environment had only one unusual detail. The chaotic laws dulled his senses, but he could see the sky in the distance divided by an immense black line.
The higher plane was stable enough to fix that crack in its fabric in a few seconds, but Sword Saint committed those images to memory. That attack didn't suit his law, but it expressed the highest form of energy in the entire world.
Noah woke up from his vision after Sword Saint's memories ended. Those scenes always managed to leave him speechless due to the prowess shown by the rank 9 magical beast. Yet, they also made his ambition explode.
The power of the armadillo's innate ability seemed connected to the amount of energy it could gather. Still, it also had a feature that Noah had never dreamt of use.
'My higher energy has taken the shape of a black hole because it was the most stable structure for that amount of power,' Noah thought while going through Sword Saint's memories again. 'It's different with my attacks. Their nature makes them generate singularities, but that's only one of the possible outcomes.'
Noah knew his attacks and centers of power enough to be sure that he wasn't expressing his peak potential. His techniques could reach a superior level even without adding more energy.
'Destabilizing a black hole on purpose to gain access to the energy amassed in its insides,' Noah let his mind wander. 'The issue isn't gathering enough power. A singularity would normally discharge its might in every direction, thus endangering the caster. I need a method to control the ejection before attempting to evolve my attacks.'
Sword Saint had been true to his word. He knew Noah enough to understand his request and fulfill his needs. He had shown to Noah the nature that his attacks had to obtain to reach the superior level.