The Immortal Lands expressed their rage. Crackling noises filled the sky, and lightning bolts shot toward Noah's figure.
Noah didn't know how to handle that situation. He didn't have anything to defeat. The world had become his enemy without giving him a target.
Jordan and the others wanted to come in his aid, but Noah raised his hand to stop them.
"Don't come near me!" Noah shouted. "I need to handle this on my own!"
The world continued to launch lightning bolts that landed on his figure and destroyed part of his fiendish armor. The black hole always rebuilt it, but Noah still felt unable to find a solution to his issue.
Vagona city fell into chaos due to the crisis. The sparks didn't target its buildings. Yet, the cultivators didn't feel at ease in front of such a display of might.
'How do I solve this?!' Noah shouted in his mind, but his situation seemed helpless.
His instincts were telling him that something had broken. Noah felt exposed to Heaven and Earth's will, and nothing he did could turn his situation back.
The armor began to transform. Noah focused on suppressing his existence and hiding his aura. His dark matter created a personal space that forced only matter affected by his ambition to exist. His higher energy took care of removing every trace of Heaven and Earth's will from his surroundings.
The dark world expanded before condensing. Noah was creating a spell meant to hide his existence from Heaven and Earth. His understanding of the Immortal Lands fused with his higher energy and gave it properties that could shield him from external influences.
Noah had to remain in the same position for entire days. The experts inside Vagona city tried to summon reinforcements, but no one arrived since Alexander was taking care of that aspect of the mission.
Jordan and the others also enveloped the city in their threatening aura. They made the five leaders understand that they shouldn't do anything against Noah.
Noah had to wave his sword multiple time to fend off the incoming lightning bolts. Those attacks never put him in real danger, but they were relentless. The world never stopped assaulting him and depleting his energy.
A change happened at some point. The dark matter found a wavelength that could cover his presence from the world. The crackling noises suddenly stopped, and some peace spread through the sky.
The dark world began to condense in the shape of a thin transparent layer that covered his skin. Noah felt as if a bubble had appeared around him. He felt as if he had severed his connection with the world.
'This can't be a lasting solution,' Noah thought while inspecting his new spell.
The layer of skin relied on the black hole to work. It had a nigh-unlimited amount of energy at its disposal, and Noah's dantian always provided more darkness to refill the expended dark matter.
The spell didn't deplete much energy. Noah could keep it up for decades and stretch its duration even more through training sessions. However, it was a bother that he didn't want to withstand.
'I didn't expect this,' Noah sighed in his mind while reviewing the past events.
Noah had partially obtained the answers that he desired. Luke didn't explain much, but he had basically admitted that Heaven and Earth were working together with some cultivators.
Noah had already figured that out, but hearing it from Luke had confirmed his worries. Heaven and Earth had an assault team that could take care of the threats that their fairness didn't allow them to reach.
Jordan and the others flew toward Noah at that point. They wore worried expressions when they inspected his figure. The Tribulation didn't hurt him, but they could sense that something about his existence had changed.
The new spell made Noah's existence hard to read. The rank 7 cultivators were almost unable to sense him at all. Even their eyes struggled to focus on his figure.
"I can't continue the mission," Noah said, but only the rank 8 existences managed to hear his voice. "I need to hurry up back to the Legion."
Noah glanced toward June and his friends. They couldn't even begin to understand what was happening to him, but he trusted that Jordan would eventually explain everything.
"The world can't allow me to exist anymore," Noah explained. "It wants to kick me out of its structure. I need to find a solution before returning to you all."
Jordan and Divine Demon didn't know what to say, so they limited themselves to nod. They could see that Noah was struggling, so they didn't investigate further.
Noah left in a hurry. He shot in the direction of the Outer Lands without stopping to study his condition further.
The constant use of the new spell slowed him down and dulled his senses, but Noah didn't let his annoyance get to his head.
Noah already had a plan. He knew one existence that had suffered due to Heaven and Earth's influence. Only Supreme Thief could tell him how to get rid of that annoying condition.
The flight back to the Legion was uneventful. Noah reached his companions in no time and asked for the new location of Supreme Thief's inheritance.
The hybrids didn't hide anything from him. Noah could travel toward the inheritance right after meeting his companions.
The immense mountain soon appeared in his view. Noah directly flew toward the palace and entered the "strength" tower. The inheritance wanted to send him toward the lower layers, but Noah had no intention of surpassing trials.
Noah dispersed his new spell. The inheritance contained multiple separate dimensions that hid his presence, so his surroundings didn't turn into a mess again. Noah could finally relax and recover from the long travel, but he didn't start a training session just yet.
"Come out, Supreme Thief!" Noah shouted, scaring away all the other hybrids busy choosing trials. "I know that you are watching! I have a serious matter to discuss!"
Noah's words didn't seem to trigger any reaction in the outside world, but an azure light suddenly lit up under him and teleported him away. Noah found himself inside an underground hall with the familiar expert tinkering with an uneven orb.
"What is it?" Supreme Thief asked in an annoyed tone. "I don't like you barging in so suddenly and revealing my existence to the other challengers."
"Heaven and Earth have labeled me as a proper enemy," Noah quickly explained, ignoring the expert's annoyed tone. "I need to use a spell to hide my existence. The world goes crazy otherwise."
"Oh," Supreme Thief exclaimed while moving his attention on him. "They already did that. I think you broke some record."
"Is there a solution?" Noah asked.
"What solution do you even want?" Supreme Thief replied. "The world belongs to Heaven and Earth. They can do what they want with it."
"How did you handle it back then?" Noah continued to ask.
"I didn't handle it," Supreme Thief explained. "The world will continue to attack you until you turn into dust. Don't worry. You will become used to it soon."
Noah cursed in his mind. That was worse than having his mind assaulted by constant pressure. He would have to keep his spell active through the rest of his cultivation journey.
"Well, you can always go to the windy regions if you hate this so much," Supreme Thief added. "The storms of chaotic laws already are a Tribulation, so Heaven and Earth won't add energy to their power. They won't even target you."