Chapter 223 223. HOPE

"That can't be right," Noah muttered gazing at the clear waters below them. That sight inevitably tried to excite him, but he opted to inspect it first. Straining his instincts to the max, Noah tried his very best to notice anything odd, but nothing showed up.

Excitement began to bubble inside him at that point, and he soon found himself feeling happy.

"That's generous of them," he muttered sitting back, a sigh of relief escaping his mouth.

Anymore and that group would be done. Now they only had to worry about their use of energy. With that incredible boost in confidence, their hopes to clear that stage shot through the roof, and everyone felt the need to put in their best into arriving at the seventh stage on time.

About the reward, they didn't know how reaching it would even be possible.

"Should we still rest?" Nathaniel's voice rang out uncertain. Murmurs rose inside the sphere at those words, as everyone contemplated out loud. But it wasn't until someone stood and disagreed with the earlier mentioned idea did the murmurs die down.

"So you all agree to continuing the journey now?" Nathaniel asked, sweeping his gaze on the elated experts. His gaze landed on Noah but he limited himself to narrowing his eyes at the young man.

"Yes!" They said in unison.

"Very well then," Nathaniel announced turning his gaze to the control port filled with around ten tubes casually floating around him. The shining tubes latched onto his figure and the whole construct experienced a violent tremble.

Hoping he had escaped doing anything, Noah felt his joy vanish when a shining red tube floated towards him. His gaze landed on the expert, but there wasn't much he could do at that point. The eyes of many fell on him at the sight of the tube, making rejecting the object almost impossible.

An excuse tried to exit Noah's mouth, but his curiosity took over him before any such statements could be made. 'What if I'm actually able to fuel it,' he mused feeling something within him tingle in excitement.

'Am I able to do that?' Noah questioned the system.

[[It depends on how the device was structured in terms of energy usage. Only highly knowledgeable cultivators should be capable of telling the difference. For now, you can only try. It might work]]

'That's awfully vague,' Noah replied, pulling the tube towards his core, using his consciousness of course.

The tube; made out of shining lines attached to the space left out for energy in the suit. Taking a deep breath, Noah poured essence into the tube.

Feeling a suction force apply itself to that energy, he watched his yellow energy flow into the tube to arrive at wherever it was meant to go.

To his and the shock of others, the entire ball abruptly lit up with power as a mechanical buzzing sound deafening in intensity spread through the water.

Surprisingly, all eyes fell on Noah and his expression almost went dark. His insecurity however vanished when Veronica turned to him to speak.

"You possess a really high-tier core?!" She started. "No wonder I couldn't see its color. You should be somewhere around green!" She said, mostly muttering in surprise. Soon her eyes widened at the mention of a green core. Even Noah felt astonished by those words. His rank 2 essence was already akin to a green-cored cultivator in the realm of tier 3!

"Such talent should be the stuff of legends," she muttered gazing at Noah in a new light. Having spoken her words out loud, the others were able to listen in, and suddenly Noah's lone arrival into the fourth depth stage didn't seem impossible anymore. Even at that, the reality of a green-cored individual in that realm left them utterly stunned.

'Damn,' Noah thought feeling his respect for his new race increase.

Gaining a vague level of comparison of his power to Creagars power made him feel proud, but also really cautious.

No one spoke to him after Veronica's evaluation, and even Nathaniel limited himself to propel the sphere forward. The sheer amount of power Noah's addition of 500SE generated, allowed them to move at Mach 1 without Nathaniel's permission.

Thankfully the experts couldn't see the different color of Noah's energy, but even at that, he limited his addition to once every hour. At this point, the aspirants had begun to utilize their saved stash of mana potions to remain at a speed a little bit below Mach 1.

The journey remained eventless, but no one complained about that peace. Compared to the occasional darkness and terrible sounds they experienced in the fourth stage, that peace felt like a well-deserved reward.

Conversations continued between the experts. But for some reason Veronica and the other experts close to Noah remained silent, Their reaction to the revelation of Noah's power left him disappointed. Nonetheless, it didn't seem due to ill intent, more of respect. Noah suddenly seemed to exist in a different realm. And he could only notice that change in mindset because of the struggle in Veronica's expression.

But Ariana came to his aid that moment, even if he really didn't mind the silence.

"A green core. Who exactly are you," a familiar female voice rang out inside Noah's mind right after he felt Ariana's consciousness interact with his.

"You won't believe how many times I've heard those words," Noah giggled inwardly.

"Oh! But I think I can. Having such talent at our level shouldn't even be possible. Your rareness is on par with dual affinity cultivators," she explained, causing Noah to gain a vague feeling that she shook her head in wonder, even if he couldn't see her.

'If only she knew,' he thought.

"I doubt that," Noah replied to her. "I'm just slightly special," he added.

"If you were "slightly" special you shouldn't be capable of producing such wonders. Everyone knows that the best way to make up for power between stages is having a high tier core," she snorted.

"I'm not that strong; really. I simply possess a series of tricks most don't have," Noah sighed.

"You've said those words multiple times. I feel inclined to believe you. That is; if you stop revealing depressing tricks," she chuckled, even if her words contained truth.

Most cultivators present didn't know how to feel about Noah's power. Some were peak octahedral orange-cored cultivators, with only a few being yellow. The existence of a potentially green-cored cultivator who wasn't even middle-stage left them downcast. Noah looked so young yet he had so much power available to him.

They were considered above-average experts to be able to even get a shot at becoming a member of that guild. Seeing someone far above them in terms of talent surely brought down their ego. Most soon understood how their not-so-special mates felt when they left for the Divine Lightning guild membership test.

Another day eventually passed, the tension of the time limit increasing with each passing hour.

They were already moving at their best speed, yet it seemed like they would be unable to arrive at their destination on time.

However, the planners of that event seemed to have left another surprise for them, since barely after a day had passed, a massive barrier separating that environment from the white one below it, unfolded in their sights.

They had reached the end of the sixth stage and with a day left to spare! This of course; to the ambitious aspirants, translated into the hope of actually getting the rewards at the tenth stage.