Chapter 1116 1116. Guardian
Chapter 1116 1116. Guardian
The day of the departure eventually arrived. King Elbas had sent a letter to every party member two months before, and everyone had confirmed their presence.
Chasing Demon, Elder Julia, Flying Demon, Dreaming Demon, and Noah set off from different regions in the Hive's domain. They gathered in the designed spot above the sea between the two continents.
King Elbas had opened a path when he resurfaced. He had reinforced it with some inscriptions since he had every intention of using it again. He had already decided that he would hunt the raw laws.
The forces of the Council soon joined the group. Great Elder Diana, Elder Regina, and Elder Paul reached the same spot and exchanged polite greetings with the powerhouses of the Hive.
Elder Regina still felt resentful against Flying Demon due to his actions in the group battles, but she had to respect him nonetheless. The Demon didn't have any honor, but he had proven himself as a capable ally.
The Shandal Empire joined the group too. The alliance's forces had to suppress their annoyance in seeing God's Left Hand and True Speed flying from the new continent.
The two powerhouses performed polite bows to the other experts, but it was clear that they didn't have a friendly relationship with them. The air among the group became tense due to the awkwardness created after their arrival.
The group of powerhouses had to wait for an entire hour before the forces of the Elbas family decided to appear in the sky. King Elbas, First Prince, First Princess, and Second Prince flew toward them and performed simple bows.
Almost all the powerhouses of the world had gathered there on that day. The fourteen of them would leave the surface soon, and they didn't have any worry about their territories' safety.
Generally speaking, their departure would be the best chance for rebellious organizations and other forces to perform coups and claims for independence.
However, the four forces had sealed a temporary peace. That allowed the assets remaining on the surface to focus on the threats outside of them.
Moreover, the leaders didn't fear the other rank 6 cultivators from other organizations who remained on the surface. Each of their regions had defenses capable of stalling powerhouses for decades, so no force had enough manpower to invade enemy lands.
"Let's go," King Elbas said a few minutes after all those chosen for that mission gave their consent to start the journey.
The Royal didn't make any grand speech or explanation about the environment under the seabed. It seemed that he wanted to keep his companions in the blind for now.
The group descended toward the bottom of the sea without encountering any magical beasts. Every creature on their path ran away before they could even think about hunting them.
That event didn't surprise Noah. A creature's instincts would rage madly if a rank 6 magical beast were too near it. There were fourteen powerhouses in the group, so every creature would see the area around them as the most dangerous place in the world.
Noah didn't speak at all during the descent. He had been silent since the various experts had gathered above the sea. His mind was far away. He was still thinking about Sword Saint's last attack even if the mission had already started.
He couldn't help it. Any heroic cultivator would remain mesmerized at the sight of a god's law. That wasn't something that simple inhabitants of a lower world could witness.
His focus on the environment didn't waver because of his current mental state, but everyone could see that something important occupied his thoughts.
King Elbas quickly found the tunnel he had reinforced in the past and led the group through it. Noah soon saw a familiar scarlet halo illuminating his face and trying to affect his mental sphere.
The magma couldn't do anything against his sea of consciousness. He had grown too much since his last visit there, and those natural hindrances couldn't stop him from going deeper in the magma.
No magical beast appeared as the group swam across the scorching current to shorten their path toward their destination.
They couldn't just go straight for the center of the plane. The destruction of the hidden world had spread many pieces of the black sky in the sea, and some giant boulders often fell from the seabed.
There were walls and floors, even in the sea of magma. They didn't hider the cultivators too much, but King Elbas made deviations anyway.
Noah tried his best to remain focused even if Sword Saint's attack and Night's endless complaints took a lot of his attention.
The Pterodactyl had begun to shout curses at the sea's scarlet magma due to the light in the environment. Noah had to hear its plans to destroy the plane's core. Some of them even involved the destruction of the entire world.
Of course, an annoying Companion and a reoccurring thought couldn't make him distracted. He only had to deplete more mental energy to do everything together.
King Elbas remained silent for the entire journey, and the group could only follow him. The heat didn't faze them since they had come prepared for that type of mission, but the complete lack of information became oppressing after an entire year spent swimming in that red environment.
"How long until we reach our destination, Father?" First Prince asked at some point. It seemed that King Elbas didn't even instruct his sons and daughter about that topic, so they were swimming blindly too.
"Six years at this pace," King Elbas conveyed while spreading his consciousness so that everyone could hear his answer. "We can take less, but I want to use my old road, which is quite hard to find in this everchanging environment."
The powerhouses didn't feel discouraged. Instead, having an idea of the time required to reach the core allowed them to organize themselves.
There were some experts capable of cultivating while moving. Others had unique martial arts to practice, and all of them had training sessions on hold due to the mission.
The invitation had changed their priorities, but they knew what to expect now, so they could resume part of their abandoned projects.
Every powerhouse in the mission had robes featuring powerful inscriptions that blocked the magma's properties. They couldn't stop the high temperatures completely, but they offered a good defense against that environment.
The Royals were a bit better off in terms of defensive inscribed items. Second Prince carried an orb capable of releasing a cold halo that balanced the temperature of those illuminated by it.
Noah was among the firsts to start cultivating while swimming through the red sea. He had gained a lot of experience with his cultivation method by then, so he could train by using the dark matter as a cover for the Demonic Sword.
The six years went by in a blink. The group eventually reached a massive wall in one of the hottest areas so far. The structure was black, and metal made most of its fabric. Yet, that material was different from the black sky in the hidden world.
Noah began to analyze it only to see traces of blood vessels and other organs inside that massive structure. They were impossible to miss due to their size, but Noah still struggled to believe that something so big could be alive.
After all, the wall stretched for a few kilometers. Noah had never heard of a creature so big in his years as an expert in the magical beasts' field!
Nevertheless, a more in-depth analysis revealed how those body tissues didn't belong to a single lifeform. The wall was similar to the Purple Corals under the Coral Archipelago.
"Here," King Elbas pointed at a cavity inside the black wall and crossed it before anyone could follow him. His underlings quickly went after him, and the rest of the group did the same.
The insides of that tunnel were a nice change to the blinding red environment, but Noah's interest rose when he saw a completely different light coming from the end of that passage.
The other experts felt confused too, but King Elbas quickly explained the situation. "This is one of the entrances to the center of the world. The illusion around the core is the first guardian."