Chapter 2022 - 2022. Center
Noah and his team had long since stopped viewing the crackling avatars as worthy opponents. Those puppets weren't weak, but Heaven and Earth had used them in countless punishments. Each expert who managed to reach the ninth rank had memorized their functioning and had learnt how to counter them.
However, the sheer number of crackling avatars made Noah and King Elbas reevaluate that idea. They didn't fear a small platoon, and they also believed that they could deal with a single upper tier puppet. Still, the city contained too many of them. Noah wouldn't have trouble completing the requirements for the ninth rank if he absorbed a mere fraction of them.
'This is too much,' Noah thought as the massive display of power left him astonished.
Noah had always known that Heaven and Earth had eras to prepare themselves for the final battle. He had never underestimated their power either, but that scene was simply too much. The rulers would have enough energy to recreate multiple higher planes with what they had accumulated in a single city, and he believed that they had more of them inside the sky.
In theory, there had to be a limit to Heaven and Earth's assets, but that had turned out to be a mere miscalculation. Every existence that dared to go against the rulers used the punishments to gain a vague idea of the power contained in the sky, but that only led to delusions.
Heaven and Earth had to stick to their fairness, but the sky was their world. They didn't have rules among those shining surfaces. They could use all the energy accumulated and generated across eras of their unmatched domain over the world to create countless assets, and Noah had finally gained the chance to witness part of them.
The army of avatars alone wasn't too scary when Noah considered his full potential. He knew that those powerful puppets turn into nothing more than flies in his eyes once he hit the very peak of the cultivation journey. Yet, the road to the solid stage was immense, and he feared what would happen if Heaven and Earth found the right loophole in their fairness. No one would be safe at that point.
The worry caused by that spectacular sight only worsened the group's situation. Their defenses founded on the dark metal were preventing the pressure in the environment from affecting their centers of power, but the whiteness was depleting that resource at a fast pace. It seemed that the sky could crush them with its mere presence, which added a faint tension that the experts couldn't disperse.
Noah felt as if his understanding of the sky had broadened during those short seconds spent immersed in his astonishment. He had always considered the white layer as the final destination, and he had even accepted that it could be the embodiment of Heaven and Earth's power. At some point, he had also seen it as a trap, especially before the mission. Yet, his idea had transformed again.
The sky was a world on its own that stood above the realm of the higher plane. The gap between them was also immense since the former had the power to generate Immortal Lands without being affected by that loss of energy. Still, Noah had decided to invade it anyway.
Noah finally understood his state. He was a rat who couldn't resist the scent of the best food in the world. Noah wasn't a proud and ambitious existence willing to go farther than everyone else for his goals. He was a filthy robber who had every chance to die due to his recklessness.
Noah sensed King Elbas' eyes on his figure, but he didn't turn. He had nothing to say to his friend. They could only accept that Heaven and Earth were as talented as them, and defeating them would require more than perfect plans.
In a normal situation, Noah would actually decide to retreat. He didn't feel any shame running away against an opponent that had turned out to be far stronger than his predictions. The cultivation journey had often put those twists in front of him, but his priority had always been on preserving his life.
However, the situation was far different now. Noah would even label it as helpless. Both he and King Elbas needed the sky to move forward, and it had become clear that the area could satisfy their requirements. The only problem was that Heaven and Earth would inevitably discover the presence of rats inside their home.
King Elbas needed a specific part of the sky to complete his transformation. His final existence required something that only Heaven and Earth could have. He wanted a chunk of whiteness that expressed the many laws carried by the rulers.
Something so important wouldn't be in the peripheral parts of the sky. Even the cities weren't as valuable as that material. After all, King Elbas wanted part of Heaven and Earth's core. That probably was the best resource in the entire plane.
Instead, Noah only needed energy. In a different situation, he would have decided to cause a mess in the city, absorb what he could, and run back in the safety of the stormy regions. The event wouldn't grant him enough fuel since Heaven and Earth would chase him away before that. Yet, it would be an important feat capable of increasing his potential and bringing him closer to the ninth rank.
His situation didn't allow him to deploy the safe plan. Noah couldn't start his absorption there since it would only warn Heaven and Earth about his presence. His group had to proceed deeper into the sky and remain hidden until they found the right target.
'Each building probably has rank 9 cultivators,' Sepunia said through precise mental waves that didn't affect the environment at all. 'Heaven and Earth call those in the eighth rank at times, but they aren't too useful during the trance.'
Noah and King Elbas limited themselves to nod before retreating deeper into the tunnel and resuming their digging. It was hard to keep track of their movements inside that white environment. Up and down were also vague due to the heavy pressure that filled their surroundings. Those features reminded the two experts about the void, even if the source of those sensations were different.
The dark substance in their techniques couldn't help during the exploration. The experts were temporarily safe, but they didn't want to leave any trace of their passage. Even remaining in the same position for too long could alert Heaven and Earth due to the black spots they created in the rulers' perception.
The group felt almost lucky that Heaven and Earth didn't react to the holes they dug inside the sky. It seemed that the dormant state made the rulers unable to see those narrow tunnels in areas that only carried the power to absorb laws. Of course, the experts had tested that beforehand, but they couldn't feel sure about that feature until now.
The direction of the travel felt relatively mandatory. What King Elbas wanted was priceless, so it had to be in a safe or protected area. Those places usually involved separate dimensions with entrances placed right in the middle of a dangerous environment, and the group planned to find them.
The experts limited themselves to ascend during the first part of their travel. The chunks of the sky that contained Heaven and Earth's core probably were at the very center of that white structure, so the group had to understand how large it was to find that midpoint.
The group dug in a straight line for a long time until they eventually found the end of the whiteness. The void unfolded in their vision and confirmed that they had reached the other side of the sky.
The event made them ready for the core part of the mission.. It was time to explore the central parts of the sky and find their desired priceless resource.