Chapter 1677 - 1677. Stalling
Noah"s journey continued. His instincts never stopped taking over the other world"s will, but their influence remained limited to specific aspects of his behavior.
His instincts mostly affected his battle style and ambition, but they still couldn"t grant his awareness back. Moreover, he continued to obey the will"s orders and search Heaven and Earth"s laws to transform.
Life was easy for the Devils with Noah around. He took care of the sharks, and the Tribulations couldn"t do anything to them. He didn"t have proper threats to face, and that made his transformation go smoothly.
The journey led the army deeper into the Immortal Lands. Strong winds eventually started to blow around Noah, and the number of powerful packs increased.
The sharks still tried to eat the Devils, but Noah"s influence had made them toxic for the magical beasts. They carried his influence and attempted to enhance the creatures" power, but the creature"s mutations were too random to find a new stability.
Noah had transformed the Devils into poison for the sharks. Those creatures couldn"t adapt to that sudden change, so most of them died at the beginning of every fight.
Something happened while the army of Devils roamed through the windy regions. A faint pleasant sensation hit Noah"s mind even if he had yet to recover control of his consciousness.
The feeling didn"t come from his instincts. It was something meant for the other world"s will. It forced the Devils to turn and look in the direction of the innermost parts of the Immortal Lands.
Noah"s army immediately turned to reach the source of that feeling. Heaven and Earth had created something that the other world"s will couldn"t ignore. It was a clear bait, but the Devils didn"t care.
The feeling didn"t only attract Devils. Sharks and matter affected by mutations began to move toward the source of that sensation.
Large boulders, packs, immense lakes, and dense winds flew toward that source. It seemed that Heaven and Earth had finally started their plan.
Faint humming sounds resounded through the sky and enhanced the captivating sensation attracting everything affected by the chaotic laws.
The Devils even disregarded the laws that still belonged to Heaven and Earth on their path to reach that destination sooner. The call was too intense. It was as if the core of their enemy would be at the end of that road.
It didn"t take much before a ma.s.sive army formed on the horizon. All the Devils and sharks on the Immortal Lands were moving toward that destination. Pieces of the environment also floated among them, and that created a majestic but strange scenery.
The years of travel ended when the army reached a floating lake surrounded by cultivators. Noah would recognize his friends among that group if his awareness returned. Still, he saw them as nothing more than enemies to overcome to reach his target.
A ma.s.sive pillar of pure white light shone in the middle of the floating lake. That radiance carried Heaven and Earth"s laws in their pure form. It seemed to contain the core to their existence and an immense amount of power.
The sharks didn"t even bother to wait for their new companions. Their hunger had blinded them. The energy inside the pillar of light could bring their level to the ninth rank in an instant. Even magical beasts at the bottom of the eighth rank only needed a bite of that structure to reach the apex of the cultivation journey.
Instead, the Devils and the broken environment remained behind. The other world"s will controlled their actions, and it could feel that the right moment to attack had yet to arrive.
Countless inscriptions lit up when the sharks charged ahead. Multiple defensive arrays that featured different types of defenses discharged their power on those magical beasts.
The sharks lost more than half of their army in a single exchange. The power contained by those defenses could even threaten upper tier creatures, so most of those specimens didn"t have a chance to survive.
The cultivators behind the defenses began to fight the sharks that had survived the initial exchange. The magical beasts were more than them, but they lacked the mental sanity to approach the battle properly.
The sharks could only think about getting to the pillar of light. They didn"t care about the cultivators. The chance to reach the ninth rank was right before their eyes. They wouldn"t mind small prey in that situation.
The human army exploited that feature. The various experts deployed many spells that worked together with the defenses to suppress the sharks and overcome their numerical disadvantage.
A faint order in the form of a feeling suddenly rang inside Noah"s mind. The other world"s will had spoken. It wanted the Devils to join the battle and destroy those who defended Heaven and Earth.
A wave of anger filled Noah as he pressed forward. The other Devils followed him in a disorganized battle formation, while the pieces of tainted environment simply shot ahead.
The defenses destroyed the tainted ground in an instant, but they struggled to affect the army of Devils. Those creatures had an innate resistance to most laws, and the inscription masters that had set those lines also belonged to Heaven and Earth"s system.
Some Devils died, but their chaotic laws flowed inside their companions rather than disperse in the environment. Most of them reached Noah since the creatures could instinctively recognize his superiority.
The Devils eventually landed on the human army. There was no hesitation in their behavior at that time. The other world"s will had decided that they had to take care of the cultivators, so they didn"t need to suffer damage before attacking.
The attack ended up being quite effective. The Devils limited themselves to spread their influence through the army, but their power was quite deadly. They could force their opponents" existence to transform, and that ruined most of their techniques.
A wave of spells followed that initial victory. The human army relied on laws that didn"t belong to Heaven and Earth to attack the Devils, but they didn"t manage to achieve much.
Relying on laws that didn"t belong to Heaven and Earth made those cultivators weaker. Only those that didn"t sell their existence to those rulers could fight properly, but the Devils were resilient creatures.
Most of the Devils would rebuild themselves after attacks destroyed them. The chaotic laws wouldn"t disperse in the environment unless they exhausted the other world"s will in their fabric.
Moreover, some of the Devils appeared stronger than others. The darker specimens featured intense aggression that made them exploit their innate resilience. They could directly charge toward the cultivators and let the mutations do the rest.
Noah wasn"t holding back either. His ambition flowed through the army and intensified the influence of the chaotic laws. Most cultivators tried to fight its effects, but they only suffered during that struggle.
Noah"s ambition could improve their existence, but their laws ended up experiencing partial mutations, which led to weaker results.
Noah"s ambition didn"t go unnoticed. His existence had changed, but his friends could recognize his law even after those transformations.
King Elbas was the first to connect that influence to Noah"s ambition. He knew his plan to use the chaotic laws to evolve his existence. He could understand that the procedure had a chance to transform him into a Devil.
"This isn"t the right time to fight," King Elbas said while diving in the middle of the enemy army and appearing in front of Noah. "We are only stalling. Heaven and Earth have something in mind."
Noah didn"t give any answer. Instead, he directly charged toward King Elbas and tried to pierce his c.h.e.s.t with his clawed fingers.
A golden s.h.i.+eld appeared in front of King Elbas and blocked the claws. The inscribed item melted due to Noah"s influence, but that result didn"t surprise the expert.
"I guess it"s time to fight you for real," King Elbas sighed, and his aura spread in the environment. He announced to the whole world that he had reached the liquid stage.