Chapter 1720 - 1720. Protection
Noah felt exhausted. His body was about to hibernate to take care of the many injuries and drawbacks that were afflicting his centers of power, but he forced himself to remain awake for a few more seconds.
His eyes moved among the environment. They inspected the white sky and the azure ground. They studied the laws that filled the world and tried to understand if they had ever suffered from the Devils" influence.
The inspection didn"t reveal anything. The world didn"t have anything strange. Noah and the others had returned to the other side of the Immortal Lands.
The landing on the familiar ground marked the end of Heaven and Earth"s mission. The group didn"t know how the battle among the rank 9 existences had ended. However, none of them care about that.
The army initially counted more than a hundred rank 8 cultivators, but the recent struggles had left only a few of them alive. Except for Noah"s friends, less than twenty experts had survived the various punishments.
Noah"s last struggle to remain awake ended after that inspection. He collapsed on the ground, and his companions quickly appeared around him to take defensive positions.
The other experts in the group were better off, but they needed a long time to recover. Their gazes briefly went on the collapsed Noah before they also lay on the ground and began to acc.u.mulate energy. Some defenses shot out of their figures, but they didn"t seem to mind that detail too much.
Truth be told, the group had suffered countless losses, but it still featured an incredible number of rank 8 cultivators. Most organizations couldn"t even hope to reach that power. It was unlikely for foreign forces to decide to attack them.
Only a few experts remained awake. King Elbas, Wilfred, the Foolery, and some of the cultivators who didn"t suffer severe injuries could keep their consciousness unfolded and take care of surveilling the area.
None of them decided to leave, and s.p.a.ce eventually bent due to the many powerful experts absorbing energy in the same place. The ground began to disappear as power flowed toward the cultivators and hybrids. The group was consuming the entire region, and their influence was about to spread in the areas past it.
Years inevitably pa.s.sed. The injuries suffered by rank 8 cultivators required a lot of time to heal unless the experts had access to specific abilities. Everything remained still as the energy contained inside the region flowed toward the group.
Domains began to clash as some existences started to expand past their owners" figures. The different laws tried to take control of the area, but the cultivators managed to stop them before chaos spread through the region.
A few experts eventually stabilized their condition enough to leave the area. Those cultivators decided to change location on their own to let their existences go wild without affecting anyone. Still, they remained nearby to keep track of Noah"s condition.
Most of those cultivators had no idea about the political environment of the other side of the Immortal Lands. They were foreigners in that place, and Noah was their only connection to an organization.
Moreover, Noah had displayed incredible prowess during the previous mission. He was nothing more than a liquid stage hybrid, but his might already placed him among solid stage cultivators.
It was hard to define his actual strength since his solid stage opponents had always been Heaven and Earth"s followers. Noah"s law had a sharp advantage toward them, so giving a proper evaluation of his power was impossible.
The experts could find different organizations if they decided to explore that side of the higher plane, but it felt stupid to give up on the best leader on the market. Noah was the best warrior they had ever seen, and they would rather follow him than some unknown character.
His body had never stopped absorbing energy, so the experts knew that Noah was still recovering from his injuries. Most of them decided to wait around him to repay his efforts against Heaven and Earth. They owed him that slight amount of protection.
The white sky filled Noah"s vision when he woke up, but the black shapes of his companions soon blocked the light. Noah instinctively checked his body to inspect the state of his centers of power, but his worries soon dispersed.
His centers of power were fine. Everything was working perfectly. Only his mind had grown firmer after the prolonged exposure to Heaven and Earth"s light.
"How did it even endure the light for so long?" Noah wondered as he inspected his mental sphere.
The black hole gave answers to his doubts. It sent memories gathered while Noah was hibernating, and they mainly featured his insides.
Noah could inspect how the black hole had healed the various patches of damaged flesh. The organ had also taken care of generating a pulling force and developing a s.h.i.+eld for his mental sphere.
The protection for his mind had ended up evolving into a proper technique. The black hole had grown familiar with Heaven and Earth"s laws during the past years, and the recent addition of the Devils" power had given it the chance to develop an incredible ability.
Noah could seize the benefits of Heaven and Earth"s light without suffering the constant pressure now. The dark matter could create a thin defensive layer around the mental sphere that fended off the incoming force but preserved a harmless weight.
"I will be able to understand when Heaven and Earth manage to go past these chaotic laws right away," Noah thought while straightening his position to sit on the ground. "I only need to pay attention to when the pressure returns to my mind.
The black hole had notified him about the changes in the environment, so Noah didn"t feel surprised when he saw that new scenery. His eyes could immediately go for the other experts, and an honest smile eventually appeared on his face.
"Don"t tell me that you have protected me," Noah mocked his companions.
Sword Saint, Robert, Wilfred, King Elbas, Divine Demon, Fergie, Harold, Luke, and the Foolery were around Noah. They were cultivating as they protected their leader during his helpless condition.
"It"s not our fault," King Elbas snorted. "Someone decided to sleep for two hundred years."
"He always complains," The Foolery sighed.
"Don"t you dare to act all sophisticated with me!" King Elbas shouted.
"Can we go over the battle once again?" Divine Demon asked. "I won the challenge, right? I"ve led the army toward the escape route."
"How many times do we have to go through this?" Wilfred heaved a helpless sigh. "You went crazy and moved toward the exit. We did everything else."
"But pointing toward the exit sounds quite important," Divine Demon replied. "You know what? I don"t care. I"ll take it as my victory anyway."
"You sure are a lively bunch," Sword Saint announced while turning toward Noah.
"They are worse during a battle," Robert explained. "The pig literally fills the battlefield with excrements."