Noah flew across the western coastline for a few weeks before reaching his destination.
The vast mountain chain that divided the two big nations appeared in his view, but Noah"s attention was on the small city that stood on the coast.
The city of Slyfall hadn"t changed in those years, it still appeared as a pirate"s hideout, with simple buildings and dirty streets.
His presence though didn"t go unnoticed since a figure neared Noah as soon as he flew over it.
Noah saw a middle-aged man flying toward him.
His robe didn"t carry any emblem, but his well-kept aspect showed that he was somewhat remarkable in that city.
Also, he was a rank 4 cultivator in the gaseous stage, it would be impossible to reach that level while living in that city unless he had some sort of control over its resources.
"My Lord, I"m Drew, the son of the governor of this city. It"s been such a long time since someone of your rank visited us, please join me in-"
Drew stopped speaking when he took a good look at Noah"s face.
The city of Slyfall gathered information from both Utra nation and Empire, Noah"s wanted poster couldn"t possibly have escaped the sight of the force that ruled it.
Drew"s social skills weren"t bad, he had dealt with criminals and traitors for all his life in Slyfall.
However, Noah"s cold gaze froze his mind and made him unable to show his skills in entertaining influential guests.
Noah felt hunger rising inside him.
Drew was weaker than him, he had probably advanced to the heroic ranks in the last two decades, which put him below Noah"s level.
"Slyfall claims to be an independent city, but it enjoys the backing of certain powerful factions of both Elbas family and Empire. The so-called governor has probably been planted here from one of the two sides."
Noah suppressed his hunger when he thought that.
There would be time to act as he wanted, but doing it right next to the Utra nation wasn"t the smartest choice.
Also, killing a rank 4 cultivator wasn"t exactly a small matter, especially one who was possibly controlled by two big nations.
Their battle would inevitably affect the city below them, and Noah believed that such a den of criminals would have been already destroyed if the two big nations didn"t benefit from it.
Noah turned his gaze toward the city at that point while taking out the diplomatic token that the Hive had prepared for him.
The word "Recruiter" appeared inside Drew"s mind when his mental energy swept the token, and he could finally breathe a sigh of relief when he understood that Noah wasn"t there to create chaos.
"L-lord Balvan, the city of Slyfall has many entertaining activities suitable for your status. Please, follow-"
"Is the Broken Cup still selling stolen items?"
Drew managed to show his social skills when that oppressing gaze left his figure, but Noah suddenly interrupted him to question him about a simple tavern.
"Ehm, I would never allow such a treacherous business in my city! I can a.s.sure you that I would personally take down anything-"
Drew began to speak again, but Noah put an end to his phase with another intense stare.
Drew felt as if a powerful beast was observing him and evaluating which parts of his body were tastier, Noah was making him feel as if he was a common prey.
It didn"t take him much to realize that it was pointless to pretend in front of the famous Demon Prince.
"Yes, the tavern still hosts an underground market. I can set up a meeting with Gillian, the manager of the market if the Lord wants."
Drew explained everything without holding even Gillian"s name back, but Noah declined his offer with a few words.
"No need, she is an old friend."
The Broken Cup was still the same.
Drunk men and women still filled its insides, and the waitresses handled the occasional small fights on the floors.
It was a typical day for those rank 1 cultivators and commoners, no significant business happened in that city after all.
However, the tavern suddenly began to tremble, and the sunlight began to illuminate its interiors to their surprise.
Those men and women raised their gaze only to discover that the roof of the tavern had disappeared and that not even a small debris had fallen over them.
A young-looking cultivator was floating above the now open ceiling, but those simple drunkards couldn"t understand the depths of his cultivation level.
"Out."
Noah said just one word, but all the commoners and weak cultivators left the tavern after it.
Only the waitresses remained inside the tavern, and their faces clearly showed the fear that they felt when they looked at the heroic cultivator above them.
"This formation can fend off my mental waves, quite impressive. Yet, I can smell the presence of a few people in the underground chamber."
Noah thought before diving toward the underground area.
The lines of the protective formation appeared and flickered when Noah touched the floor, but they weren"t able to hinder his motion at all.
Noah simply pierced the floor and landed in the underground room where he found a naked Gillian sitting over a tied man.
The man wasn"t entirely conscious, it seemed that something was being drained from him as Gillian kept on moving over him.
"I knew you would return. Can you let me finish before killing me? I would like to enjoy myself one last time."
Gillian began to speak without turning.
Noah could finally make out her level: she was a rank 3 cultivator in the solid stage with a rank 3 mind and a rank 4 body in the middle tier.
Also, he was able to sense that there were other chained men hidden inside that chamber, but they were little more than corpses.
It seemed that even a small touch could make them crumble into pieces.
"She has realized who I am even if her mind can"t see me, it should be the work of the formation."
Noah thought before applying a bit of pressure on all the men in the room.
The mental spheres of those men exploded under that pressure, they died in less than an instant as soon as Noah willed it.
"Cold as usual. Go ahead, kill me. My organization has survived battles on a level that you can"t even conceive, the fact that you have reached the heroic ranks won"t scare me."
Gillian turned when Noah killed those men, and her naked body was wholly revealed to him.
Gillian was quite beautiful, but her body seemed surrounded by a peculiar halo that made her figure extremely captivating.
Of course, Noah wasn"t affected in the slightest.
"The battle you are talking about is that between Ravaging Demon, Charming Demon, and Devouring Demon? I would like to hear more about it."
Noah spoke, and Gillian couldn"t help but show an amazed expression, she was beginning to understand that Noah wasn"t there to kill her.