Birth of the Demonic Sword

Noah heaved a sigh when he sensed Earth's presence vanishing from the sky. That trial was no more, but his mood felt heavy due to the recent developments.

Heaven and Earth were trying to counter the entirety of his existence. They had even managed to suppress his ambition and influence for the most part. They had already developed items capable of vanquishing most of his abilities too, so his situation appeared quite grim.

'I won't be able to face them the next time if my power doesn't evolve,' Noah sighed in his mind.

Supreme Thief, Great Builder, and every other existence who had started to annoy Heaven and Earth had to go through a similar treatment. Noah was experiencing the targeted suppression that those rulers were capable of, and his options diminished as he imagined the various tools that those powerful beings could deploy.

Noah didn't have many options at hand. The final slash was the only ability that Heaven and Earth had yet to counter properly. He knew he couldn't base his whole offensive on one technique, but he had limits, even with his broad existence.

'What can I even create?' Noah wondered while diving toward the shattered ground. 'I can't invent new techniques every time I face Heaven and Earth. Even developing a single trump card in that period is a stretch.'

There was no real solution. Noah was only another existence that Heaven and Earth were preparing themselves to suppress. His fate would be the same as many other powerful beings if his level didn't evolve. He would lose like everyone else.

'The chaotic laws have also been almost useless in this battle,' Noah cursed in his mind. 'I guess creating counters is easy when you have access to multiple worlds.'

The situation seemed hopeless, but Noah didn't want to give up. Heaven and Earth had to fall, but he didn't know how to succeed. Everything would have been different if the rulers had started to target his existence after the ninth rank, but now he feared that death would arrive before that checkpoint.

'Perfecting the final slash is a must,' Noah thought as his consciousness spread through the shattered ground. 'I don't know about the rest.'

Noah felt truly lost. He had never underestimated Heaven and Earth, but he had always believed to have more time. After all, his cultivation level was still in the liquid stage. He was the first expert to have suffered such targeted suppression so early on.

The ground didn't contain anything valuable. Many corpses filled the various cracks, but they barely had any power left after the battle. The destroyed underground world was also empty. That mission had taught Noah a lot, but it still felt pointless after inspecting its outcome.

"I didn't expect you to deal with Heaven and Earth so swiftly," Steven announced while flying toward Noah's figure. "You only had access to your physical strength and a spark of your influence, but you still defeated them."

"They didn't care about fighting," Noah sighed. "That was only a game meant to reinforce their foundation before a proper fight. We lost since we showed more of our power."

Steven studied the environment. One of the most protected areas belonging to the human organizations was in ruin. Many powerful cultivators who worshiped Heaven and Earth had died. His allies had even severed the connection with the rulers, but Noah still saw that as a loss.

"It's hard to satisfy you," Steven laughed, trying to lighten the mood, but his attempts didn't lead to any result.

Silence spread through the area. June and the others slowly gathered behind Noah and created a half-circle around him, but they didn't speak to give him enough time to think.

"A single existence can't deal with the rulers," Noah eventually concluded and transmitted those ideas through his voice. "It's simply impossible. We might be amazing, but they still have access to multiple worlds. They can use massive amounts of energy to make up for their lack of talent and aptitude toward certain fields."

"They still have to take it away from somewhere," Robert explained. "The Immortal Lands are a system in constant expansion, but they have strict requirements. Maybe we can find what Heaven and Earth decide to ignore and exploit it to our benefit."

"What if they attack before that?" Noah asked. "It's only normal to think that Heaven and Earth will complete their projects before us. They have all the right cards in their hands."

"We die trying then," Steven announced. "My cell won't accept cowards. We are against Heaven and Earth until the end now."

"No one is having second thoughts," June snorted. "The issue is far deeper than you think. Heaven and Earth's followers can appear everywhere, and they only grow stronger. Normal cultivators can't overcome this treatment."

"Even monsters can't," Noah explained. "Heaven and Earth have rigged the cultivation journey. Everything starts with their "Breath" and ends with their suppression."

"Are you giving up?" King Elbas asked in a cold voice.

"Elbas, how long did it take you to counter my law back then?" Noah asked while turning toward the expert.

"Years," King Elbas honestly revealed. "Your law is too broad to require only a simple set of materials and laws."

"Did you manage to create a counter for my current state already?" Noah continued with his questions.

"I'm working on it," King Elbas revealed. "You have fused with foreign chaotic laws. The process is taking a long time, but I'm confident to reach a prototype shortly."

"Heaven and Earth have done it before you could even understand what you did wrong," Noah snorted. "They have too much at their disposal."

"We have always known that," Wilfred exclaimed.

"I didn't know how quickly they would react to my law," Noah admitted. "I was sure it would have happened soon, but not so soon. We need a solution right away, or our next battle might be the last."

The group finally began to realize how scary it was to have an entire world against them. Heaven and Earth were probably developing counters for all of them, and Noah didn't even want to imagine the amount of energy flowing into that process.

Silence filled the shattered ground. Everyone was trying to come up with a solution, but everything sounded too easy to counter.

"Can't they overload themselves?" King Elbas asked.

"They can," Robert replied. "However, their resilience makes that event almost impossible. Even rank 9 cultivators couldn't trigger that effect. We have no chances if they have failed."

Noah reviewed all his possible options with the Demonic Deduction technique. An idea eventually hit his mind, but he felt bad just by thinking about it.

"I have a solution," Noah revealed. "I don't even know if you can help with it."

His words caught everyone's attention. All the experts took a few steps forward to approach him and listen to the rest of the proposal.

"We can't change our existences," Noah explained, "But we can unite them under a sole banner. Most of Heaven and Earth's opponents are sparse, in hiding, or in the Outer Lands. We are almost on our own unless we build a team."

"We already are a team," Luke announced.

"We are too few," Noah continued. "I need an army made of threatening existences to make Heaven and Earth unable to adapt. We require more of us in this war."

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Author's notes: I woke up with 39.5 and took meds all day. Still, the fever keeps going up. I don't know if I have to hit the hospital. You'll know I'm there if you don't see chapters.