Birth of the Demonic Sword

Noah eyed the eight cultivators that had been appointed of attacking the Bone dragon.

His role had been to focus on defending the team in the second trial, his status as a rank 3 cultivator in the gaseous stage didn't suit the attacking role, especially against a peak rank 4 creature.

The eight attackers were the cultivators with the highest cultivation level in the group, a few of them were in the solid stage of the third rank while the others were at the peak of the liquid stage, Noah simply couldn't compare to them unless he used the complete Demonic form.

'Such a difference in power, the heroic ranks are incredible.'

As always, Noah deeply analyzed his battle to learn as much as he could from his enemies or to discover flaws in his combat style.

'When entering the liquid stage of the second rank, a cultivator becomes able to wound rank 4 creatures but that only when considering beasts in the lower tier of the rank.'

The comparison between the power level of the magical beasts and the cultivators was clear in his mind, the academy had taught him quite a lot in that field.

Generally speaking, a cultivator became able to safely face a rank 4 beast in the lower tier only when it entered the third rank.

There were exceptions like Noah who could single-handedly kill rank 4 creatures when they were in the second rank but they were considered special cases.

Also, their battles would always involve a large amount of risk, they were forced to go all out in those situations.

After that tier, the difference in power between beasts and cultivators would increase, cultivators had their centers of power which made them naturally stronger than magical beasts but the latter were advancing inside the fourth rank, any breakthrough in the heroic ranks gave far more power than those in the human ones.

'A rank 4 beast in the middle tier can match a cultivator in the liquid stage of the third rank while it can only be safely killed by a group of said cultivators or by someone at the peak of the rank.'

A creature in the middle tier of the fourth rank was halfway through its journey in the first heroic rank, only exceptional cultivators in the liquid stage could face it alone.

'As for those at the peak of the rank, only heroic cultivators can face them without any danger.'

Noah stopped reviewing the situation after that conclusion.

David's team was formed by twenty rank 3 cultivators and four of them were in the solid stage.

Resorting to slowly exhausting the peak rank 4 creature was an excellent choice because it fully expressed the power of the numerical advantage of the cultivators while keeping them safe.

Peak rank 3 cultivators could hurt a peak rank 4 creature but that was it, it was as if a rank 2 cultivator in the liquid stage wanted to kill a rank 4 creature in the lower tier.

Of course, these comparisons were made only considering the stage in which the dantian of the cultivators was, exceptions like Noah had a battle prowess that surpassed their level, allowing them to face strongest foes while being weaker.

"Rest, the next test has taken many lives already."

David ordered before taking a simple mat from his space-ring where he sat.

He looked quite pale, being in the attacking group had depleted a large quantity of his energy, he needed at least a few hours to completely recover.

'The next trial is the endurance one, I wonder how the rank 2 mages here will handle it.'

Noah thought as he sat on the ground, he calmly focused on refilling his dantian as he looked toward the weaker mages.

The third trial required for the cultivators to have a sturdy mental sphere, only rank 3 mages could hope to attempt in surpassing it.

'Well, David has more experience than me in this dimension, if he says nothing about the rank 2 mages then he must have his reasons.'

Noah's conjecture was right.

After they had recovered, David led his team through the deeper passages of the labyrinth that had become available after the second trial was passed, only to stop in front of a massive dark-gray metal door.

Some sort of pressure seemed to come out of the door, the cultivators in the team couldn't help but become stiff when they felt it.

The rank 2 mages were worse off but David promptly took seven pills from his space-ring, handing them to the weak mages who immediately swallowed them.

Their expressions relaxed after the pills became effective, Noah guessed that it was some sort of drug that protected the mental sphere or that could momentarily boost its power.

'Is it worth to risk an injury for a trial that doesn't give rewards?'

Noah couldn't help but internally shake his head at that sight.

Drugs that improved a center of power for a short amount of time usually had severe backlashes or conditions to be met, Noah was fine with endangering his centers of power if that permanently increased his strength but he would never do it for a momentary effect.

Yet, he ultimately put those thoughts in the back of his mind, everyone had different values after all.

David raised the token in front of the door after he saw that everyone was ready, red flames came out of the door as soon as a fissure was created.

On the other side, Noah could see a small room completely covered in flames, the shining red color illuminated his face and tried to affect his mental sphere.

'The effect is similar to the Sulfur domain but these flames seem far more harmful.'

Noah was aware of the contents of the third trial, he had read too many reports about it.

That's why he could instantly make a comparison with the azure flame in one of the training facilities of the academy, the red flames only seemed to release a sharper pressure than the blue ones.

Noah gave another look at the rank 2 mages and relaxed when he saw that they seemed able to endure the pressure released by the room on fire.

Then, David's team entered the room, the massive metal door closed behind them when the last cultivator crossed the entrance.