Chapter 1118
Birth of the Demonic Sword
"What is this land?" Great Elder Diana asked . "How many more guardians do we have to face?"
Her patience had reached its limits after swimming through the magma for years . The last part had been even worse since she hadnât been able to use her power as she wished .
Noah could feel part of that annoyance now that he floated next to that black metal . Having the range of his consciousness restricted made him virtually blind in that foreign environment .
He guessed that the suppression would be even stronger once deep inside the region . For the first time since the beginning of the mission, Noah thought that his level wasnât suitable for that journey .
King Elbas glanced at the group still floating in the magma . Runes shone in his eyes, and his expression didnât carry his usual arrogance .
The Royal heaved a sigh before replying . "Nothing can live here, and the same matter tries to force you away . There are only three more guardians, but there are no words to describe the last two . "
Both the Royal and the Matriarch had boosted their voice with their "Breath" to speak . Their mental waves couldnât reach their companion, so they had to spread vibrations through the magma to speak .
"The third guardian is the land itself," King Elbas said as he tapped his foot on the metal . "We must walk in these conditions until we reach the very center of the plane . The journey will be rather peculiar . "
No sound came out of the metal when King Elbas tapped on it, and no mark appeared on its surface . Still, there was something off with that material . It lacked any aura .
It would typically be impossible for anything to survive in that environment to be devoid of aura or halo . Yet, the metal appeared empty of any quality .
âItâs not the metal,â Noah thought after seeing that . The magmaâs radiations became more intense when they touched the region, but the land didnât do anything to make that happen .
Noahâs curiosity eventually made him separate from the group and reached King Elbas on the landmass . His mind trembled slightly when his feet touched the metal, and the environment appeared different there .
It was a strange feeling to describe . Noah felt as if his existence spread through the ground and expanded . The sensation was extremely addicting since his growth lost any limit once in contact with the metal .
Noahâs survival instincts kicked in at that point . His dark star spun faster than ever to restore his focus and make him jump to leave the ground .
Once his connection with the metal broke, Noah found himself inside the yellow magma again . He was far above the landmass, and the group of experts stared at him with a curious expression .
On the other hand, Noah found his dantian partially drained . His cultivation level didnât regress, but a chunk of his darkness had disappeared .
âWhat was that?â Noah thought before slowly descending again toward the landmass .
The feeling that had invaded his mind was as captivating as an illusion, but he knew that it had been real . His existence had really spread, but he wasnât in control of the process .
Noah hesitated a bit before placing his foot back on the metal . The strange feeling returned, and his focus wavered in the incredible sensation of his expanding existence .
However, he forced his mind to remain focused, and the feeling slowly disappeared as he kept his individuality in check . If he didnât lose himself, the ground didnât absorb his darkness .
"You sure are full of surprises," King Elbas said under the attentive gaze of the rest of the group . His praise toward Noah was honest, and it even carried a trace of admiration .
Then, a smile appeared on his face as he questioned Noah . "They are quite captivating, arenât they?"
Noah was still quite confused about everything that had happened, but the Royalâs words confirmed one of the many hypotheses that had appeared in his mind .
"Are these raw laws?" Noah asked . The metal behaved in line with what he knew about that resource . The process only appeared to happen in reverse .
According to what he knew, the raw laws had to flow inside cultivators and fuse with their existence . Instead, the ground applied the opposite effect . It absorbed individualities to fuse them with its fabric .
"Sort of," King Elbas replied . "I think they are close to their pure form . These are raw laws to obtain meanings . They donât have a clear state yet, but the world has already tasked them to become something . "
Noah nodded as he crouched to study the ground . The surface was uneven, and there were various cracks across it . Yet, he couldnât rip a piece of that metal even with his physical strength .
"I guess they are still in this form because the world doesnât need more yellow magma now," Noah said, and King Elbas nodded in agreement .
The land acted as a reserve of laws ready to refill the yellow magma, and Noah even guessed that it could turn into other materials . Everything depended on the true meaning that it absorbed .
âSuch a ductile material,â Noah thought as disappointment surged inside his mind . âThis can turn into anything, but I canât even seize a small piece . â
"I call it Royal Metal," King Elbas continued . "I wonder what will happen if it manages to absorb an entire individuality . Itâs regretful that no slave can ever reach this place . "
The Royal wanted to study the various features of the landmass, but its peculiar environment made any research impossible . Mental waves couldnât survive outside of mental spheres there . It was needless even to consider the functioning of inscribed items needed for the study .
The other cultivators slowly gathered their courage and approached the landmass . The Demons were the first to step forward, and the rest followed right after them .
The same backlash that had hit Noah struck them, but their protective inscribed items activated and preserved their individualities . The only ones to struggle even after that were True Speed and Elder Paul .
King Elbas looked at the two young powerhouses with a blank expression . He didnât want to reveal his thoughts, but the other experts could vaguely understand them since they felt in the same way .
True Speed and Elder Paul appeared too weak for that environment . Their battle prowess was above average, but their individualities seemed too frail to reach the end of the mission .
Still, they couldnât go back now . Only King Elbas and Noah could move freely inside the yellow magma, but none of them would ever decide to escort them back to the red sea .
Godâs Left Hand and Great Elder Diana intervened when they noticed how bad their underlingsâ situation was . Inscribed items came out, and some of their "Breath" seeped inside them to protect their centers of power .
True Speed and Elder Paulâs condition stabilized after that . They even became able to see, but they couldnât express their true prowess due to their leadersâ restrictions .
"Whatâs the fourth guardian?" Noah asked while he waited for everyone to become used to the landmass .
"We will need to fight," King Elbas answered and didnât reveal much more . Still, that piece of information was enough to bring some tension among the group .
Noah was relatively okay, but the other experts were only cultivators . Fighting without spreading their minds would be hard, and spells might even not work at all because of the restrictions .
The group eventually started to move again . The experts walked, but they only took a few months to find what King Elbas had said .
The ground began to morph in front of them, and strange metallic shapes rose to stop their path . They didnât seem intentioned to charge at the group, but they didnât feel harmless either .