Chapter 2071 - 2071. Blame
Noah couldn't help but feel wary of Heaven and Earth's decisions. They were different from what he had grown used to during the previous stages of his cultivation journey.
The rulers didn't attack mindlessly anymore. Instead, they had precise goals behind every Tribulation, and they didn't mind backing off whenever those plans went wrong.
The orange city shrunk in the form of a small district that made it easier to leave the patch of void and fly toward the nearest weak sky. Noah silently followed those floating buildings as he tried to imagine what Heaven and Earth had in store.
The Tribulations had grown stronger, the assaults had become smarter, and the tactical retreats prevented Noah from inflicting any consistent damage to the reserves of energy. Heaven and Earth were playing a slow and safe game as they slowly prepared for the final battle.
The orange city stopped flying once it arrived in an intact area. The fabric of space started to tremble as a strange glow came out of the buildings. Faint and small cracks opened among the whiteness as the dimensional layer that divided the zone from the void split into two parts and created a hiding spot.
The district flew inside that area in-between the layer of space, and Noah followed it. The pale whiteness that reached the separate dimension created a strange environment that blocked Heaven and Earth's constant inspections. Noah and the old rulers were relatively safe there, but both of them added defenses.
Noah limited himself to deploying the dark world and filling the entire separate dimension with his black crystals. Instead, the orange city spread sparks among the technique that transformed into crackling barriers as soon as they reached the edges of the area.
Nothing could reach the insides of the dark world now. Even a Tribulation would struggle to pierce those defensive techniques. Noah and the old rulers silently understood that they could talk safely, and the district opened to reveal a large road that led to the familiar pit.
Noah jumped on the road and reached the pit in no time before descending in its faint darkness. An orange radiance soon filled his view, but he didn't enter in any separate dimension. He eventually reached the chunk of the old sky, but its current form left him surprised.
The old rulers had been nothing more than a severed and defeated part of Heaven and Earth. They didn't have proper features, and they barely recalled what they were before fusing with the world. However, their new form showed that they had long since abandoned that weak condition.
The chunk of the sky had slowly transformed into a humanoid figure that radiated pale orange light. Noah could see the giant puppet illuminating the darkness of the pit, but he eventually noticed the slight imperfections on its surfaces.
The puppet's skin was far from smooth, and many spots featured small cracks or sharp corners. It was clear that the old rulers were up to something, but their project appeared far from over.
"Are you trying to rebuild your existence into something more individual?" Noah asked as he floated around the tall avatar to inspect its details.
"We had to remember first," The old rulers' androgynous voice resounded inside the pit without revealing any precise source. "How can power come from a previous step in the cultivation journey? We don't know for sure. Still, our new form is slowly taking life as we continue to expand our influence in the higher plane."
"Are you ditching your fusion with the world?" Noah asked since it seemed that the old rulers were trying to obtain a more human form.
"We can't ignore that part of our journey," The old rulers explained, "But we won't remain bound by it. We had to evolve past those limits, especially now that Divine Demon has started to claim our old energy."
Divine Demon was the "Breath"'s favored son, while the old rulers were the creators of that energy. Noah had guessed that their existences would have eventually clashed, but the old Heaven and Earth had chosen to jump on another path.
"Did you develop a new higher energy?" Noah asked as the images of the apes' special organs appeared in his mind.
"We weren't trying to keep it hidden from you," The old rulers explained. "The current state of the higher plane makes communications hard. We can barely send troops outside our city now."
"Let me see it," Noah requested. "I'm still one of the major experts in the world when it comes to higher energy."
"We are sure you'll hate it," The old rulers announced as an orange drop slowly materialized in front of Noah. "We wanted to fill the world with energy for our species in the past. That feeling didn't change. It has only taken a new form due to the changes in the world."
Noah inspected the orange drop. Liquid sparks ran inside its structure. It was powerful, dense, and far stronger than the "Breath", but it didn't reveal any unique feature. It even lacked the various natures that the "Breath" could obtain depending on its elements.
"It feels bland," Noah admitted.
"The "Breath" could originally become a core part of every member of our species," The old rulers explained. "The same goes for this higher energy. Everyone can seize it. Everyone can use it to reach farther spots in the cultivation journey. We have almost improved our original existence without needing to fuse with the world again."
"Why are you doing this?" Noah asked. "The Mortal Lands are hidden past the sky, and the higher plane doesn't have a great population either. Moreover, the experts among the whiteness won't accept this energy."
That was the same issue that Noah had faced when developing the quasi-living workshops. He had to create something that the powerful experts of the higher plane could accept without fearing for their worlds. The old rulers' higher energy was nowhere near that, and it even felt weaker than most powers.
"Because it's in our nature," The old rulers revealed. "It doesn't matter if it's useless. It doesn't matter if no one will take it. We have our path to complete even if no one else understands it."
A sharp spot on the avatar's figure suddenly flattened. The proud statement had brought the puppet closer to its final form, and Noah didn't miss that detail.
Noah remained partially stunned to see how far the old rulers had gone after their initial meeting. They weren't cultivators, but they had started to resemble them, and it was unclear where their path would lead them.
"You found your path," Noah whispered.
"No," The old rulers corrected. "We recalled and improved it. We now know that fusing with the world is a flawed path. We'll bring the higher plain to new heights as individual existences."
"Heaven and Earth don't think that it's flawed," Noah argued.
"It isn't for them," The old rulers responded. "Heaven and Earth have found a new approach, and they probably need us to complete it. We can almost sense the new clarity that fills the world. We think that they can win."
Noah knew that the victory intended by the old rulers was different from his idea. In his mind, Heaven and Earth would win as long as they killed him. It didn't matter if they succeeded in becoming a rank 10 existence afterward.
Instead, the old rulers could sense that Heaven and Earth's current approach could lead them to the heights that they had consistently failed to reach. They were basically stating that the new path was probably correct.
"Was it my fault?" Noah honestly asked. "Did I make Heaven and Earth realize their flaws by forcing their hand countless times?"
"You are definitely to blame," The old rulers confirmed, "But you shouldn't think of that as a mistake. Someone else would have filled your role anyway.. Heaven and Earth have simply learnt how to improve after facing their flaws for so long."