Chapter 2111 - 2111. Green
The passage had always been hidden inside the separate reality, and Fiery Mountain realized that only now. Pure astonishment, regret, and relief mixed on her face as she stared at the giant door that connected the scorching environment to a different area.
Noah retracted the dark world and stopped affecting the door. The passage was already working on its own, so his influence was unnecessary. The separate reality had accepted that he had found the answer, so it helped finalize it.
The door's insides were bright green. A vibrant aura came out of it, but its details remained hidden by the space that separated the two environments. Noah, June, and Fiery Mountain could only confirm that the new place didn't carry any trace of Heaven and Earth's power.
That last detail was more than enough to reassure the experts, but it was also superfluous. Noah and June didn't care about the potential presence of a trap due to their lack of other options. Instead, Fiery Mountain felt completely ecstatic at the idea that she could finally leave that broken environment.
"What do you say?" Noah laughed while staring at the portal. "Do you want to follow us through this labyrinth?"
Fiery Mountain's first instinct was to refuse the offer. She had witnessed the creation of the portal, so she would learn to replicate the process in a few years. However, Noah's aura exploded during his laugh, and she sensed a deep attraction to his power.
Fiery Mountain didn't know how to explain what she was experiencing. Generally speaking, cultivators' worlds needed to expand their influence to grow. The presence of other powers would usually slow down that process, but Noah's aura generated the opposite feelings.
The expert hesitated, but the situation was undeniable. Fiery Mountain had been unable to leave the separate reality for countless years, but Noah and June had found an exit in mere hours. They could be her ticket back to the higher plane, and Noah's unique aura only intensified her desire to follow them.
Fiery Mountain snorted before suppressing her pride and approaching the two experts. Noah and June revealed cold smiles before moving toward the portal. The old cultivator followed them, and the three soon entered the giant door.
The space-time array fell on the three experts and tried to teleport them. Fiery Mountain panicked for a second when she felt that the portal wanted to separate her from her new companions, but a dense aura suddenly enveloped her and fended of that worrying force.
Noah made sure that the teleport affected the three of them in the same way. The three experts soon found themselves in a completely different environment filled with the same green light seen from the other side of the portal. It didn't take long before their vision stabilized and allowed them to inspect the flourishing vegetation in the new area.
Giant trees and immense crowns filled every corner of the environment. Noah, June, and Fiery Mountain remained slightly stunned in front of such a massive number of magical plants. Bushes as tall as buildings and branches as large as mountains stretched toward the sky and created an area that did its best to hinder the experts' vision.
Only a narrow space divided the rich vegetation from the environment's ceiling. The separate reality didn't even try to hide its borders on that floor. The area was immense but limited, and magical plants almost filled the entirety of its space.
"What do you think?" June asked after she performed a quick inspection.
Noah shook his head as he let his body and mind experience the environment. He took deep breaths to savor the different scents that reached the sky, and his instincts did their best to evaluate the various magical plants. Many of them were in the ninth rank, but they felt relatively harmless.
"I don't know much about magical plants," Noah admitted. "Still, this floor seems different."
"I might actually surpass you in that field," June revealed. "Let me study the area for a while."
June left Noah's lap and dived into the flourishing vegetation. Meanwhile, Noah let his potential empower his mind before expanding his consciousness. He couldn't fill the entire area, but flares of mental waves shot out of his figure and explored the environment. He would soon gain a general idea of the whole floor.
Fiery Mountain didn't want to appear useless, but she felt unable to help the two experts. She wasn't an expert in the magical plants' field, and Noah's inspection seemed faster than anything she could summon. Sending her mental waves would only hinder his study.
"Don't worry," Noah stated without looking at his new companion. "You have nothing to prove."
Fiery Mountain opened her mouth, but no words came out of it. She found herself without anything to say. Actually, part of her wanted to remain silent while she inspected her new companions and bathed in Noah's dense aura.
"What exactly are you?" Fiery Mountain instinctively asked without even realizing what she was about to say.
"I'm a mistake," Noah casually replied while continuing his inspection. "I'm Heaven and Earth's greatest mistake."
Fiery Mountain knew that there was far more inside Noah, but she suppressed her curiosity for now. She would have time to learn more about him. Remaining inside his influence was enough for now.
June returned to the empty area right under the ceiling after a few hours. Noah only needed a look at her face to know that she didn't find anything valuable, but she still summarized the results of her inspection. "Each magical plant belongs to the same species, but they are different. I can't find the same oddity from before."
"The key is different this time," Noah concluded before bringing his gaze back on the countless plants that expanded under him.
His inspection had also been fruitless. Noah didn't find anything special. The area only had those giant magical plants that did nothing but grow.
"The separate reality seems to provide the energy for these magical plants," June continued her explanation. "There is no ground. The base of this floor is a mass of roots that expand until the edges of the area. We can reach the bottom, but I'm afraid that destroying everything won't work this time."
"I agree," Noah sighed. "Do they have any unique ability? Do you even recognize these magical plants?"
"No, I've never seen nor studied them," June admitted. "Yet, their ability is quite evident. They only want to thrive."
Noah remained silent for a few seconds before raising his arm to place his hand on the ceiling. The sky there was azure, and the same went for the layer above him. The fabric of space twisted at his touch, but the cracks that opened under his fingertips only showed more azure light.
Noah tried to repeat the process in a spot next to him. He waved his hand, and a crack opened, but more azure light came out of it. There seemed to be multiple layers of the sky around the area, so piercing the fabric of space wasn't a solution.
"Maybe we only need to make the magical plants reach the sky," Fiery Mountain suggested.
"I thought about that," June revealed. "There is only a problem."
"We are pretty sure that they have already tried it," Noah continued.
"They?!" Fiery Mountain asked before three presences suddenly entered the range of her consciousness.
Noah, June, Fiery Mountain turned toward the source of those presences. Three figures had appeared in the narrow space between the vast crowns and the ceiling. They had humanoid shapes, but roots and leaves covered their bodies and hid their features. Only their rank 9 auras were clear, and one of them even touched the liquid stage.
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Author's notes: Special thanks to Conner_Hamm for the Castle!
I ended up crashing for 11 hours. That's the reason behind the delay in the third chapter.. Before you say anything, I'm already planning to slow down for a few days to celebrate the holidays properly and rest.