Chapter 2119 - 2119. Turtles
"Are you done testing me?" Noah growled while the giant turtle failed to push him away.
The upper tier creature didn't hide its astonishment. Noah was still a gaseous stage hybrid in its eyes, but he could block a direct charge from a magical beast at the peak of the cultivation journey with his bare hands.
"You seem worthy of a conversation," The turtle stated, but its instincts suddenly screamed in fear.
"You have yet to gain my approval," Noah roared as his fingers pierced the tough scales on the turtle's mouth and generated a spiderweb of black lines that spread through its triangular head.
The turtle had sensed the danger even before Noah unleashed his destruction, and it didn't hesitate to retract its head. Most of the magical beast's body hid inside its brown shell, leaving Noah with nothing but a few chunks of gory flesh in his hands.
Noah's actions triggered a catastrophic event. Hordes of giant horned turtles came out of the sandy and rocky seabed and encircled him in no time. Those creatures were massive, but their size didn't seem able to affect their speed. They resembled the Foolery in that field.
Noah finally had the chance to study that species and the pack as a whole. The turtles were smaller than Snore, but their bodies were vaguely spherical, which granted them imposing figures anyway. Their shells were brown and had simple diagrams carved on them. Their four legs had sharp claws, and their tails were short. Their heads featured two curved horns, two reptilian yellow eyes, and two rows of sharp fangs.
As for the pack, its sheer number could rival the army of dragons, if not even surpass it. The encirclement featured many rank 9 specimens, but only the leader was in the upper tier. Still, its underlings were extremely powerful, and the creatures under the ninth rank didn't appear weak either.
Noah couldn't help but smile in front of the sheer power of the pack. He didn't see potential threats in those many magical beasts ready to charge at him. In his mind, those specimens were valuable assets in the battle against Heaven and Earth.
'What would happen if I fill the higher plane with this pack?' Noah wondered as his knowledge about Heaven and Earth's fairness ran through his mind.
"I have decided," Noah eventually growled. "I'll let you join my organization. Our opponent is the sky, and we won't stop until it crumbles."
The leader had crashed on the seabed during its abrupt retreat. It had started even to approach Noah again after its pack had come out of the sand. Yet, his arrogant statement made it shoot on the frontlines.
"What is it?" Noah joked. "I don't want to kill any of you unless you turn out to be part of the Cursed Labyrinth."
"Don't you dare to see us as part of this prison," The leader threatened, but its words only broadened Noah's smile.
"It's set then," Noah laughed. "I'll bring everyone out of the Labyrinth. Once we return into the higher plane, we'll wage war at Heaven and Earth."
"Are you crazy?" The leader asked.
"Most likely," Noah continued to laugh.
The leader didn't know how to behave in front of Noah. His power was undeniable, and the upper tier turtle also felt sure that he had kept a lot hidden. However, his statements were dangerous.
The magical beasts were Heaven and Earth's natural enemies, but that had started to work in both ways after the sky turned white. The rulers were fearsome opponents that even the four heirs of the old world couldn't defeat. It was only typical for many creatures and packs to decide to remain outside that war.
Of course, the turtles could retain that mindset only due to their long imprisonment. They didn't know how bad the situation in the higher plane was now. They never had the chance to witness Heaven and Earth's relentless suppression, so they never made up their mind about the matter.
"I should eat you for injuring me," The leader declared.
"That won't do," Noah scoffed. "I can kill you and take your pack, but I want you too. I might have enough time to groom your underlings in the middle tier, but the others probably are too late already."
The turtles didn't like Noah's insolence. They hissed in anger, but their leader remained calm. The upper tier specimen had tasted Noah's power first-hand, and it had to admit that he wasn't bragging.
Of course, the leader didn't believe that Noah could actually defeat it. The battle would be close, but it guessed it would come out on top. Still, some doubts existed, and they were enough to make the upper tier specimen consider a temporary alliance.
"How do you know that you can leave this place?" The upper tier turtle asked.
"We have already cleared two floors," Noah revealed. "We only have seven more to go. There might be a secret area with the creator or creators, but we'll see."
"We have been stuck here for entire eras," The leader exclaimed. "How can you even dare to underestimate this place? Are you calling us weak?"
"You are definitely weak in some aspects, at least," Noah didn't hide his thoughts. "Do you know anything about formations? Can you dissect laws and rebuild them to suit your needs? Can you glance at the fabric of the world and see lines ready to bend at your will?"
The leader didn't answer, but its stance was obvious. The turtle was a creature in the upper tier, but it remained a magical beast. Its high rank had granted it great intelligence, but it had knowledge about formations or similar methods.
Those creatures had no chance to overcome the Labyrinth, but Noah saw no shame in that. The magical beasts had different advantages in the cultivation journey, and he had always respected them, at times even more than cultivators.
"Why are you ready to trust us?" The leader continued with its questions. "We can betray you as soon as you bring us out of this place."
"You won't," Noah responded through a tone that carried all the confidence in the words.
"And why is that?" The leader snorted.
Noah showed an arrogant smirk and raised his hand. The ethereal blackness began to send dense waves of potential toward his palm, which created a dark and unstable sphere in that spot.
The sphere unleashed ethereal flares that left thick black marks on the green waters. Those tainted areas began to evolve right away, and ice began to appear among the sea.
"Is that it-?" The upper tier turtle tried to belittle Noah after witnessing the black sphere's power, but everything changed when its eyes started to inspect that dark energy properly.
Noah had started to guess that the sea had strange properties, but he didn't know what exactly they did. Instead, the upper tier turtle and its underlings had lived there for a long time, so it was safe to assume they had learnt almost everything.
Nevertheless, the sheer size of the pack had been the last hint that Noah had needed to complete his evaluation. The turtle had found a method that allowed them to survive without resorting to cannibalism. He was also starting to understand something since his body and disposable dragons were gathering information non-stop.
"I won't only bring you out of here," Noah promised. "I'll also make sure to improve your species. Don't worry. Your eyes aren't deceiving you.. I will grant you power if you allow me to."