Chapter 2144 - 2144. Peace
The castle wasn't nearly as crowded as Vesuvia's city, but it had multiple powerful cultivators inside it. Noah also sensed the presence of an expert at the peak of the liquid stage.
That detail would usually reassure Noah. Yet, something told him that the expert was an elite like him and his group. It was someone capable of surpassing the normal limits of the ranks.
'Another creator?' Noah wondered as he let go of the pig and began to fly toward the castle.
Pellio followed Noah, and the Foolery also decided to come along after glancing at the table a few times. The pig wanted to be with its leader, but the expert on the mat also interested it.
The Foolery ended up on the mat during the flight to the castle. It sniffed Pellio from head to toe and inspected the table where he was serving tea. Pellio found himself surprised to be in that situation, but Noah had already predicted the imminent catastrophe.
"Do you want some tea?" Pellio eventually asked.
"I shall have your tea!" The Foolery exclaimed before eating the whole cup that Pellio placed on the other side of the table.
"Good!" The Foolery squealed.
"Do you want more?" Pellio asked.
"Of course," The Foolery promptly replied.
The two began to serve and drink tea quickly. The number of cups that came and went during that interaction surpassed the hundred in less than a minute. Pellio and the Foolery even stopped speaking since mere glances became enough to express their respective intentions.
"One second," The Foolery suddenly voiced to interrupt that exchange of cups.
The pig shot toward the surface to take a dump, and azure bushes immediately grew from that spot. The green plain didn't seem to care about the presence of that foreign plant, but the ground soon absorbed it to restore the environment's harmony.
"Hey," Noah called when the Foolery returned on Pellio's mat, "Did the plain always take care of your dumps?"
"I don't really know," The Foolery revealed. "I was too busy eating to notice."
"No one in your pack is using their innate ability," Noah commented.
"So?" The Foolery questioned. "Maybe they don't want to ruin the banquet."
"When did that ever stop you?" Noah sighed as he noticed another odd aspect of the area.
The food on the table didn't trigger the Foolery's innate ability. Noah could even believe that those pigs had learnt how to contain themselves in their period among the weak sky. However, the recent consequence of drinking Pellio's tea proved that thought wrong.
Mere tea in the human ranks could trigger the Foolery's innate ability, so the delicacies on the table had to do the same. Of course, that could be true only if the food in the area was real. Still, Noah could confirm its existence through its smell, which inevitably confused him.
'Is this an illusion?' Noah wondered. 'No, it can't be. The food must have some unique features.'
The castle's main door opened when Noah, Pellio, and the Foolery landed at its base. Noah didn't even need to check for the presence of traps or defensive formations. His instincts immediately confirmed that the owner of the place had deactivated everything before their arrival.
"They aren't scared of us," The Foolery commented as the trio stepped inside the castle and began to inspect its vast spaces.
The beauty shown by the castle was impeccable. Everything was beyond clean, perfect, and bright. Its grey insides shone on their own, and multiple chandeliers added white shades to the immense corridors and halls.
A series of servants in the eighth rank moved among the corridors and the various rooms connected to them. They never bothered to address Noah and his companions, but they always bowed to perform respectful greetings before going on their way.
Noah never thought about questioning them since the liquid stage expert standing at the top of the castle wasn't trying to hinder his path. The leader of the area wanted that meeting to happen, so Noah played by the rules.
Noah didn't hold back from trying to find clues about the leader's power, but he didn't need to look too hard for them. The walls, floor, ceiling, furniture, and even the cultivators reeked with that mighty existence's aura.
That detail would usually put Noah and the others in a tense mood. After all, the amount of influence that the leader could push into the world was immense. However, they only experienced peace. Nothing in that power wanted to hurt them.
It was hard to find experts with such peculiar worlds. Almost every existence had to fight to reach the last stage of the cultivation journey, so developing a path focused on peace was unnatural.
Even experts like Faith radiated clear danger. There didn't seem to be alternatives to that rule, but Noah felt to have found it inside that separate dimension of the Cursed Labyrinth.
"Quite the peculiar existence you are," Noah commented when tall doors on the last floor opened and revealed a middle-aged man sitting at the center of a vast circular hall.
The expert radiated dense liquid stage aura, but Noah experienced no pressure even if he was in the middle of its waves. That power was gentle, good, and light.
The middle-aged man wore a warm smile and interrupted his cultivation to turn his azure eyes on the trio. His long grey hair fluttered during the gesture, and they slowly fell back on his shoulders afterward.
The unnatural movements of his hair reflected the nature of his power. The expert's world didn't allow abrupt movements even when it came to his own body. He had turned slowly, and his eyelids closed and opened at the same pace.
"Did you enjoy the food?" The middle-aged man asked through a voice that seemed able to fill the trio's stomachs.
"It was incredible!" The Foolery shouted, uncaring of Noah's glare.
"I didn't have the chance to taste it," Pellio commented.
"Because you aren't really here," The middle-aged man responded. "Isn't that true, Dream Lord Pellio?"
"Do you know me?" Pellio questioned as his eyes opened completely. "I don't have any memory about you."
"That's because we never met," The middle-aged man revealed. "I'm Artamo, peace's expression."
"How did you know about Pellio then?" Noah joined the conversation.
"The creators of the Labyrinths told me about him when they placed me here," Artamo explained.
Pellio shut his eyes as he tried to dream about the matter, and Noah maintained his cold smirk even if confusion had seeped into his mind. According to Artamo's words, the creators had handpicked him for that area of the Labyrinth.
"He is telling the truth," Pellio eventually whispered. "I can dream about his recruitment and his long conversations outside the fabric of this structure."
"Why did they pick you?" Noah asked. "I thought the Labyrinth attracted experts for different reasons."
"Picking someone is a different reason, right?" Artamo softly laughed. "My situation was peculiar, so the creators approached me with an offer. They wanted to study my growth, and I agreed to fill this place with my peace."
"What peculiar situation?" Noah questioned, knowing that Artamo wouldn't try to hide anything.
"I was the only rank 9 existence that Heaven and Earth didn't try to suppress," Artamo voiced. "My breakthrough to the divine ranks didn't even trigger a Tribulation. I am an existence that the rulers have no interest in defeating or absorbing."
The revelation was astonishing. Artamo was probably extremely old, so he had experienced the period when Heaven and Earth only wanted to add laws to their existence. Noah could understand why organizations and other forces would find Artamo's power complicated to exploit, but he couldn't imagine the rulers missing out on such a unique world.
Nevertheless, Artamo's words seemed to carry no lies, and Pellio soon nodded to confirm them. Heaven and Earth had really chosen not to pursue or destroy that unique existence.
"Did your peace fend them off?" Noah asked. "Did your world affect Heaven and Earth's system?"
"Maybe," Artamo stated, "Maybe not. I never asked. I only lived."
"Such an honorable way of living!" The Foolery exclaimed. "I shall take you as my disciple!"
"I won't refuse," Artamo's laughed. "However, I'm afraid I have to fulfill my end of the deal with the creators first."
"Which is?" Noah asked while suppressing the desire to keep the pig's mouth closed.
"I need to complete my path," Artamo explained. "As you can see, my world is still in the liquid stage. The creators won't let me go until I bring it to the peak of the cultivation journey."
"You will soar past the limits of the cultivation journey with my teachings," The Foolery squealed while lifting its head to wear its proud expression.
"How long have you been stuck at this level?" Noah continued, ignoring the pig at his side.
"I don't know," Artamo chuckled. "I was at the peak of the gaseous stage when I got here, but I didn't improve after my breakthrough."
'Countless years stuck at the same level then,' Noah commented in his mind. 'Why does he even sound so happy?'