Chapter 2226 - 2226. Dissect
Sword Saint didn't need to read his name above his opponent's figure. The latter actually didn't write anything specific. He only expressed a clear meaning that made Sword Saint fly in the area.
"I didn't expect someone from the sky to choose to fight me," Sword Saint admitted. "You have all seen where my power comes from. Right now, I'm the strongest expert in the entirety of the higher plane."
"Well," The privileged cultivator said while caressing his grey beard, "That's up to opinions. Your world definitely is the most complete among your companions, but they are also troublesome existences."
"Don't misunderstand my words," Sword Saint exclaimed. "I'm not saying that my companions are weak. I'm only putting myself above them."
"You are indeed powerful," The privileged cultivator sighed. "I honestly didn't want to face you, but my ability is strangely suitable. I'm the only one that you can't cut."
Similar scenes happened everywhere on the battlefield. Supreme Thief, June, and the others flew toward their respective opponents and exchanged a few words before unleashing their power.
Everyone on Noah's side knew that they couldn't waste too much energy in those fights. Heaven and Earth had sent enough privileged cultivators to keep the landmass' leaders busy, but they probably had more of them hidden inside the sky.
Noah's forces couldn't exhaust their energy reserves since they would have to face Heaven and Earth once they removed the old rulers' net. Still, holding back didn't seem a valid option against those opponents. After all, they were solid stage privileged cultivators.
Caesar didn't lie either. The experts who had come out to face the landmass' leaders had troublesome powers that would ask their opponents to go beyond their limits.
Noah and the others knew all of that, but they couldn't ignore the chance to improve. Many of them had to approach their breakthroughs, which required important victories, and those privileged cultivators could provide them.
Noah inspected the various worlds inside his opponent's aura before disregarding the matter. He could vaguely guess what had happened to the red-haired cultivator, so he knew that tactics would probably be useless against him.
The privileged cultivator had used precise words. He had eaten his companions to save them from Heaven and Earth and use their power. However, that had led to an unstable existence that resembled the rulers' old state.
"How long can you survive in this state?" Noah asked. "You are about to explode. The tiniest dent in your world will make all that power flow out."
"That would be true under normal circumstances," The red-haired cultivator announced. "However, we are talking about me, the expert who mastered the magical beasts' hunger."
The statement left Noah slightly surprised. Many experts throughout history had tried to imitate the magical beasts due to their few superior aspects, but only a handful of cultivators had succeeded in the task.
Even fewer experts had managed to push that path toward the peak without losing their status as cultivators. The matter was even harsher for assets living inside the sky since Heaven and Earth were openly against magical beasts.
Of course, that faint surprise quickly vanished from Noah's mind. The higher plane had seen countless experts rising to power and falling throughout its existence. It was only normal for some of them to join Heaven and Earth even after pursuing a path connected to the magical beasts.
Actually, Noah couldn't help but underestimate his opponent a bit after learning about his power. Imitating the magical beasts' hunger and even improving it could lead to great power, but Noah expressed the peak of that realm. He couldn't feel scared in front of a privileged cultivator who only embodied a single aspect of that field.
"How many experts at your level does the sky still hold?" Noah asked.
"Why don't you kill me and find out?" The red-haired cultivator suggested, but a black slash suddenly materialized in front of his face.
The sudden attack surprised the privileged cultivator, but that wasn't enough to damage him. A vertical cut opened on his forehead as soon as the destructive energy materialized before him, and the slash instantly vanished.
Noah used that chance to launch more attacks. His blades cut the hair to create a rain of slashes that converged toward the privileged cultivator, but the opening on his forehead made the whole offensive disappear.
'Is this like Duanlong?' Noah wondered before rejecting that idea.
Duanlong could eat almost everything, and the privileged cultivator seemed to share that ability. Yet, the two techniques had a stark difference in how they used the absorbed energy. Duanlong could add it to its power, while the expert sent it to the barrier around his existence to contain his various worlds.
"Thank you for giving me more time," The red-haired cultivator exclaimed before pointing an arm at Noah and unleashing a series of different abilities.
It felt strange to see something so diverse coming out of the same cultivator. Noah saw destructive attacks featuring various natures converging toward him, and the sheer power that they carried seemed enough to pierce through his innate defenses. However, they had a sharp flaw that he didn't miss.
Noah didn't even wave his swords. He expanded his consciousness before condensing it on the trajectory of the multicolored torrent of energy. His destructive thoughts ran through his mental waves and made them shine with dark-red shades, and the incoming attack inevitably suffered due to their power.
The various natures in the red-haired cultivator's attack were powerful but messy. They expressed the best of the different worlds that the expert had eaten, but they didn't fuse into a seamless ability.
Noah could target that feature with his destructive thoughts to separate the different worlds and spread chaos among them. The multicolored attack experienced explosions as it flew through Noah's consciousness, and vast strands of its energy also left the main structure to reach different parts of the battlefield.
Noah ended up facing only a maimed version of the privileged cultivator's attack when it reached him. Duanlong could absorb it easily without relying on its innate ability, and the battlefield quickly fell silent afterward.
"Is that it?" Noah asked. "Heaven and Earth at least had the decency of blending their different worlds when launching an offensive. Something like this will never hurt me."
"I have time to learn," The red-haired cultivator laughed. "You can't defeat me quickly, so I can keep you busy while I improve my techniques."
Noah didn't answer, but he couldn't hide how his attention moved toward other areas of the battlefield. He didn't want to remain stuck in a pointless fight when he could use his power to make a difference, but his opponent didn't hesitate to warn him.
"You are free to leave if you want," The red-haired expert announced. "I know I can't stop you, but what would happen to your underlings in that case? Should I remind you that we know everything about your allies and organization?"
"You really had to threaten me," Noah sighed as Night came out of his figure and sat on his head. "I accept your request.. I'll dissect your power and ask Heaven and Earth to send a real opponent."