Birth of the Demonic Sword

A peculiar event was unfolding in a secret location of the human domain while Noah was traveling through the Outer Lands. Different organizations and guilds had gathered in an underground hall covered in inscriptions to discuss the problems that afflicted their reign.

The cultivators in the hall were all rank 8 cultivators who wore white masks for the event. Their covered faces couldn't hide their identity, but it was a tradition to wear them during the meetings.

"We have lost too many lands during the last invasion," A cultivator wearing robes carrying the emblem of the Sailbrird family said after standing up. "We managed to expand, but our domain has shrunk significantly. Unrest is spreading. We might be able to witness the first civil war in eras."

"Just expand into the Outer Lands like we did the previous times," An expert wearing robes with the emblem of the Rotway family said. "I don't see why even bother bringing this topic to the meeting."

"Your family has focused on the mines for too long," A third expert who didn't carry any emblem replied. "The Legion has grown strong in these millennia. They managed to fend off our expansion."

"Since when did those hybrids win anything?" The expert from the Rotway family replied. "Send more troops. Overwhelm them with numbers. We did this countless times already!"

"Too much has happened since the last invasion," The expert with no emblem sighed. "I'm afraid the Legion has finally become a threat for the human domain."

"Did Alexander reappear?" The expert from the Rotway family asked.

"No," The cultivator with no emblem answered, "But a new wave of experts in their ranks has reached a threatening level. Unfortunately, they also have humans on their side now. You might want to ask the Crystal City for further explanations."

The cultivator from the Rotway family shot a questioning gaze at an expert who wore the iconic robes of the Crystal City.

"We lost two castles in little more than a few millennia," The cultivator from the Crystal City explained. "Both attacks have involved the same individual."

The cultivator waved her hand, and a series of sheets materialized in front of the experts. The Crystal City had recorded everything known about Noah and his group and had put it into those pages.

"How accurate is this?" The expert from the Rotway family asked.

"We deployed our best experts on the scene," The cultivator from the Crystal City replied. "Defying Demon has grown at an incredible pace, but that's only one of his worrying features. His influence seems able to affect those who follow him. Anyone who has interacted with him has improved significantly."

Silence fell in the underground hall. Those experts knew how troublesome that kind of influence could be when it was in the hands of a problematic character.

"Did you contact our Masters?" The expert from the Rotway family asked while turning toward the cultivator with no emblem.

"The secret organization is going through a fair number of internal fights," The expert replied. "Most of our cells are independent, so they don't share our concerns and desires."

"I asked you a question." The expert from the Rotway reprimanded.

"We did try to contact them," The cultivator with no emblem sighed. "I must say that we never witnessed a similar reaction. They seemed almost too ashamed to answer."

"Do you even dare thinking about this?"

"How can you use these words to describe our Masters?"

"Heretic!"

A series of insults and curses shot out of the other cultivators in the area. They didn't accept those words, but they didn't believe that their companion had lied about that.

"This Defying Demon is a black spot in their immense power," The expert with no emblem continued. "Moreover, he covers every existence met on his path with that blackness. We can already count more than ten hybrids and cultivators who went through that process."

"How powerful is this Defying Demon now?" The cultivator from the Rotway family asked while turning toward the expert from the Crystal City.

"He should be in the eighth rank," The expert replied. "His current battle prowess is unclear. He is probably traveling to rejoin the Legion at this moment."

Silence fell in the hall again. Everyone there knew how hard it was to find a hybrid traveling through the Outer Lands. Even their joint power couldn't make them succeed in the task.

"Hunting him is impossible," The expert from the Rotway family summarized. "Trying to kill him after he rejoins the Legion is also out of the question. Do we have anything on him that we can use?"

"The Crystal City has already tried with his friends," The expert with no emblem said. "However, we might have a chance to kill Defying Demon after he rejoins the Legion. Still, it might require the sacrifice of one of our organizations."

Everyone shot questioning glances toward the expert. They didn't care about the sacrifice of a single organization. That had already happened in the past.

An expert wearing the emblem of the Balrow family stood up before explaining the situation. "My organization will exchange materials belonging to Great Builder's inheritance with Defying Demon. I will gladly sacrifice my force for the greater good of the Immortal Lands."

"How is the inheritance going?" The expert with no emblem asked.

"We retrieved the fourth reward," The cultivator from the Sailbrird family explained. "We decided to stop there as planned. Coming back to life shouldn't be possible, but we can't risk it. We had to summon our Lords to kill him back then."

Everyone nodded at those words. Resurrecting seemed an impossible feat, but every rank 9 existence had power that didn't respect the world's laws. It was better to be careful when dealing with them.

After making sure that they didn't have anything else to discuss, all the experts stood up and performed a deep bow. Then, they chanted a few words as per tradition.

"Heaven and Earth!" The cultivators in the underground hall said. "We shall serve you in this life so that we can bask in your boundless light one day."

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Noah was unaware that he had been the main topic of one of the most secret meetings in the human domain. His eyes could barely move from the horizon. He could see familiar lands in the distance.

A happy roar came out of his mouth, and the many magical beasts in his group quickly imitated him. They echoed his feelings and informed the whole area about his return.

A hybrid slowly peeked out of a crack in the distance. Her eyes widened when she saw the massive army of magical beasts in the sky, and her inscribed notebook quickly appeared in her grasp.

A second roar shot out of Noah's mouth. He expressed his intentions with his cry, but the hybrid didn't manage to relax. She informed her superiors before disappearing underground.

A massive amber-scaled dragon soon appeared in his view, and Noah couldn't help but show a smile at that sight. He could recognize Jordan even at that distance.

A lump of golden flames also gathered in the distance. King Elbas soon condensed his body and gave voice to a snort when he sensed Noah's cultivation level.

Divine Demon and other familiar faces also appeared. The Legion was giving him a proper welcome, but a black lightning bolt suddenly flew through the sky and converged toward Noah.