Birth of the Demonic Sword

Vicory could be in sight, but that didn't matter. The strongest ally had appeared, but Noah didn't care. He didn't mind getting help nor receiving benefits from powerful existences. Still, obtaining that army would put his very journey at risk, and he couldn't allow it.

"Why?" The orange mineral asked in shock. "We are giving you the chance to end it all. Your defiant influence, this army, and our knowledge together can remove Heaven and Earth's rule once and for all. You can achieve the victory that the world needs."

"Who cares?" Noah shrugged his shoulders. "I'm no savior. Why would I even answer the world's call for help?"

"But!" The orange mineral exclaimed. "You can achieve greatness with a single decision. It's not about saving. It's about removing the last hurdle!"

"What would I even gain from that?" Noah asked as Caesar's words resounded in his mind. "I will destroy Heaven and Earth, but I won't do it by wielding a power that doesn't belong to me. My journey is more important than life, death, right, and wrong."

The other experts couldn't help to go through different emotions at that scene. The orange chunk had clearly offered the army to Noah, but the situation was opening a chance for them. All of them knew that they could seize the army if they played their cards correctly. Yet, hesitation, doubts, and worries inevitably spread inside their minds at those thoughts.

Sheer power generally was a good thing. It didn't matter where it came from as long as the experts could use it to pursue their goals. However, everything became more complicated when they considered their cultivation journey.

Noah and his companions weren't existences who simply wanted to reach the peak. They also d.e.s.i.r.ed to accomplish that feat on their own terms to give value to their laws.

All of them had different goals that would be easier to seize if Heaven and Earth weren't in the way. Yet, those rulers were also one of the threats that pushed them to work harder. Divine Demon had proven multiple times how defeating powerful enemies brought benefits, and every existence at that level was aware of that feature.

Of course, Noah and the others wouldn't leave Heaven and Earth alive just to have a powerful enemy to defeat and give more value to their existence. Still, they didn't deny that the feat could help them complete their law.

That wouldn't happen if they used foreign powers to accomplish their feats. Their existences might even suffer since they had accepted such a huge help to deal with one of their greatest problems. It might create doubts in their confidence and ruin them forever.

Everything depended on what they d.e.s.i.r.ed, but none of Noah's companions founded their existence on their enmity with Heaven and Earth. Even Noah only saw the rulers as mere opponents on his endless path.

"How can you refuse the easier path?" The orange chunk continued its desperate rant. "Are you trying to make your journey harder on purpose? That method has a clear limit. We already tested it."

"Worsening it on purpose?" Noah asked. "What nonsense are you even saying? I'm preserving my existence here."

The silence that followed his statement described how the severed piece of Heaven and Earth didn't understand his position. It couldn't see the matter from Noah's perspective. It only considered the world as a whole.

"What do you think would happen if I accepted the help of a power that doesn't belong to me?" Noah continued. "I would normally do that to absorb it, but you are asking me to take care of one of the major threats of my journey. I simply can't do that."

"We don't understand," The severed piece of Heaven and Earth exclaimed, and Noah sighed while deciding to explain himself better.

"Where would my power end and yours start once I accept this army?" Noah asked while spreading his arms. "You even reek of Heaven and Earth. Do you have any idea of what getting your help would do to my existence?"

His companions had reached similar conclusions in those seconds. Even Steven, who wanted to avenge the death of his underlings, wasn't willing to put his existence at risk for the chance to destroy Heaven and Earth.

"I think you have forgotten how to think about a single existence," Noah explained. "The world will keep living or just die. That's none of my concern. I only care about bringing my path forward, and your path won't work for me."

"Not even in front of victory?" The chunk asked.

"It won't be my victory," Noah replied in an easygoing tone. "It will help on one side and hurt on the other. I'm willing to sacrifice something about myself to reach higher realms but not putting the entirety of my existence at risk. Heaven and Earth is only another wall on my path."

"I'd take a look at your knowledge if you don't mind," King Elbas added once Noah was over.

"I bet you have amassed good food throughout this period," Alexander stated. "Can I see your stashes?"

"I'm with him," Wilfred promptly announced.

"Do you have training areas in this city?" Divine Demon asked. "I feel the need to stretch."

"I'll go for the training areas too as long as they have something worth cutting," Sword Saint exclaimed in a bored tone.

"It would be interesting to discuss Heaven and Earth's current power with you," Robert confessed. "I don't mind conversing a bit more.

"I also have a lot to ask," Steven declared. "I hope your current state won't make you remain silent in front of my questions."

All the experts asked to use the immense city or the detached piece of Heaven and Earth for their own benefits. Those with paths that shared similar goals naturally banded up together and waited for a reaction from the orange chunk.

"I told you," Noah commented while pointing at his companions. "This sheer power is useless for us. You should have offered your power to existences on the verge of giving up on their journey. We won't care if it doesn't suit us."

The fallen piece of Heaven and Earth didn't understand their point. It had been too long since they last considered themselves as a single existence. They only saw their version as a world, so they struggled to get what Noah and the others were saying. However, the scene awakened memories inside those fake rulers and made them recall some of the emotions they had lost after becoming a barrier that controlled the plane.

A faint emotion spread throughout the light that filled the environment at that point. Noah and the others could sense a strange form of excitement inside the halo, and their eyes couldn't help but fall on the orange chunk.

"I won't accept your power," Noah announced while crossing his legs to sit mid-air, "But I won't run away from a talk that gives us insights on Heaven and Earth's power and goals."

The orange chunk didn't know what to say, but its defensive mechanisms activated on its own before opening. It seemed that the old Heaven and Earth wanted to let the group pass, and the experts didn't hesitate to enter it.

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Author's notes: 1-2 hours for the next chapter.