Noah's individuality had advanced by leaps and bounds since he had gained access to the higher energy. The many battles and his achievements in the inscription field had widened his existence and made it reach incredible depths.
He had various elements at his disposal, a puppet capable of expressing astonishing power, a branch of techniques that only he could perform, and items able to take down a rank 6 creature.
Both his destruction and creation had crossed the limits that his cultivation level could hold. The only thing that Noah lacked was the years of training required to improve his centers of power.
His individuality had advanced so quickly that it had left the centers of power behind!
That became clear as his mind grew. Training with Skully's rune made his sea of consciousness enlarge so quickly that it touched on the world of the laws quite often now.
Nevertheless, even his improved understanding couldn't give him a precise estimate concerning the arrival of breakthroughs. That was a complex topic, especially when it came to matters related to the world of laws.
His initial estimate had been that the first breakthrough would arrive in some decades, but the time of the summoning came without any of his centers of power advancing.
Noah had followed Skully everywhere in that period, and he had even helped her managing magical beasts' packs at times. Moreover, he had explained to her the many advantages of a hybrid body.
Skully didn't have a dantian, but she had access to primary energy like him. Also, she could use the inscription method of the natives of the other Mortal Lands, but she had to modify the walls of her mind first.
She could theoretically use martial arts in the same way as Noah. Her only problem was balancing the consumption of primary energy and finding a secret art that could give her access to it.
As for the possibility of having a dantian, the two of them discussed the matter and agreed that they would wait for Noah to become more powerful.
The population of Kesier Apes diminished rapidly in those years, but that event concerned only the regions near the lava lake. Skully didn't dare to get too close to the lair of the God.
She had started to fight rank 6 creatures though. Her control over her new body had even improved so much that she could walk by herself. It wasn't a complete control yet, but she was getting there quickly.
Noah spent the period during the summoning on the other side of the black sky. It wasn't that he didn't trust the safe area, but he didn't want to risk it. The Ape God was bound to realize that something was happening in its blind spot, and Noah didn't want to be there to see it that affected its behavior.
'It's been more than fifty years already,' Noah thought as he remained immersed in the magma, protected by a layer of dark matter.
Noah didn't even realize that he was more than three hundred years old most of the time. Entire months could pass in the blink of an eye, and years went by whenever he focused on his training.
Almost two hundred years had passed since he reached the liquid stage, and even more since he became a rank 5 mage. However, Noah barely felt the passage of time.
He had lived longer than any human in his previous world, and that thought didn't even disturb him. He had become completely detached from the commoners, and he couldn't consider himself human.
His aspect had barely changed even. He still looked as if he was in his twenties, but there was a mature vibe around him. Also, the features given by the Light-devouring Dragon made him look fierce.
'It's time,' Noah thought as he felt the muscles around his dantian contracting. He released his grip on the Demonic Sword placed on low-waist and waited for his body to do the rest.
He had returned inside the metal palace and was cultivating in one of the training areas when he sensed the breakthrough coming. His excitement mounted at that point, and he let the Demonic Sword fly freely in the room as he focused on his dantian.
The muscles around his center of power contracted and pressed on its walls, increasing the density of the liquid "Breath" contained inside. Noah felt his darkness becoming hotter as it started to take a solid form.
Waves of power surged inside him as his cultivation advanced. His darkness soon took the form of a minute shining crystal with the shape of a saber.
Noah bathed in the sensation of power that filled his body. His mind automatically reached the world of the laws and made him understand more about his current situation.
The fifth rank's solid stage was the phase when heroic cultivators had to perfect how they wielded laws. The next step would see them striving to become a law, which was more an elevation of their existence than a learning process.
Noah felt the sharp, destructive force contained inside the crystal and its capability to become a material for his creations. It was a fuel that carried both aspects of his individuality, which he had to perfect if he wanted to step on the sixth rank.
The Demonic Sword flew back into his grasp and resumed its functions as the core item of his cultivation technique. The dantian that had returned to its smallest form began to expand again, and a second crystal soon appeared inside it.
As "Breath" flowed inside his center of power, his heart began to beat faster until the higher energy compressed inside it applied a pulling force on his energy. Noah saw pieces of his solid "Breath" coming out of his dantian and reaching his heart, only to enter the valve that contained the higher energy.
The process happened on its own, and Noah had no control over it. It seemed that his body had automatically connected those centers of power and was working to restore some balance.
The dark matter inside his heart became denser, raising his organ's temperature and increasing the gravitational pool that it applied to its surroundings. The black star there became even smaller, but its form started to grow unstable. Small flares appeared and released large quantities of dark matter outside of his heart.
The flares became more prominent, and the stability of the star fell apart. All the dark matter expanded, creating a large sphere that had Noah at its center.
'Dammit!' Noah cursed in his mind as he felt the walls of his heart stretching. His center of power wasn't meant to endure the higher energy in that form. The dense waves floating outside of it threatened its stability.
There wouldn't be any problem if his body had already fused his heart and the other valve, but there were instabilities solvable only during a breakthrough.
The situation was quite dangerous now. Noah feared that his heart could suffer if he continued to let his dark matter run wild.