Noah's element was exposed as soon as the meeting began.
The cultivators around him released surprised gasps but Logan kept his stern expression.
'I bet that it was him that discovered it.'
Noah sighed, he understood that he had been granted a meeting because of his peculiarity.
"I'm not an invader, I was just passing by."
He uncaringly answered the girl, he had really done nothing wrong that time.
"Anyone that trespass our borders is an invader, we are at war."
The girl firmly answered, she seemed used to her position.
'Why did they put such a weakling in charge?'
Noah could clearly discern her level.
She had a rank 2 body, a rank 1 dantian, and a rank 1 sea of consciousness, she was just a weakling in his eyes.
"War? I can only see cultivators in the human ranks, you are not in the position to be at war with the Empire."
The Shandal Empire had a God as a commander, such a weak country couldn't call itself a worthy enemy.
Noah's words caused enraged gazes to be shot at him, the cultivators around him completely disapproved his stance.
"Our ancestor died to limit the invading forces to the human ranks, we are one of the few countries that still oppose the Empire."
The girl proudly declared.
'Limit to the human ranks? Is that even possible?'
Noah was confused.
The sheer power of the Empire was enough to submit any other country that he had seen, he couldn't understand how such a weak nation could survive thanks to the sacrifice of a cultivator.
"I understand your confusion. Our ancestor was a mighty rank 6 cultivator that imbued the formation around the country with his own life. Not even the God of the Empire can break it."
The girl's eyes were filled with pride as she told that story, the two cultivators on her sides lowered their heads as soon as the ancestor was named.
However, Noah saw things differently.
"So, he basically created a large prison for you all to live in, right?"
He could accept that a rank 6 cultivator could create wonders, Eccentric Thunder had built a seemingly endless world after all.
Yet, he didn't see anything worthy of praise, the actions of that mighty ancestor were only a temporary measure against the Empire.
Formations, runes, and inscriptions suffered from the passage of time, nothing was eternal.
The God of the Empire had just to wait for the defensive formation to lose some power before that country would be conquered.
"How dare you!"
The girl stood from her throne and pointed a hand at Noah.
"The ancestor sacrificed everything to keep his offspring alive. I have his blood in my veins, I won't allow anyone to taint his name! Men!"
The girl ordered and the cultivators around her neared Noah without hesitation.
However, Noah released his pressure again and his figure started to be surrounded by black smoke.
His eyes shone with a cold light as he answered the girl.
"I made myself clear already, try to imprison me and I'll use my life to kill as many of you as I can."
Noah had dropped any kind of pretense already, he was using his own life as a threat.
There was no hate between them after all, he didn't believe that they would sacrifice themselves just to kill a simple nobody.
"I really don't care about your situation but all I see is a weak girl leading a bunch of prisoners. The sacrifice of your ancestor means nothing to me."
Noah continued to speak, he made his stance clear to everyone in the hall.
The powerful cultivators next to her became incredibly enraged after Noah's mocking and shot toward him at an unimaginable speed.
"Stop."
However, the girl softly ordered and the two men blocked their attacks just in time.
Noah casually watched at the two fists that were standing in front of his face and turned his attention toward the girl.
"So, what do you even want from me? I just want to go on my way, I really don't have any business with the Empire and your war."
The cultivators retracted their fists and returned to their position next to the young girl.
She sighed and began to explain the situation of her country.
"Even if the formation blocks any cultivator that has a rank 4 dantian or above, the Empire still sends soldiers to fight us. We would appreciate your help in the war."
'It was about my element after all.'
Any organization that Noah had met wanted to exploit his superior battle prowess.
He was a cultivator of the darkness element after all, anyone would want him as an asset.
"I'm just a rank 2 cultivator, I can't influence your war that much. Also, I don't have a reason to help you."
If the war was limited to the human ranks, then cultivators in the third rank were the strongest assets.
Noah was strong for his level but he still paled in front of cultivators with a stronger dantian, he chose to follow Logan because he couldn't defeat his group after all.
"We need all the help that we can get and…"
The girl spoke, hesitating a bit toward the end of her sentence.
"We have a spell of the darkness element in our inventory."
Noah's eyes lit up at those words.
Spells of his element were rare, it was Heaven and Earth's way to balance the power of the rare aptitudes.
'Even the academy didn't have that many spells of my element, most of them were just rank 0 or 1.'
Noah was enticed by that opportunity, he would gladly enlarge the number of spells in his possession.
"Rank?"
He asked, he wanted to be sure that the spell matched his standards.
"Up to the fourth rank."
The girl promptly answered, she seemed well aware of the resources of her country.
'Fourth rank! It will be useful even in the heroic ranks and having its diagram as a reference will help me in my future creations!'
"Deal, give me the spell and I'll join your war for some time."