The soldiers dispersed quickly, they returned to their respective sides and regrouped around their commanders.
The Odrea nation had clearly won but there wasn't any happiness in its soldiers' expressions, they knew that that victory didn't amount to much.
Each of their loss was permanent while the Empire could refill its ranks with an incessant stream of cultivators, they were just surviving after all.
"Another brilliant victory from your side, you lost only forty blue robes and a couple of red ones."
Seth announced as he turned toward Lisa and bowed.
"I believe that we will see each other again in one month."
He left as soon as he said those words, climbing down the mountain from outside the formation.
Lisa had a sour expression, her mind was already planning the substitutes for each of the deceased.
"Rejoice, My Lady, we have never killed so many of them. That outsider surely knows his way in battles."
One of her protectors tried to raise her morale and slightly managed to do so.
Lisa nodded at his words, Noah's actions had indeed helped in shifting the scales of balance in their favor.
"Those swords of his… You didn't mention them when he was captured."
Noah's weapons had surprised even the soldiers of the Empire, it was impossible for Lisa to overlook them.
"I will ask Logan again but I think that he simply didn't use them in the chase. He was probably keeping them as his trump card."
The protector spoke again but Lisa shook her head.
"He would have surely tried to escape using those swords if he had them before the chase. He didn't come to the last battle because he needed time to prepare… I believe that he has just created them."
Lisa's words made the eyes of the protector widen in surprise.
"Are you saying that he is an inscription master? But there were no visible inscriptions on the blades!"
The protector understood the meaning behind her words and replied in an astonished manner.
Inscription masters were far more valuable than simple cultivators, especially in a country that had sold all its precious cultivation methods to the Empire.
"Grandpa Luke, you are the one that taught me that the world is big and the ways of cultivation are endless. Our ancestor was an expert in formations, our knowledge is limited to that field and it has mostly disappeared after his death, we can't presume that the world stood still after that."
Lisa's words were right.
Cultivators would always test new methods for their training, the academy itself was one of the best areas of research of that world.
Schools would improve as time moved onward, the old techniques would become unsuitable when compared to the new methods.
"You might be right. Do you want me to summon him?"
Luke asked after considering her words but Lisa shook her head.
"That guy is slippery, he fooled the entire army of the Empire with his blue robe, he would just lie if we force him. I need to speak to him privately."
.
.
.
Noah returned to his reinforced room.
The corpses of the two red cultivators didn't have much on them and their space-rings were about the same.
The only valuable thing was a reagent for the third rank of the dantian that Noah carefully stored for future usage but the other loot included only an inscribed weapon and a few thousand Credits.
'What's even the point of accumulating wealth if I can't use it?'
Noah cursed in his mind at the sight of his belongings.
He had many inscribed weapons for the total value of forty to fifty thousand Credits, a seemingly endless stash of curative potions and pills, four Earth pills, and one hundred and fifty thousand Credits in their crystal form, he was considerably rich for his status.
Yet, he had no use for most of those items.
The inscribed weapons could only be sold, his Demonic swords were far more powerful than them.
The potion and pills were only useful in battle, Noah was always careful to have a large amount of them but their number only continued to increase after every battle!
The Earth pills were completely useless at his level, he had forced the breakthrough on the liquid stage by just using his mental energy after all, their effects could be neglected.
As for his money, there wasn't a market that had something valuable in the Odrea nation, he had no reason to spend them.
'Maybe I should stop taking the inscribed weapons, I really don't see a reason to do it.'
Weapons in the second rank could be valued ten thousand Credits or more but the ones collected by Noah were either dented or almost destroyed, their actual value was far lower than that.
'Well, I still have a lot of storage space left, I'm basically only using one of my four space-rings.'
Noah tossed the problem of his useless items in the back of his mind, he had more pressing matters to attend.
He took his black sabers out in the open and laid them on his crossed legs, he wanted to inspect their state after the battle.
'Basically no dents, they have never been stopped after all, they literally cut through anything.'
He was especially satisfied with the performance of his new weapons, they completely stood up to his expectations.
'The color seems to have faded a bit though, is the black smoke inside them diminishing due to their usage?'
Those inscribed items were far from perfect, Noah was aware of that.
The moment they met a weapon that could match their power, their internal stability would be tested.
However, Noah left the improvements for another time in the future, he didn't have the power and the materials to create a better version of the Demonic sword anyway.
'I should focus on cultivation from now on, that's one of the advantages of being stuck here at least.'
Just as he thought that, however, a loud knock resounded from the door of his room.
Noah didn't have time to stand up that the door was opened, revealing Lisa and Luke on the entrance.
"What's the point of knocking if then you just open it?"
Noah loudly complained, storing the black sabers back in his space-ring.
That action wasn't missed by Lisa who smiled radiantly at that sight.
"You want us to call you Adam but your real name is Noah. Tell me, why didn't you tell us that you could perform inscriptions?"