Noah spent the following weeks in his cave.
There was no immediate need to complete another mission since he had succeeded in one assassination, which was considered the most important kind of mission.
He needed time to become used to his new cultivation technique but he also wanted to explore other aspects of his abilities.
He could cultivate only once per week and his sea of consciousness was enlarging autonomously due to the solid "Breath" inside it so he found himself with a lot of free time.
However, Noah wasn't the type of cultivator that would just laze around or rest because his centers of power were already improving, he quickly found something else that could fill his days.
Noah had no materials to practice in the Elemental forging method but he could improve the meaning that he injected in the "Breath" before inscribing an item.
The power of his creations depended on the level of the materials used and on the strength of the will that he managed to inject, he knew that there was a large room for improvement in the latter.
That's why he would often create a will and inject it inside a portion of the "Breath" inside his mental sphere, he would then evaluate the result only to disperse that "Breath" shortly after.
This type of training allowed him to slowly increase his ability in giving a meaning to his "Breath" so to have better effects when he later used it to forge items.
Other than that, he also began to study the diagrams in his possession, the form of his martial arts and the lines of his spells contained the meaning of Heaven and Earth, he wanted to see if he could make some progress in the creation of techniques.
However, studying diagrams was a slow and painful process, Noah was often forced to stop due to the aftereffects that hit his mental sphere as he isolated the various lines.
'I don't know why, but this feels wrong.'
He reached that conclusion after another line exploded in his mind, forcing him to stop studying.
The scroll describing the Blood drain spell was put back inside the space-ring as Noah laid on a mat to think about that matter.
He had decided to study the diagram of the Blood drain spell, he was a rank 3 mage now, he was barely able to endure the isolation of the lines of a rank 2 spell.
Also, the Blood drain spell was the spell that interested him the most: Not only did it match Noah's Demonic form, but it also contained part of the secrets behind the evolution process of the magical beasts!
Noah wanted to resume training his body but he knew that obtaining a rank 5 body-nourishing method anytime soon was simply impossible, the only other option was to create a nourishing method himself.
Yet, he continued to have the feeling that something was wrong with his approach.
'This is the standard procedure, every cultivator begins with the isolation of the lines of the diagrams. Then, when they are more skilled, they can attempt to create diagrams from their sheer understanding of the nature of the "Breath". I am limited by my inscription method, Heaven and Earth will never allow me to hear the "Breath" but I've managed to surpass that hurdle.'
Noah had created a martial art.
Its foundation came from the rank 0 Shadow step spell but Noah added "Breath" containing his will to obtain effects that matched a rank 4 martial art.
'This approach though limits myself to copying preexisting diagrams, I will never be able to create something from scratch this way. Also, I can only obtain simple effects while having limited uses of my Shadow sprint.'
Shadow sprint was the name that he gave to his martial art.
The Shadow sprint and the Three Forms of the Ashura were on the same level but they were worlds apart when it came to their complexity.
The Shadow sprint could only do one thing: Create a propulsion force that greatly increased the speed of the cultivator.
The Three Forms of the Ashura, instead, had various effects.
Not only it improved a preexisting martial art, but it also created four additional arms and weapons!
Then, there were the Three Forms, its complexity was simply on another level.
'Ivor's legacy doesn't even mention this issue, the previous practitioners of the Elemental forging method have only focused on inscribed items.'
Noah thought that but he knew that the truth was slightly different.
The previous practitioners of his inscription method could only focus on inscribed items because they died or injured themselves before they could attempt in the creation of techniques.
The Elemental forging method was dangerous, Noah was the last known practitioner after all.
'I believe that I'm in uncharted territory here.'
Noah sighed as he pondered about the issue.
To create a technique or a spell, one needed to understand the meaning behind the behavior of the "Breath" and reproduce it in the form of gestures or diagrams.
Yet, Noah was one of the individuals that could not hear the meaning of the "Breath", he was forced to use weaker or unorthodox inscription methods to overcome that hurdle.
'The Elemental forging method steals "Breath" from Heaven and Earth and uses the will of the practitioner to set a meaning to it. Then, it fuses that "Breath" with various materials to create weapons that carry the practitioner's meaning.'
Noah reviewed the details of his inscription method to find the reason behind his odd feeling.
'Following this concept, I should not use the lines of the diagrams created with the attunement method or similar practices. The logical procedure would be to create diagrams that carry my meaning, but that would be as if I was creating a different language that only I know how to speak. Also, this new language would need the backing of a strong power in order to have the same value as the one of Heaven and Earth.'
Noah continued to consider that new idea, no matter how impossible it looked, that seemed the real usage of his inscription method for the creation of techniques.