As Elder Iris led the way toward one of the matrixes connected with the insides of the exoskeleton, the group of cultivators behind her became more numerous.
The Chasing Demon sect had sent a total of five teams in the separate dimension and, from their survivors, it was clear that its losses had been huge.
Joel walked slowly, all the members of his team were nowhere to be seen and their state could be understood from his discouraged expression.
Alison was right behind Elder Iris, she and two cultivators were the only survivors of her team, her stern mood showed how much she had suffered in the dimension.
David's team was in the middle, five of its members had survived which was an incredible feat considering that only the non-affiliated newly advanced rank 3 cultivators surpassed that number, the latter hadn't even reached the seabed but that had allowed for more of them to survive.
As for the team created by Roy, none of its members could be seen on the shore, they had probably died due to their poor battle experience.
All in all, only twenty-six cultivators survived the exploration, the assets in the human rank of the Chasing demon sect had suffered heavy losses!
"Elder Iris, I-"
"We will speak once we return to the headquarters, there are too many prying eyes on the surface."
Joel tried to speak but Elder Iris promptly stopped him.
She had taken a risk in exposing herself in the open but she needed to salvage as much as she could, the balance of power will tilt toward the organization that had obtained the Inheritance after all.
Noah remained silent, Helga's curious gaze would fall on him from time to time but he simply ignored it.
His mind was still a mess, he had always thought that it would have been enough to simply obtain stronger techniques to pursue power, he had never considered that his approach would eventually endanger his future progresses.
The powerful group slowly walked through the streets of the island, it was as if Elder Iris was purposely showing their path to anyone spying on her.
When she reached a certain building, she exhaled and a warm breeze swept the twenty-six cultivators behind her.
The cultivators were surprised but there wasn't much that they could do, the breeze ruffled their hair and made their torn robes flutter, seemingly without any additional effect.
Yet, some almost invisible golden grains were carried away by the breeze, the cultivators looked at them in surprise, it took Elder Iris' explanation for them to understand what the grains represented.
"Hmph, did he think that he could spy on my sect so easily? He must be confident that the legal factions have obtained the Inheritance."
Her words explained the current situation: Apparently, the survivors from the dimension had been unconsciously hit by an investigative method!
Elder Iris continued on her way, she took many turns and she even released more of that breeze to cover her path.
The group then reached another building and entered it, a matrix appeared on the floor when they stepped inside the main hall.
The pressure of the teleportation arrived and the scenery changed, the shining purple walls of the exoskeleton appeared in the cultivators' views, signaling that they had finally returned to the sect.
Sighs of relief and tired curses resounded in the area, the cultivators finally dropped their stern looks and relaxed, they were safe there.
Linus and a woman stood at the sides of the matrix, they began to trace lines on it and modify the formation as fast as they could, Noah understood that they were covering the tracks left by their passage.
"We don't know who obtained the Inheritance nor to which organization it belongs, yet, we won't give up on our rule over the archipelago. War will probably occur, the scales of power between the Hive and the legal organizations will shift, this is no time for sorrow!"
Elder Iris spoke, she was trying to lift the cultivators' morale while explaining the events that will engulf the archipelago in the future.
In her view, whichever organization obtained the Inheritance will have a sharp increase in power, the domain of the Hive and the Chasing demon sect will be endangered due to that.
The scene on the shore was quite self-explaining, the cultivators from the underground organizations had suffered far more losses and there was a high chance that the Inheritance was with someone from the legal ones, it was normal for her to predict the arrival of a battle.
'This is awkward.'
Noah thought as he kept an expressionless face.
Her speech and the rekindled will of his companions were quite pointless since he was the one who had obtained the Inheritance.
"These events have to be a lesson: Never allow yourself to be weak! The weak dies while the strong survive, this is the rule of the world. Use this experience to pursue power with even more dedication, I won't accept that the captains of my Chasing demon sec-"
"Elder Iris, a word?"
Noah interrupted Elder Iris' speech and the gazes of the other cultivators went on him.
Noah felt as if he had committed a huge crime due to the anger carried by those stares, his natural cold expression came out when under such pressure.
"Did you think that my words are so pointless that you can freely interrupt them?"
Elder Iris wasn't an exception, she was quite tense due to the repercussion that will eventually hit the underground organizations in her prediction, she hadn't expected for Noah to behave so improperly.
"Divine Demon told me to leave everything that I don't need to the sect. I intend to do so if the sect is willing to provide benefits of matching value."
Noah completely disregarded her question and gave voice to his intentions, he had yet to inspect the contents of the black space-ring after all.
"What do you mean? How do you know that name?"
Elder Iris didn't understand and expressed her confusion but Noah couldn't be bothered to answer now.
"I'll go to my cave in the residential area for rank 2 cultivators. Just wait for me to sort out the items of the Inheritance, we can decide my benefits later."
With those last words, Noah left the area, twenty-five cultivators in the third rank and one in the heroic ranks stared at his n.a.k.e.d back with speechless expressions.