Noah had never been in charge of a team, he had always been forced to rely on himself.
Yet, he knew which was the most important quality that a leader had to have: Strength!
The battle plan had been prepared by the elder of the sect, he didn't have a say in that matter.
The information about the defensive formation had been provided by Holly and her faction, its destruction wasn't something that could be added to his merits.
However, if he wanted the other captains to follow his every order, he needed to show that he was worthy of the title of Demon Prince!
As for why he cared about that, it was because he needed the complete support of the sect.
Noah's identity had been revealed and he had already given away part of the Inheritance, he had obtained incredible benefits thanks to that but he didn't know for how long the sect would permit such an overbearing behavior.
Even the patriarch with his easygoing attitude could suddenly decide that he wasn't worth the many resources that he expended.
After all, Noah was a criminal in the Utra nation and a troublemaker in the Shandal Empire, the only reason why heroic cultivators weren't after him was that he was still in the human ranks.
Yet, if he managed to maintain the complete support of the sect through his feats, he would have the backing of a rank 6 existence!
That alone would scare away many of his pursuers, after all, who would want the enmity of the Chasing Demon in exchange for a single human cultivator?
Also, Noah didn't hate the idea of taking control of the archipelago, that place would become a safe nation where he could make steady progress without fearing unexpected ambushes.
The solid stage cultivator was a bit surprised by his words but Noah suddenly disappeared from his view.
'Such speed!'
Those were the thoughts of the solid stage cultivator as wind swept his hair, his gaze unconsciously went in the direction where Noah had gone.
Noah was in the air, a pair of large black wings flapped on his back and his legs casually kicked the air, creating circular shockwaves under his feet.
What surprised the cultivator the most was that Noah accelerated every time he kicked, small dark spheres appeared under his feet whenever his legs were about to stretch completely.
Most of Shadow steps, a small part of Blind, about half of Dark empowerment, and the last part of Forced harmonization, the diagrams of four different rank 0 spells had been analyzed by Noah who had taken the lines he was interested in and recomposed to create an improved version of the Shadow sprint!
During six months of seclusion, Noah had mostly focused on his centers of power but he didn't forget to improve his combat abilities.
The new Shadow sprint martial art didn't need a foothold to be performed, the cloud created by the Blind spell would be condensed by the effect of Forced harmonization and imbued with the effects of the Shadow steps.
Also, Dark empowerment simplified the movement that Noah needed to perform to obtain that result, replacing the previous form with a simple kick.
Of course, Noah would have never obtained such a great result in that short amount of time without the Divine deduction technique.
The inscriptions on the walls of his sphere not only analyzed the diagrams at an unimaginable speed, but they also gave him many inspirations on how to recompose the lines he was interested in.
That method couldn't be used to create new spells but Noah had managed to link those lines that had different sources with his body, obtaining a powerful martial art.
He was still using the theory behind the Elemental forging method to activate its effects, the consumption of the "Breath" inside his sea of consciousness had increased but the improvements far overcame that flaw.
After all, Noah flying speed was surpassing that of a rank 4 magical beast in the middle tier and it seemed to be increasing even!
That speed though wasn't entirely thanks to his martial art, his wings also played a big role.
The wings of a rank 4 creature and a rank 4 martial art, it was as if a magical beast was using a real martial art!
Noah arrived on top of the group of rank 3 cultivators of the Empire in no time, his mental energy was expended as lines appeared in the air around them and began to emit an ominous dark light.
The seven cultivators felt as if their bodies were being weakened under the dark halo and quickly moved to leave the rectangle that had formed around them.
However, when the cultivator in the solid stage was about to exit the area, a fuming ethereal slash dug a deep cut on the ground in front of her, blocking her path.
She turned her head to look at the winged man in the air, his cold gaze was fixed on her, it was clear that she was his target.
Meanwhile, a battle exploded around her, the rank 3 cultivator from the Chasing Demon sect attacked the six that had escaped Noah's Death area spell while those in the second rank overwhelmed the soldiers on their level.
The outcome of the battle was basically decided, the soldiers of the Empire didn't have a chance to win unless some backup arrived from the other islands.
The only option was to stall for time!
"Hmph, you are only in the gaseous stage, know your place!"
The woman snorted when she saw Noah's level, she felt that her enemy had underestimated her.
A phoenix made of yellow flames formed in front of her and flew in the air, trying to reach for the winged man.
Noah felt the terrifying power behind that spell, he knew that Heilong would be destroyed a few times before it could block it.
Yet, using his Blood companion had never been his intention.
A black dot appeared in front of him, his image behind the dot began to curve due to the suction force exuded by the spell.
Then, the dot enlarged.
It first reached the size of a fist, then that of a human head.
It stopped growing only after it became as big as a man's chest.
The light around the now sphere curved and was sucked inside, only Noah seemed immune to its suction force.
The phoenix couldn't maintain its trajectory, its flames were slowly absorbed by the Black hole spell before its entire body disappeared in the darkness of the sphere.