Noah stared Ruth, she was only a naïve kid when he saved her in the entrance test.
Now, she was threatening him with a force that surpassed the human assets of the weaker organizations in the archipelago, he couldn't help but sigh when he realized how much time had passed.
However, his gaze didn't linger on her for too long, it quickly went on the hooded criminals behind her.
"Tell me, would you like to be freed?"
Noah's words resounded on the shore, confused expressions appeared on the criminals.
Noah couldn't see their faces but he knew that his words caused the desired effect.
After all, he was once like them, a criminal forced to do the dirty work for the Royal family to obtain cultivation resources.
Yet, he also knew that their situation was different from his, Noah didn't swear any oath back then due to the Royal Inheritance but those cultivators were most likely bound by some restriction.
There would be no reason to send two rank 2 cultivators to lead them otherwise, Noah was sure that they had sealed a pact with the Royals.
"What are you even saying? Do you think that someone like you would be able to break Master's oath?"
Ruth spoke, confirming Noah's hypothesis as her eyes sharpened.
That situation was simply too strange, she didn't have a good feeling about it.
Noah had come alone, there had to be some sort of trap laid somewhere!
Though, she would have never expected the trap to come from the sky.
The air suddenly seemed to freeze, the waves crashing on the shore seemed to soften their assault on the land.
A figure descended at a slow pace from the sky.
It was impossible to miss the arrival of that cultivator, the world itself seemed wary of its presence!
Ruth and her group stared at the man descending from the sky in fear, his piercing green eyes were fixed on them as his long gray hair fluttered in the wind.
He wore a simple black robe with large sleeves, the cultivator had the aspect of a middle-aged man but his skin radiated a light of its own.
The man's gaze then went on the young-looking man bowing in his direction, Noah had promptly made that polite gesture to welcome the heroic rank cultivator.
"Your request is feasible, their oaths weren't made to resist against heroic ranks cultivator."
Noah didn't raise his head, he just limited himself to speak a few words.
"Please, Elder."
The elder was expressionless, it was as if he was going out for a walk instead of facing fifty rank 3 cultivators.
He took an orb from his space-ring and injected his "Breath" inside it.
The orb began to shine, its light illuminated Ruth's group, making golden runes appear on the bodies of the criminals.
The runes flickered, they seemed to suffer under the orb's light but there wasn't much that they could do.
The runes slowly began to break apart, turning into golden dust that was then swept away by the wind.
The process wasn't painless for the criminals.
They either fell on the ground or puked blood as the light destroyed every trace of the oaths that they had with the Royal family, their destruction naturally caused a backlash to happen in their bodies.
The light thoroughly erased the oaths before the orb stopped shining and the elder stored it back in his ring.
"Many thanks, Elder."
Noah had his head still lowered as he spoke, he had never raised it for the whole process.
He had asked for the help of a heroic rank cultivator from his sect to deal with that matter but he didn't know how well his request was received.
He didn't know if the elder was pissed because he had been asked to deal with a human matter, he would rather play it safe until he was gone.
The elder though didn't seem to mind him at all, he simply left after Noah spoke, disappearing in the sky after he took a single step.
Only then did Noah raise his head, he sighed internally when he understood that his plan had succeeded.
His gaze went back on the group from the Utra nation, Ruth and Errol had scared expression as they watched the hooded figures behind them on the ground and injured.
Removing an oath was a dangerous procedure, it was normal for them to have suffered some relatively heavy injury.
"Move."
Ruth heard Noah's voice behind her back, she turned only to see a pair of icy eyes fixed on her at a short distance.
Her cultivation level was too low, she could only lower her head and make a path when Noah ordered her.
Noah neared the group of criminals and made a speech when he was sure that each one of them was listening.
"I removed the oaths binding you to the Royal family, you are now free to act as you want."
Noah felt a series of gazes landing on him, he knew that he was being probed by the criminals.
"Yet, you are still wanted. I know that all of you are aware of the struggles of lone cultivators, the backing of a powerful organization is necessary to reach the heroic ranks, talent alone can't open that path."
The gazes stopped probing his power and softened a bit, the criminals were starting to understand the meaning behind Noah's words.
"You probably know me, I was once used like you to do the dirty work for the Royals because I lacked the resources needed to pursue power. Now, though, I can ask for the help of heroic cultivators from my organization. I don't want to kill nor force you, your power is valuable for my organization at this point in time. Join me and I promise that your growth will never be hindered."
Noah stopped speaking and waited for their reaction.
He wasn't scared that they would attack him, they had just seen an elder helping him with some human matters after all.
Also, his words were on point.
In the Utra nation, most cultivators in the human ranks knew Noah, especially those that lacked a noble bloodline.
Noah was a bastard who had managed to escape the restrictions not only of his family but also of the leaders of the nation!
Such a character was admired by those that suffered from the same fate, they wanted to be like him and simply escape where their talent wouldn't be restricted.
They would have never imagined that Noah Balvan would be the one offering them that chance.
Noah was clearly a rank 3 cultivator, he couldn't have possibly been restricted during his cultivation journey to reach that level so soon.
Little by little, the criminals gathered their strength and stood up, one by one, they began to bow toward Noah.