"You made the right decision, Prince. Vengeance can be attained at any point, but there are only so many chances to increase your power. The Hive now has a stable foothold on the new continent, and its power will increase sharply. I'm sure you will lead our armies against your family one day."
Elder Hope said as she and Noah flew back to the forest of White woods.
She was trying to console him, but there was truth in her words.
Noah was the Demon Prince of the Hive, his status wasn't devoid of authority, he would be able to lead an attack against his family given the right circ.u.mstances.
On the other hand, Noah was aware that he had acted for his best interest, but his mood was still sour.
Coming so close to a form of revenge only to be stopped by the politics between two nations, that event was a harsh blow to a man that believed that power could overwhelm everything.
"I guess I'm still too weak."
Elder Hope could only hear a murmur since Noah had spoken too softly.
"Prince?"
She asked when she saw that Noah's gaze seemed to wander on the horizon.
"I believed destruction had to come before creation, but how could I destroy if I don't create a power that allows me to do that? Everything is a cycle, nothing ever stays still. The origin of everything should be Heaven and Earth, but can they be its end too?"
Noah gave voice to his thoughts under Elder Hope's confused gaze.
She could only understand part of the meaning behind his words, but she felt the helplessness carried by his tone.
Her eyes went on the horizon too, she let Noah's emotion invade her before she managed to answer.
"Heaven and Earth are the world itself. Cultivators claim to defy them, but they improve through their energy. We might think that we are ascending into the sky as our rank rises, but we are only exchanging one cycle for another."
Elder Hope spoke with his same helpless tone.
Questions about Heaven and Earth, about the meaning behind the cultivation journey, and the true essence of the "Breath" had lingered on the cultivators' minds since the first human learned to absorb "Breath" in its dantian.
Elder Hope was a heroic cultivator that had reached the liquid stage through her understanding of the laws of the wind element, her thoughts had reached a similar topic many times while she tried to gain insights.
"What about gods? What's the point of becoming a law outside of Heaven and Earth's grasp if you are just entering one of their cycles?"
Noah asked, but his question wasn't directed to the elder next to him, he seemed to be asking that to himself.
"That I don't know, Prince. I'm walking the cultivation road just like you are, and the answers that we find will obviously be different. After all, every heroic cultivator is pursuing its individuality, there can't be a universal answer nor a general path."
Elder Hope showed her wisdom through her words, it became clear to Noah that she had earned the level of her dantian.
"Paths and roads built on a world that belongs to something else. Heaven and Earth can keep it…"
Noah spoke but continued the rest of the phrase only inside his mind.
'I want the stars.'
Both of them spent the rest of the flight back to the forest in silence, they let their minds wander as they flew through the land that had fallen from the sky.
When they landed on the terrain under the white crowns, they discovered that the area around the teleportation matrix had become far more crowded in those few days.
Elder Julia had fought for the beginning of the mountain chain after the azure plain while Noah was flying to fight Adrian.
Their return sealed the end of the one versus one battles, which meant that the Hive could finally start to use the entirety of its assets to colonize the new continent.
"The hot-head is back."
Elder Julia commented when she saw Noah, but Elder Austin's loud laugh interrupted her from speaking further.
"Come on, Julia, everything turned out for the best in the end. Also, the Prince is not even forty, he still needs to vent from time to time!"
Elder Austin couldn't stop smiling while he said those words, he was simply too happy that Noah had won the lava lake to mind that he had almost caused a war against the Utra nation.
"Hmph, he is the Demon Prince, he can't show any weakness! And what is your problem with your clothes? How can you be the emblem of the Hive if you end up n.a.k.e.d after every battle?"
Elder Julia complained and pointed at Noah's torn robe.
Adrian had managed to land many attacks on his body during the fight, and the armor of smoke was pierced many times, meaning that the robe under it had to endure those fists.
Of course, simple clothes would just shatter under the attacks of a heroic cultivator.
Noah was once again almost n.a.k.e.d, his upper clothes were completely gone, and only tatters covered the rest of his body.
What had once been a luxurious robe had turned in nothing more than a few rags.
Noah could only shrug his shoulders at her words.
Clothes had always hindered his combat style due to his Blood companions which were one of the reasons why he had never purchased an inscribed robe and relied on his body-inscription spell to defend himself.
Also, now that his combat style had acquired features belonging to a magical beast, his clothes ended up suffering even more.
"I'll pay more attention from now on."
Noah gave voice to those words since Elder Julia didn't seem to want to let go of that matter.
Elder Austin continued to smile at her side, he seemed really amused by Julia's reprimand, or maybe he was just too happy to care about it.
In the end, Elder Julia heaved a helpless sigh and gestured to Elder Jason to bring Noah new clothes before pointing at a table that had been placed next to the formation.
"The Hive is now officially in possess of eight territories in the new continent, but it has only so many heroic assets. With the Patriarch gone, it's up to us to make these lands habitable by human cultivators. Also, many elders have to remain in the Coral archipelago and the conquered nation in the area of influence of the Empire. I believe you all understand what this implies."
The elders gathered around the table, which had a map of the southwestern coast laid on its surface.
Yet, when Noah tried to near it, he was stopped by Elder Austin, who handed him a crystal before adding a few words.
"This contains the images of Elder Julia's battle, put them to good use."