The situation in the old continent evolved precisely as the elders had predicted.
The images of the one versus one battles had been registered and copied in crystals so that anyone with enough Credits could purchase them, it was needless to say that many wealthy forces soon acquired them.
It didn't happen that often to be able to witness a battle between heroic cultivators, especially between those in the fifth rank, the value of those images was extremely high for cultivators able to gain some inspiration from them.
Also, they could be useful data of the heroic assets of the enemy forces, especially for those of the Hive.
The Coral archipelago had to use its heroic cultivators in the fights.
In contrast, the Council and the Elbas family had sent cultivators belonging to the sects and the noble families in the battles.
Of course, that didn't apply to the rank 5 cultivators who had faced Elder Julia and Elder Austin, they were representatives of the Council and the Elbas family, they had to show their power after all.
June obviously purchased them and gave a lot of importance to the battle between Noah and Adrian, but many other forces in the Utra continent paid special attention to Noah's battle prowess too.
The Udye family, the Balvan family, and other noble families whose heirs had met Noah in their life were interested in seeing the growth of the criminal that had managed to escape the grasp of the Royal family.
Those noble families had even prevented the soldiers under them from watching his battle, but that restriction only increased Noah's fame among the ranks of the exploited and suppressed cultivators.
After all, all the citizens of the settlements in the new continent and those in the bigger cities of the old one had watched the fights unfolding during the event, tales of the fiendish figure destroying the defenses of the black giant filled the rumors among those that lacked a noble bloodline.
The number of cultivators rebelling or simply abandoning their countries to join the Hive increased, the islands of the Coral archipelago saw their population rise sharply in the months after the battles.
It took a bit more than three months for Adrian to return to the Balvan mansion.
When he reached the main hall to report to his father, he found Thomas attentively watching the images of his battle radiated by a crystal.
"You lost an ear."
Thomas commented as soon as he sensed Adrian's arrival.
Adrian lowered his head but didn't answer.
Noah had won fairly, the proof to that was right in front of his eyes, there was nothing to add to his father's comment.
"Do you want something to fix it?"
Thomas asked after a long moment of silence.
"It's just an ear, it's not worth wasting a precious potion for it."
Adrian plainly refused Thomas' offer.
He had a rank 4 body, meaning that only potions in the fourth rank could affect it.
"Good. Scars are important to a warrior, they remind him of his mistakes. Tell me, why did you lose?"
Adrian listened to those words and raised his head to watch his battle from a different perspective.
He saw his giant fists piercing the armor of smoke and landing on Noah's body, but he also saw that they had almost no effect.
"I honestly don't know. The bast-, Noah seems to be training in a peculiar body-nourishing method that gives him a strength and a resistance far superior to my Black body transformation. Still, I couldn't understand if there were spells involved."
Thomas nodded when he heard those words and used his mental energy to make the crystal display the images that pictured Noah when he dispersed the Demonic form.
"Everything under Heaven and Earth follows their balance, fairness is enforced on every living being, and the same applies to techniques and spells. Noah's physical prowess must come with a cost, his body seemed extremely frail when the battle ended, meaning that endurance might be his weakness."
Adrian neared his father after he heard those words.
He had noticed something similar as he pondered about the battle on his way back to the mansion.
Yet, when he was there, even Noah's skinny figure seemed to contain an immense strength.
Little did they know that they were completely off track.
Noah's body was something that even Heaven had tried to destroy, the only physical drawback was his endless hunger.
"He manages to hide secrets even with the eyes of the three big nations on him… I must say that we never had a chance to contain him, not after he saw his mother being abused for so many years."
Adrian heaved a helpless sigh before speaking those words.
He had accepted Noah's strength and had recognized him as an exceptional existence in his mind, he was just trying to console his father by giving voice to his thoughts.
"I know, no one could have predicted his talent nor that he would be so biased against us due to his mother. The youngest heroic cultivator in history had to be the son of a commoner, what luck."
Thomas shook his head after he replied to Adrian, he felt really helpless about that matter.
Lily was just a commoner, she would have never received a good treatment even if Noah's talent was accepted sooner.
After all, how could anyone hinder the action of a noble just because a human cultivator seemed promising?
The road to the heroic ranks was harsh, and only a small percentage of the human cultivators could obtain all the resources and experiences needed to survive the Tribulations.
Also, they even had to destroy the black clouds during the Heaven Tribulation, or their future progress would be affected since their dantians would lack vital nourishments.
"Did you consider that matter?"
Adrian asked with a serious gaze as he turned toward his father.
"What? Are you speaking about me approaching the fifth rank? I don't know if I can survive the breakthrough due to my old age, but I might be able to reach it with the help of the Elbas family…"