Noah flew toward the west while browsing through the contents of Elder Austin's scroll.
The Hive had greatly expanded its influence on the territories of the new continent thanks to Chasing Demon's presence.
The Patriarch of the Hive had made some needed changes to the southwestern coast in the almost four years that Noah had spent inside the chrysalis.
The forest of White woods didn't need any form of protection.
Still, the habitable area in Azure plain was too small to accommodate the human population of the crowded Coral archipelago.
So, he deployed the copying technique in specific and valuable areas to create more invisible domes where human cultivators could live.
More shining lakes appeared on the border between the forest and the plain, and similar scenes could be seen in the territory inhabited by octopuses and in the poisonous area next to the desert.
Massive hunts had begun as soon as the threat of the winged beasts was dispelled, and the heroic assets of the Hive could finally start colonizing.
The pack of octopuses had mostly vanished after the last assault of the winged beasts, even its rank 5 specimen had died.
That event was exploited by the Hive that killed the remaining rank 4 creatures in the area and allowed the creation of new habitable regions protected by the copying formation.
Something similar had happened in the land filled by poisonous rivers.
The migration of the fauna had affected that territory.
It dispelled most of the toxicity that made that land too dangerous to explore, which opened the path for a partial colonization.
Four years weren't enough to take complete control of the southwestern coast, but Chasing Demon and the other elders achieved something quite remarkable in that period.
The Hive now had three large invisible domes that human cultivators could inhabit next to the three borders of the forest of White woods.
The copying formation covered the area under the domes and that around them to offer protection and create training areas that the human cultivators were forced to use.
The shining lakes needed a certain equilibrium between the depleted and absorbed "Breath" to function, which meant that the copying technique had to activate often to meet those requirements.
The Hive created a system of rewarding missions aimed to solve that issue, which urged the human cultivators that established themselves on the new continent to make use of the copying technique.
The missions were mandatory training sessions against the copied beasts that Chasing Demon had trapped somewhere under the surface of those areas, and the promising human assets greatly benefitted from them.
The Hive aimed to forge any new cultivator that joined it through countless battles and was executing that task quite well.
The Coral archipelago had slowly become a transitory training area for the human cultivators that joined the Hive.
It began to be treated as some sort of academy that rewarded those who showed a decent battle prowess with the chance of traveling in the new continent.
Even rank 2 cultivators began to fill the cities under the invisible domes, the Hive was moving its headquarters in the continent that would grant it the best benefits.
After all, the archipelago was surrounded by the areas of influence of the three big nations, there was a limit to how much the Hive could expand in the old continent.
However, the new continent was almost as vast as the old one, but it didn't feature the same limitations.
'The next dome should be built in the desert to connect all the territories on the western coast under our control. Yet, that area isn't that valuable, the elders might choose to colonize the territory before the snowy mountain to protect the border with the Utra nation better.'
Noah thought as he flew over the rocky wasteland.
His target lived in the desert, and he wanted to experience the heat radiated by the lava lake with his new body alongside the journey.
The heatwaves that reached his height were almost negligible, Noah realized that he would even forget about them if he didn't pay attention.
Other sensations though returned as he familiarized with his body.
His hunger increased with every passing second, Noah felt that his mind instinctively focused on any lifeform that appeared in his view.
Noah sensed Elder Jason's presence under him, he could guess that the elder was cultivating next to one of the red rivers.
Information about the elder's position, scent, and even power level appeared in his mind, it was as if his body was autonomously studying the details of possible prey.
'I should focus on my sea of consciousness from now on. The intensity of my instincts has increased far more than expected, I can't risk losing control.'
Noah decided after suppressing the thought of eating Elder Jason.
The harmony between his centers of power had been broken with the sudden breakthrough of his body.
His dantian had improved a lot during his hibernation, but his mind had almost remained at the same level.
After all, he didn't need to store "Breath" inside his mental sphere anymore since the will in front of his dantian could directly provide the necessary meanings, and there was a limit to how much pressure Zac and Havoc's figures could generate.
'Well, my dantian cultivates on its own, and I can't even imagine how much "Breath" my body needs to improve at this level. So, I can stress my mind as much as I want from now on. The problem is that the fifth rank of the sea of consciousness seems still far away.'
Noah couldn't help but sigh when he thought that.
The heroic ranks were incredibly vast, it could take decades just to make the smallest of the improvements.
He had been able to evolve his body so quickly only because he trained in the magical beasts' method and could make use of the superior power of the cultivators to hunt the most nourishing prey.
However, his mind and dantian couldn't take any shortcut.
Actually, it could be even said that Noah was treading the fastest path to the higher ranks already!
His dantian improved through a cultivation technique that he had personally created, and he could join the memorization of the Kesier runes with the internal pressure of the body-inscription spell and inscription method.
He was even gaining insights about his individuality, and his period with June had further deepened his understanding of himself.
Yet, he knew that the road to the next stages and ranks was still long, especially for what concerned his mind.
'Expressing the power of the laws would need something deeper than the simple mental energy. Maybe, the sea of consciousness can open the path to wield your soul…'
Noah's mind wandered as he reached for the desert, he could set his plans for the future only after he understood how strong he was.