Noah began to improve his abilities and techniques according to the schedule that he had just established.
He didn't hide nor create a cave to go through those processes, the rocky wasteland with the lava lake was silent and devoid of any living being, it was perfect for his needs.
The surface of the wasteland was too hot for most rank 4 cultivators, and the rank 5 elders wouldn't spy on him out of respect for his status.
Also, he wanted to stay in the open to let his lungs freely absorb the light around him.
The power of his body backed his flames, they had instantly become one of his powerful attacks after the breakthrough.
So, he wanted to nourish them by being in one of the most illuminated areas under the control of the Hive.
Modifying his martial arts was quite easy, he was their maker after all.
He just needed to perform a few tests to find the best balance between his physical strength and a somewhat sustainable expenditure of "Breath".
The testing for his all-out attacks took a bit more since his dantian kept on being emptied after a few executions, but Noah managed to tune that aspect quite soon too.
The translation of the diagrams in his possession could only proceed slowly, but Noah wasn't in a hurry to complete it.
He took the translation as additional training for his mind that he could perform whenever his dantian was empty, and his training session with the fifth Kesier rune was over.
His mind resumed its steady enlargement, and Noah even began to store "Breath" inside his mental sphere again to accelerate its growth further.
His cultivation technique autonomously removed Heaven and Earth's will from the absorbed "Breath", and the will that managed the technique could give a meaning to that energy without making it enter Noah's mind.
Noah didn't need to store "Breath" inside his mind unless he needed it to perform a forging, but he wanted to accelerate the growth of that center of power.
His instincts were too intense, and his rank 4 sea of consciousness wasn't able to adequately handle them.
Also, his mind was the key to understand the kind of existence that he had become with his rank 5 body, which was something that could benefit him in his entirety.
Creating an improved version of his cultivation technique was quite easy too.
Noah had mastered the blueprint of the item that he used to cultivate a long time ago, and the appearance of the new continent had lowered the price of the "Breath" blessings by a lot.
After all, the three big nations didn't need to increase the density of "Breath" in the air anymore since their habitable lands on the piece of Immortal Lands were already the best training areas for human cultivators.
The Hive purchased and provided to Noah the necessary materials for the creation of a second black ring that could handle his improved greed for power, and Noah succeeded in forging the item at his first attempt.
The inscribed ring turned out to be a rank 4 item in the middle tier, something which even Noah found surprising.
However, everything could be explained by the intensity of the hunger that his new body had.
The biggest issue with his new cultivation technique was that he could barely hurt himself, let alone pierce his low-waist to reach his dantian.
Nothing in his arsenal could help him in that matter, so Noah felt forced to ask for help.
"Are you really sure?"
Elder Austin asked while wearing a stupefied gaze.
Noah had asked for a meeting and reached his quarters situated under the invisible dome in the area with the poisonous rivers.
However, as soon as he arrived, he asked the elder to pierce his low-waist and create a wound that connected his skin with his dantian.
"Yes, just make a hole here."
Noah answered while pointing at the spot directly over his dantian.
Elder Austin didn't know what to do, but, in the end, he simply gave up and followed Noah's orders.
Flames appeared around the elder, and a small sphere fell from them to land on his palm.
The shape of that sphere changed inside the elder's palm and became a shining needle that began to float in the air.
"Are you really, really sure?"
Elder Austin asked again, but Noah simply undressed the upper part of his robe and exposed his bare low-waist.
The elder could only sigh at that sight and launch the needle toward the center of power of the most promising cultivator of his organization.
However, to his surprise, the needle was only able to dent Noah's skin, and not even a drop of blood came out of it.
"Elder, could you use a bit more power? You know, my body-nourishing method is quite peculiar."
Noah asked when he saw that the attack wasn't able to hurt him.
He could understand that Elder Austin was trying his best to contain his power, but he needed to replace the black ring inside the wall of his dantian.
On the other hand, Elder Austin was utterly astonished.
He was concerned about Noah's well-being, but he still intended to do as he asked.
The power behind his attack surely wasn't enough to reach Noah's dantian in one go, but he would have never expected to leave him completely unharmed.
"I'll put more power."
Elder Austin said at some point and quickly created another red needle from his flames.
The needle managed to pierce Noah's skin at that time, but it wasn't able to cross the barrage of dense muscles under it.
Also, when the needle vanished, Noah's skin healed in a matter of seconds.
"Ehm, maybe not just a bit."
Noah revealed a helpless smile when he said that and Elder Austin simply gave up on trying to evaluate the power contained in his body.
Yet, he didn't recklessly charge his needles with more "Breath" and mental energy, he didn't want to risk injuring Noah's center of power after all.
It took him four more attempts to finally complete Noah's task and create a wound that exposed his dantian.
Noah quickly exchanged the cultivation techniques and threw his old ring inside his mouth as soon as it appeared out in the open.
The ring would just keep on accumulating "Breath" without a dantian next to it, which would turn it into an explosive item with the power of the fourth rank.
Noah didn't have any use for it, so he simply ate it instead of destroying it.
Storing it wasn't a possibility either since he would need to empty one of the formations inside his space-ring, and it was pointless to do that for a useless item.
"Do you need anything else? Do you want some potion for the wound?"
Elder Austin asked after Noah was done with the replacement.
However, Noah hadn't contacted the elder just for his power, there were some questions that he needed to ask too.
"Elder Austin."
Noah began to speak in a polite tone.
"Is the sea of consciousness connected with the soul?"