Noah's mind was quite messy when he left Elder Austin's quarters.
The elder's explanation had cleared many of his doubts, but there wasn't much that he could do with his new understanding of the higher ranks.
He was still in the gaseous stage, and the "Breath" inside his dantian didn't show any sign of being affected by his individuality, meaning that his essence was still too murky.
'I can't force the arrival of enlightenments, but I can choose the environment where to meditate.'
Noah thought as he flew toward the lava lake.
He had yet to modify his secret art, but the conversation with the elder had given him new ideas on how to use his centers of power better.
'Brute force is useful, but can a simple secret art express the full potential of my body?'
Noah knew the answer to that question.
His secret art had been instrumental in overwhelming his opponents in melee combat and in making his martial arts reach the power of the spells.
However, his body was now far stronger than before, and a regular secret art couldn't use all the nutrients contained inside it.
Also, consuming those nutrients would lead to the need to refill them, which was a troublesome issue.
Noah's body was in the fifth rank, and only other rank 5 magical beasts could appease his hunger and make him grow.
The pills created by the Udye family could make up for the after-effects of his current secret art, but what would happen if Noah managed to improve it?
Noah knew the answer to that question too.
'A secret art suitable for my body would surely push my physical strength to amazing levels, but I don't know if I can sustain the expenditure of food needed to cancel its after-effects. I need to find a better way to use the energy inside my body.'
Noah concluded in his mind.
He couldn't use rank 5 body parts just to make up for the damages that a secret art would cause on his body, it was simply not worth it!
Yet, every fiber of his body contained an incredible amount of energy, which was simply wasted if it was used only to obtain physical strength.
'I wonder if I can modify a secret art to use the energy that it releases to fuel spells and martial arts.'
Noah's idea was quite simple.
He wanted to redirect the energy released during the activation of his secret art to make up for his weak centers of power instead of using it to improve his physical strength.
He didn't need more strength, he was barely able to use his martial arts in his current state.
What he needed was more "Breath".
'Improving my secret art can only give me expenditures that I can't sustain. Instead, if I modify my current one, I can gain access to the energy stored in my body.'
The more he thought about that, the more he realized that it was possible.
After all, his body was already doing that whenever he launched his flames, he just needed to make it use his dantian and mind instead of his lungs.
'The centers of power would eventually be modified and connected due to the individuality of a cultivator. I can force something similar through the power of my body!'
Of course, Noah didn't hesitate to pursue that idea as soon as he found it more reliable than his previous plan.
'June linked her centers of power together through the Perfect circuit, but I know nothing about formations, I can only achieve something similar with the Elemental forging method.'
Noah thought as he pondered over that matter.
He had many conversations with June about individuality and cultivation techniques, so he knew something about Eccentric Thunder's training methods.
However, he had to do something in line with himself, and that could only be forged with his inscription method.
'An inscribed item that gathers and stores the energy released during the activation of my secret art, but that can be connected to my centers of power. It should have similar features to the Black hole cultivation technique, but it can't carry the same greed. It should work as the black membrane that I had with my Yin body, a warm reserve of energy that I can use when my dantian is empty.'
The Divine deduction technique was active and provided Noah with countless ideas on how to proceed.
Noah quickly sorted through those ideas and found the best approach to his issue.
It was clear that only his body could be used as a material, anything else would just conflict with his other centers of power.
'The energy contained in my body can only be stored by something equally powerful. Blood it is.'
Noah decided that his core material had to be his blood.
A series of experiments followed that decision.
Hurting himself was a troublesome issue, but he could force himself to spit a bit of blood if he wanted.
That blood was then molded to assume the form of clots to increase its storage capabilities.
As for the meaning, Noah used something similar to his greed.
The images of June's departure appeared in his mind as the gaseous "Breath" of his dantian was immersed in the sea inside his mind.
Violent emotions originated from those images, but there was also a firm determination.
A determination to wait, a commitment to endure until he obtained enough strength.
That determination was what had allowed Noah to hold himself back from stopping June, and was the only meaning that an organ forged to contain a massive amount of power could have.
Noah encountered some difficulties in his experiments, but he quickly found solutions to each one of them with the help of the Divine deduction technique.
Also, the core material was his blood, he had an innate understanding of it that couldn't be expressed by the simple expertise.
In the end, he succeeded in creating a stable inscribed item.
A satisfied smile appeared on Noah's face when he stared at the shining orb under him.
The orb glowed with a dark-red light, and its form trembled slightly whenever the "Breath" inside it moved.
Its walls weren't stable, Noah had purposely kept the liquid capabilities of his blood in his final product.
The item acted as a dantian, it could store a certain amount of "Breath" and release it when needed.
However, its form wasn't fixed, Noah could control it to make it separate in many small spheres and join them back together once they had gathered enough energy.
'I need to improve the amount of "Breath" that it's capable of storing and test it inside my body. My search for the remains of the other demon sects will start after I've completed this phase.'
Noah thought as he picked the sphere under him and ate it, he was almost ready to travel again!