It was clear that the cause of that mutation was something hidden in the bloodline of the beasts with a dantian. Yet, Noah couldn't understand the limits of that substance so soon.
The fact that the raw meat of those creatures carried nourishments that could improve his dantian was already amazing. He was sure that a massive hunt would begin if experts learnt how to extrapolate that property and turn it into a drug for ordinary cultivators.
However, Noah had to find out how valuable that information was before deciding which factions could learn about it.
'Let's see what happens.' Noah thought before shooting toward another crowded area and capturing a rank 3 Golden rat after scanning it with his mind.
Noah growled when he made sure that the beast didn't have a dantian. The rat couldn't do anything against his pressure, and it merely lowered its head as a sign of submission.
Noah threw a chunk of flesh in front of the trembling beast and growled again to force it to eat the rank 3 material.
The rat quickly finished its meal, and Noah kept his consciousness fixed on its body for the whole process. The beasts experienced the same events that he had observed inside his body, with the only difference that part of the nutrients gathered in the lower side of the creature.
'Only half of the nutrients fed its body.' Noah summarized when everything was over. 'The rest is still amassed there.'
One meal wasn't enough to produce lasting changes, but the experiment had already proved that his guess was on point. The primary energy contained inside the mutated beasts could affect normal creatures and initiate the creation of a fake dantian!
Of course, Noah would have to perform more extended tests if he wanted to grasp the rules behind that process. Yet, even that small discovery made him feel happy that he had joined that mission.
He had long since accepted that only laws could force the primary energy to work in a specific way, but he had an example of that right in front of him now.
Nourishments that were supposed to feed all the tissues equally carried intrinsic behaviors instead. That was exactly what Noah was trying to do with his individuality and inscription methods.
'This is worth studying.' Noah thought as he resumed with his tests.
The troops on the volcano were busy creating defenses and formations for various purposes, so he wasn't in a hurry to return. He could focus on that discovery as much as he wanted.
Noah waited for a few hours without allowing the rank 3 Golden rat to move.
The Divine Deduction technique consumed his mental energy as he continued to focus on the primary energy amassed inside the beast. He wanted to discover more about that innate behavior, but he couldn't use the full extent of his consciousness, or the rat would simply die under the weight of his mental waves.
Also, he noticed that its body began to slowly absorb the primary energy without creating anything in its place.
Noah threw another chunk of meat at that point and kept on observing the changes inside the creature.
The absorption proceeded in the same way as before. The energy gathered in the lower side of the rat had simply increased due to the addition of the new nourishments.
Noah waited again and threw more food when its body began to affect the mass of primary energy. He repeated that process multiple times, and the first visible changes appeared only after an entire day spent in that way.
Noah's focused when he saw that part of the primary energy had turned material and had created what seemed to be the beginning of the fake dantian that the other creatures had.
'I knew it!' Noah exclaimed in his mind and decided to stop feeding the rat at that point.
The energy that didn't solidify slowly nourished its body during the following hours until it was depleted. The rat didn't show any evident change after all those procedures, but Noah could see that the piece of fake dantian was still there.
That day spent testing the features carried by the unusual beasts had given him a basic knowledge about the fauna of that world. Noah could already predict how the food chain had evolved and what to expect by those creatures in different areas.
'Mutated beasts are less appealing as a meal since they don't provide as much energy as the others. Not immediately, at least.' Noah thought as he killed the rank 3 Golden rat and began to dissect its body. 'Also, they are generally stronger once they get a dantian.'
A dangerous prey and the delayed arrival of the nourishments made the specimens with a dantian more powerful and without any challenger. It was evident that they would rule most environments with those qualities.
Their only weakness was the increased amount of "Breath" needed to improve, but that was only a sign of their superior power.
'Let's see if I can learn something else.' Noah thought and was about to resume his exploration when a message reached his mind through his inscribed notebook.
The message came from Elder Austin, and it compelled him to return to the volcano as fast as he could. His exact words were: "You don't want to miss this."
Noah suppressed his eagerness to experiment to return to his group, but he only saw a few gaseous stage cultivators when he reached the volcano.
They were guarding the area while the others were away, and they didn't hesitate to point toward a direction when they saw his figure.
Noah flew past the volcano and sensed a series of familiar auras after an hour of travel. When he reached them, he noticed that all the remaining rank 4 and 5 cultivators hovering in a circle around a human figure that he didn't recognize.
His confusion became amazement when he understood that his group was surrounding what seemed to be a cultivator native of that world!
The human was a tall and brawny man who wore a scared expression as he stared at the powerful existences that had surrounded him. He only radiated the aura of a rank 2 cultivator, so the sole sight of more than thirty heroic entities was more than enough to scare him to death.
However, Noah soon noticed that there was something strange with that human.
His body seemed too strong for his level, and his mind radiated an aura that affected the "Breath" around him in a way that was hard to define without further analysis. Yet, the amount of danger that it exuded was lower compared to the rank 2 cultivators of Noah's world.
Noah was able to find the reason behind that lower amount of threat with a simple inspection of his mental energy, and what he discovered left him completely stunned.
The man was identical to any other human of his world, but he lacked one of the three centers of power.
He didn't have a dantian.