Noah decided to ignore the celebrations when he understood that remaining in the encampment would only force him to refuse a countless number of complaints.
He didn't blame the other factions for being interested in his body-nourishing method, nor the Council for spreading the information about his peculiarity so soon.
If there were a chance, every cultivator would choose to obtain the features of the magical beasts. After all, most techniques and methods tried to imitate those creatures because they had a more natural path toward the higher ranks. Also, their physical might was too insane to ignore it.
Now that there was a chance right in front of their eyes, they couldn't just let it go.
Noah glanced at the other Elders of the Hive, but all of them were in the same situation. The assets of the other factions were engaged in polite discussions with them, but it was evident that their respect was only an act to cover their real intentions.
The Hive was still the weakest of the four forces, but everyone was treating its assets with the utmost courtesy.
Noah hastily took a cup from the table and left for one of the tents in the Hive's side. He saw no point in remaining there. It was better to use his time meditating until the powerhouses decided how to handle the new world.
There were six luxurious tents in that part of the encampment, and Noah saw that one of them had a large banner with the words "Demon Prince" written on it. Even if he had been in the wilderness during those years, the other Elders had prepared quarters suitable for his status.
The tent was covered in inscriptions that isolated its insides from the outside world, and it seemed to have even a few defensive features. They weren't too exceptional though. They only provided a necessary amount of protection and some privacy.
Noah ignored a few cultivators that were calling his name and crossed the entrance of his quarters, sitting on the first mat that he found and taking out a few hybrid's corpses from his space-ring.
The leaders of the natives had died, meaning that there was no one able to trigger the transformation anymore. He could finally put to use all the corpses accumulated during the exploration of the continent.
Of course, the thought that he could learn how to trigger the transformation had crossed his mind. Even as a fake, he was an ancestor in terms of bloodlines.
Yet, he had far more pressing matters to handle, and he couldn't find ways to exploit that skill to his benefits. So, he simply suppressed his curiosity and focused on his current problems.
The Demonic Sword had remained by his side for the whole time, and it didn't hesitate to stab one of the corpses. Noah began to eat too, but his gaze remained on his weapon as he studied its growth.
The blade was a living being in the fifth rank, but its power didn't increase so much in the last period, even if Noah had kept on feeding it.
'It should be a specimen in the lower tier, but it is capable of far more when I wield it.' Noah thought. 'Maybe, its growth is linked to my dantian since it is an expression of my individuality.'
Noah knew that he had yet to discover the full potential of his creation. After all, he had forged the Demonic Sword during the peculiar mindset reached in the transformation. There was even the fact that the blade could theoretically learn new abilities since it was alive and connected with his sea of consciousness.
Nevertheless, the blade was a newborn, and it was unaware of all its features. Even if Noah wanted to probe it, he would only obtain confused answers.
However, he could focus on the evident issues, and one of them was that its growth didn't reflect the amount of primary energy absorbed from the corpses. Noah had initially thought that its requirements in terms of nutrients were simply high, but he started to suspect that the reason behind its small improvements was his empty dantian.
'It would make sense.' Noah thought before activating the Divine Deduction technique to review the moments when his body assembled primary energy to create an imitation of the "Breath".
There was a limit to how much he could learn about that process without performing any test, but he lacked materials right now so he could just settle for that.
The main issue with that procedure was that the "Breath" produced would be weaker than that found in the environment. Also, it wouldn't reflect Noah's individuality, which was something that he felt forced to express now that he was a rank 5 cultivator.
Understanding the individuality, expressing it, wielding the laws, and becoming law were the stages that the cultivators in the heroic ranks had to go through in the path toward the divinity. Noah's situation was peculiar since his cultivation techniques had given his features to his "Breath", but he needed to step on the next phase now.
Countless ideas surged in his mind as he studied the issue, but a few figures soon gathered in front of his tent and waited for his permission to enter.
Noah recognized the cultivators and used his consciousness to lower the defenses of the tent. Then, Elder Austin and Elder Julia crossed the entrance and performed a bow before sitting in front of him.
"Prince," Elder Austin said, "They are quite restless."
Noah didn't need to question the Elder to understand who he was referring to.
"They will be disappointed," Noah said, "It's not something that can be taught. Also, I don't really want to see cultivators like me in the enemy ranks."
Having a monopoly over a resource was priceless. Noah was the only one who knew how to imitate the magical beasts and improve the bloodlines of the cultivators so that they could resemble the mighty ancestors of the natives.
"Is there anything that you can give away?" Elder Julia said, "The Hive could gain a lot from these transactions."
Noah thought for a while before coming up with the idea that could allow him to keep the specifics behind the fusion a secret while also accepting to discuss them. "I might point out mistakes in their procedures. I believe most of them are planning to resume the experimentations in that field."
The Elders' eyes lit up for a short second, but they quickly shook their heads.
"Prince, we don't want them to succeed too soon!" Elder Julia exclaimed.
"Precisely. Let them fail for a while, at least." Elder Austin said, "The Elbas family has already started an in-depth analysis of the compound. It won't take much before they learn how to force the improvements without the need for the transformation."
Noah could understand their point, but he knew far more on the matter than them. Even if the Royals managed to create a drug from the compound able to enhance the bodies of the cultivators, they would only create imitations.
"They won't succeed because it's impossible," Noah concluded.