Both Noah and Thirty-seven analyzed the power of the wind slashes with great interest.
The attack flew for a while through the quiet environment of the separate dimension until it crashed with one of its invisible barriers, slightly enlarging it in the process.
Satisfaction soon appeared in their expression when they understood the might of the slashes. Noah had used a rank 4 wild Beast Core in the lower tier and the feathers of a Sharp Eagle at the same level to build that weapon, and the prowess that it was capable of reflected the might of its materials.
Noah did a quick evaluation in his mind. It hadn't taken a lot of primary energy to produce that attack. It seemed that they had optimized the distribution of power quite well for their first complete living weapon.
Thirty-seven took a transparent container full of a shining liquid from one of the structures around them, and Noah didn't hesitate to drop the weapon inside it.
The living weapon was a newborn, which meant that it didn't know how to manage its body, especially since it was human-made. The liquid inside the container was a type of fluid that prevented the energy inside the fan from dispersing and gave it time to learn how to preserve it.
Since they didn't have a dantian, the living weapons didn't have a way to refill the primary energy that made their bodies. They would have to go through maintenance often to prevent their tissues from decomposing, even after they learnt how to preserve the power inside them.
"The first product is indeed promising," Thirty-seven said as he looked at the fan, "The initial investment has been massive, but it took you only eight years to create a stable weapon."
Hearing the automaton speaking, Noah realized how much time had passed since he immersed himself in that engaging schedule.
The eight years mentioned by the automaton considered only the experiments after the creation of the Beast Cores, which meant that he had spent a total of eleven years to create his first stable product. When he considered the two years spent in peace with June, he realized that he was already more than one hundred and ten years old.
"This is just the beginning," Noah said as he moved to return to the mansion, "Bring a cultivator with a wind aptitude to test it properly once it stabilizes."
He didn't even need to turn to know that the automaton was nodding at his orders.
The truth was that Thirty-seven had accompanied Noah for the entire duration of the experiments. Due to his peculiar status, he was always able to know when Noah resumed his tests and managed to appear right before he started forging.
The automaton was wholly engrossed in the school that they were creating. It was as if nothing else mattered in that walking encyclopedia. He had even tried to press Noah to stop spending so much time cultivating, but he soon understood that it was impossible to make him modify his schedule. Yet, he accepted it since Noah was improving the procedure at an incredible speed, which made him respect the Demon Prince's determination.
On the other hand, Noah appreciated his help. The vast knowledge of the automaton encompassed every inscription's field and allowed him to find suitable materials for each body part that they wanted to turn into a living weapon.
Also, he was quite handy when he didn't complain, so Noah just kept him around.
When he returned to the mansion, he found June waiting for him with a curious expression.
She had already come and gone a couple of times to complete missions for the Royals, but she had never been away for more than six months on both occasions.
"Did you do it?" June asked, and Noah's nod made her continue to speak. "You are incredible. The other nations are sacrificing resources and cultivators just to copy something that you've done when you were still a human while you are already moving forward."
June was honestly surprised that it had taken him so little to obtain his first success. After all, she was busy finding a way to create a rank 5 cultivation technique for when her breakthrough arrived, but Noah had completed his task before hers.
"My individuality suits these experiments too much," Noah answered, "It's as if I have an innate understanding when it comes to building lifeforms of that kind."
He was speaking the truth. There were many times during the tests where he would just follow his instincts, which turned out to be on point quite often.
Noah noticed those changes even when he cultivated. It seemed that his training speed increased every time he advanced in his experiments.
Expressing his individuality was benefitting him, but his improvements were still incredibly slow compared to when he was just a rank 4 cultivator. Even the requirements of his body had reached an insane level now that it was in the middle tier.
"How is research going?" Noah asked as he sat behind her.
His hand went for her low-waist, and his consciousness focused that same spot to check the status of her dantian.
June had been in the fourth rank for almost seventy years by then. Her body had reached the fifth rank when she was in the wilderness of the other world, but her dantian was still at some distance from the peak of the solid stage.
As for her mind, it was only a few years behind her dantian, which was something quite rare for a heroic cultivator as young as her.
"What do you think?" June asked without showing the slightest embarrassment. They were so used to that kind of physical contact that it felt just natural to be in each other's arms.
"You should reach the peak in a bit more than a decade." Noah evaluated.
Eccentric Thunder's inheritance made her spare a lot of time. He allowed her to focus only on the formations since they were the true expression of her individuality in her cultivation technique. The foundation was the Perfect Circuit, a method that could theoretically work for every cultivator with a lightning aptitude.
In a certain aspect, Eccentric Thunder's technique was revolutionary since he had created something that every cultivator could adapt to their individuality once reached decent expertise.
June dropped the scrolls in her hands and lay on Noah's chest. They had to skip their last bimestrial break because Noah was too busy with the experiments, but now it was the perfect moment to make up for that since he was waiting for the weapon to stabilize.
"The world is at peace now," June said as her hand went under his robe to play with a familiar scale on the side of his torso, "But the Elbas family seems on edge. I think something big is about to happen."
June had already talked about that with Noah, but there wasn't much that they could do. They could just improve and prepare for the next crisis.
Their only consolation was that they would wait for it together.