Daniel followed Noah as they flew back to the central territories where the army had momentarily decided to set an encampment.
During the travel, Daniel had never stopped heating the cauldron with his white light, which kept on exuding that gray smoke full of impurities. He would often pour "Breath" in the solid stage of the fourth rank inside it and add other materials until small whiffs of rank 5 "Breath" came out and entered his body.
Daniel had become a complete rank 5 cultivator in those years, and he had developed a peculiar cultivation technique, even if it seemed just an enhancement of his old one. The purification process expressed his individuality and made use of his expertise in the alchemy field, which made it quite suitable for him.
However, he had just experienced a breakthrough. The level of his mental sphere barely met the standards of the fifth rank and put him at the bottom of that level.
Yet, even with all his setbacks and poor level, Daniel was there, in the world where only elites could stand.
"I never thought that losing everything could bring such clarity," Daniel said as they flew. "But I can't be like you. I won't give up on my humanity just to pursue power."
"Who decides what's human?" Noah asked. "A fixed morality doesn't exist, just as there isn't a fixed path. We just elevate ourselves as we walk through the cultivation journey, and the world doesn't care if we are monsters or heroes. Also, you didn't lose anything. You have more now than you ever did in the past."
Noah's words managed to surprise Daniel, who revealed a weak smile. He wouldn't admit it openly, but Noah's mentality was still better than his when it came to his approach to the cultivation journey.
Daniel noticed how Noah's character had changed after all those years. There was a time where he would have barely spoken to anyone, but now he didn't seem to mind having a casual conversation that expressed part of their mindsets.
It wasn't a radical change. The violent and sharp aura that usually surrounded Noah was still there, but there was also a sort of calmness that enveloped it.
That was a feeling caused by the steadiness of his individuality and his conviction that he was on the right path. He appeared to Daniel as if nothing could sway him away from the road that he had chosen.
"I know that the Hive needs the magical beasts in the fifth rank in this period," Daniel said as he changed the topic, "But I should be able to make an improved version of the pills now."
Noah's interest rose at his words. The magical beasts' pills were quite useful in dire situations when he didn't have time to refill the nutrients inside his body quickly. They weren't life-saving items, but they could help to increase his already high stamina and stabilize specific critical injuries if needed.
Noah thought for a while before deciding on a solution that would benefit both him and the Hive. "You can go to the new world after the war is over. The hunting team will need an alchemist, but you need to take a few students too. The Hive needs more experts."
Daniel nodded, and their conversation ended. They didn't have much to talk about to begin with. Still, Daniel wanted to at least speak to the man that had indirectly rekindled his will to cultivate.
When they reached the encampment, the armies had already divided themselves into three different sides according to their organization.
Noah delivered Daniel to Elder Julia, who informed them about the progress in those past weeks.
The Elbas family was still busy building the seven weapons, while the other factions had created a battle plan that would allow the seven wielders to reach their respective castles. The battle would resume as soon as the Royals completed their task.
Noah simply cultivated as he waited for everything to be ready. After all, his role in the battle would be even easier since his allies didn't need to protect him so strictly. He could just rely on his hybrid status to run through any blockage and let the other heroic assets handle anything that he couldn't defeat on his own.
He began to spend some time visualizing his projects and how he intended to create them since he had some free time between each cultivation session.
When he picked Daniel from the southwestern coast, he had asked Thirty-seven to review the Body-inscription spell further to find the reason why it clashed with his darkness. He was still waiting for his answer though, so his meditation focused on other projects.
The creation of his higher energy had the priority in his mind. That would put him on a different level compared to his peers, and he knew that he would achieve some sort of completeness once he obtained it.
It wasn't only a matter of battle prowess. Even his individuality would benefit from it since he would have three different types of energies at his disposal. His destruction and creation would reach new levels at that point, allowing him to have a real advantage over the old monsters.
There were still living weapons to create. That field was new and had vast room for improvement. Also, Noah had yet to arm all the heroic assets of the Hive, which was something that he had to achieve before beginning to sell his creations.
Solving the mental instabilities of the hybrids would take time, but he was already thinking about the type of society that he could build with them once the war was over. After all, he was their leader, so he had to take care of their growth and behavior.
Noah had to create new spells too. His idea was to fuse martial arts and spells at some point and develop techniques that only hybrids could use due to the physical restrictions of the humans.
The Royals eventually completed their task, and the three armies gathered before shooting again toward the mountain chain so valued by the Empire.
The battle started almost instantly, and Noah had to face an unknown rank 5 cultivator at his same level that used a series of water whips to unleash a continuous offensive.
The cultivator's name was Furious Water, and he was a short old man with a few sparse white hairs on his almost bald head. He had a short grey beard, and his whips would often change shape to counter Noah's offensive.
It turned out that their combat styles were quite similar. They would try to overwhelm their opponents with countless attacks backed by an immense quantity of power.
Of course, Noah's attacks were stronger. Yet, Furious Water made up for that difference in power with numerous spells that changed the shape of his whips according to the type of attack that he was facing.
It was clear that the Empire had given up on countering Noah's abilities and had just sent a cultivator that had a lot of battle experience.