Noah couldn't have precise reports about the abilities of the rank 5 cultivators of the Empire because there hadn't been a major war for a long time. After all, no one had dared to attack the Empire for centuries. The only battles happened at the edges of the areas of influence of the three big nations, but they featured rank 4 cultivators at best.
The arrival of the new continent had revealed some of its assets. Still, the majority of them had remained hidden, just as they had done for centuries.
Also, Noah couldn't decide who was his opponent most of the time, so he didn't need outdated pieces of information. A list of the abilities of most heroic assets was bound to appear after that war, but it was too early to create a proper register after only one year.
However, that lightning cultivator had snuck up on him when he was about to defeat Furious Water. Noah felt as if someone had made him lose the perfect prey, which wasn't something that his instincts took lightly.
The fact that the cultivator had almost succeeded in taking him by surprise was another troublesome issue.
The world of the rank 5 cultivators was too variegated for Noah to be able to predict every battle style, and he was still too weak to fight multiple experts at once. So, he could only make an example out of him to stop other cultivators from imitating him.
Noah rose high in the sky and scanned the battlefield as if he was a flying beast looking for its prey. The various battles appeared in his vision, but he was only interested in one target at the moment.
Furious Water was nowhere to be seen. He had probably left the area to mend the injuries caused by the secret art. Yet, Noah managed to spot the lightning cultivator after a minute spent analyzing the area.
His target was a tall man with a head full of long black hair. He had no beard, and he appeared as a youthful man in his thirties.
Noah guessed that he was one of the new talents of the Empire that had managed to become a complete rank 5 cultivator just recently. Nevertheless, it seemed that he was used to those kinds of sneak attacks since he was trying to perform it on an Elder of the Council busy fighting a water cultivator of the Empire.
'Found you,' Noah thought as his expression became cold and began to dive at full speed toward him.
A draconic roar echoed through the battlefield. Noah launched a wave of white flames to stop the lightning cultivator from ambushing his allies as he continued his reckless charge.
The lightning cultivator was surprised that someone was targeting him, but he soon realized how dangerous the situation was when he saw Noah's figure behind the incoming flames.
Sparks filled his body, and he suddenly released them to retreat at high speed. The flames missed him, but Noah's reptilian eyes never left his figure.
Noah activated the Merging spell and sprinted, following his target tightly as he watched him escaping through various battlefields in the hope that Noah would lose track of him.
It was evident that head-on combat wasn't his specialty, but Noah wouldn't let someone that had tried to kill him get away so easily.
A series of Ghostly Sabers appeared around him, and Noah created a sea of saber-shaped runes too as he continued his chase. They were fastest ranged spells that he had, and they could even reach distances precluded to his other techniques.
The series of sabers flew ahead and tried to encircle the slippery cultivator who kept on dodging and using the other battles as a natural shield. However, Noah didn't mind if his spells hit other cultivators of the Empire and continued to command the various sabers to move forward.
Eventually, some of them landed on the body of the lightning cultivator, who spat a mouthful of blood as he kept running away.
Noah created more Ghostly Sabers, but his mind suddenly sensed a threat on his path, and he promptly wielded his Demonic Sword to slash at it. His weapon released a black line that clashed with a spark that the lighting cultivator had left behind as he escaped.
The spark exploded, but Noah ignored the shockwaves to focus on a series of lightning bolts that were converging at high speed toward his position. It seemed that the lighting cultivator had placed some kind of trap there, but the power of those attacks couldn't match Furious Storm's offensive.
Noah expanded his consciousness without activating any defensive measure. According to his target's behavior, there was a high chance that he would be nearby to watch if his trap was a success.
The individuality of the lightning cultivator seemed able to suppress the innate violence and flashiness of his element, which made his attacks quite suitable for ambushes. Yet, those sneaky features ended up taking away some of the power of his lightning bolts. Noah felt as if they were the weakest attacks that he had seen since the beginning of the war.
The lightning bolts drew near, but Noah waited until his consciousness found his target before deploying his defensive measures.
In the eyes of the onlookers, a gray cloud suddenly replaced Noah's figure when the attacks landed, but no one could understand how injured he was. They could only know that he was alive since they could still sense his consciousness.
The lightning cultivator watched the scene from a relatively safe position and felt satisfied by that result. His individuality didn't suit a battle with Noah at all, but he could slow him down, at least.
Also, the fact that he had become a complete rank 5 cultivator just a few decades ago left him with an imperfect battle style that he was still trying to understand.
'The Almighty has given me the title Silent Lightning, but there aren't many spells of my element with suitable features,' Silent Lightning began to think as he turned to look for another battle where he could ambush someone. Still, he suddenly felt that something was amiss when he tried to place his left foot on the air.
When he turned, he realized that the entirety of the left part of his body was gone.
Silent Lightning's eyes went toward the gray cloud that had become entirely black in the few seconds in which he had turned to retreat. A large fissure almost divided it into two parts, and a blurred fiendish figure came out of it as it flew toward him.
Noah dispersed the Demonic Form when he reached Silent Lightning, who was too stunned by his fatal wound to react. He even remained still when Noah's hand entered in his remaining low-waist through his injury and tore away his dantian.
"The Almighty will return, and doom-" Silent Lightning tried to give voice to a threat as his opponent ate his dantian in a single bite, but Noah simply waved his hand and reduced the rest of his body into a pulp.
The losers didn't have any right to speak.