"The Second Life formation trades the life of powerful beings to save another one," Andrew Elbas explained as the rank 5 cultivators of the three factions stood around him. "It transfers the injuries suffered by cultivators to the designed sacrifices. It can even undo their deaths if they are willing to give up to part of their cultivation level and potential."
Everyone listened to him while wearing complex expressions. Even the other experts of the Elbas family felt conflicting emotions appearing inside them as they learnt about that miraculous inscription method.
Noah could barely believe what he heard too. After all, Andrew was speaking of something akin to a resurrection!
The cultivation world had created wonders, but a tool that allowed beings in the heroic ranks to avoid death even after being killed seemed too much.
Yet, Andrew Elbas had no doubts about the functioning of the Second Life formation. According to his words, it was a legendary inscription method that appeared only in myths dated more than ten thousand years.
The powerhouses of the past knew about it and had tried to get their hands on that life-saving formation. Many rank 6 cultivators would be willing to sacrifice their millenary accumulation for the chance of cheating death, and some of them would even use their organizations as the price for their rebirth.
The cultivators at the peak of the heroic ranks only had eyes for the sky and the higher plane behind it. There were many of them willing to do almost anything to survive the Tribulations for the divine ranks.
"How do we counter it?" Elder Julia asked as she broke the silence that had followed Andrew's explanation.
The Royal shook his head and replied without minding the hesitant expressions that had begun to appear on the experts around him. "We can only keep fighting until the Empire consumes all its sacrifices. This is a divine formation. Ants like us can't break inscriptions at that level."
The meeting ended a few minutes after that line, and the cultivators of the three forces returned to their habitations to prepare for what would be a war of attrition. With the tremendous defensive measures and the Second Life formation, that was the only option left to the invading forces.
The blue pillars and the shadows used Obsidian Credits and other items capable of storing "Breath" to work. They couldn't exhaust that resource since the Empire had accumulated riches for centuries.
However, the hybrids and the Second Life formation were different. The invaders could force the Empire to a point where it couldn't make use of them anymore.
The second battle for the last territory of the Empire in the new continent began two months after the first one.
The cultivators on the defending side that had died the last time stood proudly among the other soldiers. Still, it was evident that their resurrection hadn't been entirely harmless.
Noah stared at the distant Icy Stare. There were a few wrinkles on the exposed parts of her skin, and her hair had lost part of its bright golden color. There was even a faint mark on her forehead, precisely in the spot where Noah's attack had landed the last time.
Also, she appeared weaker than before. Her cultivation level wasn't at the peak of the gaseous stage anymore, but it neared that limit.
The other cultivators who had been resurrected showed similar features. They all had scars on their bodies, and their cultivation level was lower compared to the last time.
'Even with these drawbacks,' Noah thought as he analyzed the enemy army, 'This is still an inscription able to resurrect heroic cultivators.'
The Hive had consulted Thirty-seven during the two months of preparation before that battle, but the automaton could only confirm the pieces of information conveyed by Andrew. There wasn't a way to break that miraculous inscription method without the help of someone that was at least half-step inside the divine ranks.
Of course, the Second Life formation wasn't perfect. It would go against the fairness of Heaven and Earth otherwise. The version used by the Empire had other flaws too, which underlined the drawbacks of that inscription on that occasion.
Yet, the cultivators of the Empire could always recover their previous level of power. The most important thing was to preserve their lives.
The battle started, and the armies found themselves creating various battlefields where groups of cultivators fought against each other.
Noah wanted to fight Icy Stare again. He didn't care that she knew about his flames now since that two months weren't enough to come up with a countermeasure that targeted his powerful attack.
Nevertheless, she completely ignored him and joined a group battle against the cultivators of the Council.
Noah found himself alone, without an opponent in the middle of a battlefield. Various fights occurred around him, but no one had come specifically for him.
'Did they decide to leave me free to act as I want?' Noah thought as a cold smirk appeared on his face. If the Empire gave him the possibility to fly freely among the battles, he would surely use that chance to get his hands on powerful dantians.
However, roars suddenly echoed through the battlefield, and Noah understood why the Empire hadn't deigned itself to provide him with an opponent.
Two rank 5 hybrids flew toward him. They were a pair of Sonic Hawks with a body in the middle tier and other centers of power at the beginning of the fifth rank.
They were four meters tall and had a series of brown feathers that started to reveal shades of red when they reached their heads. Also, they were almost identical, as if the cultivators that had transformed into those creatures had been twins.
Of course, they had inscribed chains around their necks, but they didn't seem to hinder their flight.
Noah didn't even have the time to curse before those creatures opened their beaks and released sharp sounds that forced him to focus his consciousness on his ears. He didn't dare to use his hands to hinder that noise because he knew the innate behavior of the Sonic Hawks.
Something similar to an explosion resounded on the battlefield as the hybrids accelerated. Noah couldn't follow their movements at that point, but he raised his divided Demonic Sword anyway as a scaled armor began to cover him.
Then, the world in that area lost its light for a brief instant.
When the light returned, the two Sonic Hawks had already flown past Noah after leaving two grave injuries on his shoulders. However, some of their feathers had vanished. There were even burns on those that had remained attached to their bodies.
Sonic Hawks were famous for destabilizing their prey with sharp noises before resorting to a sudden acceleration meant to exploit that opening. That was the reason why Noah had decided to raise his living weapon to protect his vital organs before surrounding himself with his ethereal white flames.