The surge of energy that filled Noah's body forced his injuries to stop bleeding in a matter of seconds, but his overall condition didn't improve. He was still deaf and with a series of deep cuts that had yet to start to heal.
He could still fight. The consciousness of the heroic cultivators acted as a sort of sixth sense that could replicate the other five. However, it was a bit different for Noah since his body was an essential part of his increased awareness, and facing a rank 5 cultivator without one of his senses wouldn't be smart.
Everyone appeared rather busy though. The various groups of experts faced each other in careful battles filled with long-range spells that had a wide area of effect.
Both sides were taking a slow approach for different reasons. The Empire wanted to hurt and kill as many heroic cultivators as it could to delay the invasion, while the three forces wanted to deplete the reserves of their opponent.
A war of attrition was bound to bring the mental state of both armies to the limit, but there wasn't any other option since it was impossible to conquer that region in a single battle. The defenses in that place were too tight.
However, those defensive measures were already starting to crumble. Noah had killed two hybrids in the fifth rank, and the other heroic cultivators were obtaining similar achievements throughout the battlefield.
The invader's side was still more potent than the Empire's even with all those protections in place. The three forces only had to tear apart every defense without losing too many troops to consider the war a success.
The only real problem in those battles was the Second Life formation, which prevented them from securing kills on powerful heroic assets that created difficulties in every group.
It was evident that the Empire had linked the formation only to the cultivators that it couldn't afford to lose if it hoped to thrive once the war moved to the old continent. Losing its most powerful assets to weaken the enemy forces was a waste that would endanger its future as one of the leading organizations of the world.
The invaders would suffer injuries and waste precious inscribed items to kill powerful enemies only to see a red halo covering their corpses.
Knowing that their opponents weren't dead was a blow to their morals, but the worst part was that they had to target them to deplete the sacrifices required by the inscription method. There was already a list that took track of all the assets linked to the Second Life formation, but there were always more appearing as the fights continued.
It was as if the noticeable warriors among the troops of the Empire were immortals that they would have to fight and kill multiple times to take over that region.
Another awful aspect was that the dead would maintain their memories after their resurrection. That gave them insights on the battle styles and formations of the invaders, which were essential data to improve their performance in future fights.
The second battle in that territory was already harsher than the first one when it came to the group fights, and that could only become worse as the invaders kept attacking.
However, there was no way out of it. Only a slow and constant siege would eventually force the Empire to retreat.
In the end, Noah decided not to chase after other rank 5 cultivators. The possibility to obtain dantians was tempting, but his safety had to come first.
The second battle ended soon, and the two armies separated in an orderly way to return to their respective bases. The various leaders set up plans and strategies to better contain their losses, but there wasn't much to say to those now experienced troops. Everyone knew their role by then.
The third battle happened two months later after Noah and the other injured experts had healed their wounds and returned to their peak.
Noah found himself facing hybrids again, but there was only one of them at that time. It was another creature in the middle tier and with centers of power in the fifth rank.
His opponent was a ten meters tall Armored Elephant, a peculiar species that could control the earth element in the environment to create metallic defensive layers over its skin.
At the sight of that opponent, Noah could finally understand why the Empire didn't want to send cultivators against him but just wanted to keep him outside of its assets. Icy Stare had labeled him as "troublesome", but the truth was that his level of power was too uncertain about sending an appropriate opponent against him.
Even as a cultivator that had reached the fifth rank less than fifty years ago, Noah was extremely resourceful. He would improve after each battle, and he would always come up with ways to defeat his opponents if he fought them multiple times.
Peaceful Storm had lost his centennial accumulation of talismans, Furious Water had injured himself to match his blows, and his sword had taken Countless Wings and Silent Lightning's lives. Only Icy Stare had managed to suppress him for a while, but Noah had eventually found a way to kill her, even if the Second Life formation protected her.
Sending more cultivators against him would only go against the idea of preserving the lives of the heroic assets pursued by the Empire. Also, using someone in the liquid stage would weaken the other fronts of the battlefield, where the invading forces already had the advantage.
It was better to sacrifice hybrids to keep him away from the cultivators. The Empire had never thought about bringing them to the old continent anyway.
Noah didn't mind fighting hybrids. Their dantians weaker than those of the other cultivators and contained a less nourishing form of "Breath", but they were also easier to obtain.
Those hybrids were threatening for any human at the same level, but they were nothing more than prey for him since he could match their physical strength. He could make use of strategies that cultivators belonging to the human species couldn't apply.
The third battle went by almost in the same way as the second one, with the only difference that the Empire had finally started to feel the losses suffered in the previous two fights.
The fourth battle started two months after the previous conflict, and so did the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh.
The same events happened in each of them, with the invaders slowly driving the Empire into a corner, and the defenders doing their best to damage the incredible army created with the joint effort of three organizations.
Noah had always faced hybrids in those fights, and his allies had become so used to it that they would directly ignore any chained creature coming out of the ground. His breakthrough neared faster due to all the dantians eaten in that period, but everything ended in the eight battle when the Empire detonated the entire forest to cover its retreat in the old continent.