June eventually woke up, but she remained lain on Noah's chest as she observed him working. Tiredness still filled her entire body, and she found the focused expression of her lover a captivating sight.
Noah continued to experiment as if he didn't notice that June had awakened. There were too many thoughts concerning the higher energy in his mind to give her some attention.
A small amount of his darkness moved in his palm and changed form as Noah controlled its structure with his mental energy. The changes were methodical and accurate, but they didn't seem to lead to anything since the "Breath" returned to its original shape every time.
Noah was trying to find out what composition suited his energy before moving forward in his experiments. He needed to know what form his darkness didn't reject before starting to test on larger quantities of "Breath".
It soon became apparent that his darkness didn't like a static form. It wanted to remain free to move even if Noah forced it into a fixed shape.
He expected something like that to happen since his individuality reflected his character, but he still felt disappointed when he confirmed that.
It would be easier for him to proceed with a static form since it would have more evident rules. Shapeless higher energy would be far more complex to build, especially when it came to the harmony of its structure.
However, he had always known that it wouldn't be easy to reach a satisfying result. After all, he aimed to create something that could work as an essential matter for his personal world.
Noah's experiments continued for hours, and he stopped only when his sea of consciousness was almost empty. Only then did he turn toward June, who had observed him in silence for the whole duration of that testing session.
"It won't be easy," Noah said as he laid on the ground while keeping June over him.
Her presence there was benefitting his creation since she was core part of that aspect of his individuality. Yet, they weren't in the separate dimension now, so he couldn't know for how long she could remain there.
Also, she still needed to rest, so they couldn't indulge in more intimate behaviors until she recovered.
Nevertheless, she quickly reassured him before he could even question her about that topic. "I can come here often. We are the highest powers in the Divine Market city, and the Elbas family will believe that I visit you to have sparring sessions. I can ask for Faith's help if they start to suspect something."
June's words made sense. The neutral city only had a handful of rank 5 cultivators from the three factions, and their meetings were somewhat allowed now that the allied forces had a peaceful political relationship.
Of course, she couldn't just live with him, but they wouldn't have to be separated for decades again as long as they remained there. Also, June's state would confirm her version of the story. After all, she had really fought Noah.
"Are you saying that we have to fight every time you come here?" Noah asked, and June's eyes lit up at that question. That idea was appealing for a battle maniac like her.
Yet, it would be pointless to fight Noah again unless she improved her current power. She didn't have a way to hurt him unless her Perfect Circuit became able to sustain an output of energy that could match rank 5 cultivators in the liquid stage.
"We'll come up with something," June said as she closed her eyes again. "The other expert from the Elbas family rarely comes out of his training area, and he wouldn't dare to question the behavior of another rank 5 cultivator anyway."
Having reached that level of power provided many benefits in terms of freedom, even inside strict organizations. After all, no one could judge such existences and decide if their approach to the cultivation journey was wrong.
Only the powerhouses had that kind of influence, but they wouldn't bother with matters so futile. Their interest was in the lands above the sky, not in what some of their most potent underlings did in their free time.
The fact that they were in a neutral city also helped their situation. The main forces actually expected the envoys there to collaborate to prevent another Hive from happening.
Noah limited himself to nod before sending a series of mental messages while June slept. He knew that she was right, but he would still ask the two Demons to create a few escape routes in case something happened.
The truth was that Thirty-seven had already contacted them for the same task, even if his reasons were completely different. The automaton only wanted the possibility to reach Noah to continue their work on living weapons.
Noah though had no intention to resume that project now. The automaton would have to wait for him to create his higher energy.
Also, making the other forces wait while the Hive maintained its monopoly over the living weapons could only make their value increase. Both the Council and the Elbas family would be willing to pay a fortune to get their hands on one of them when they hit the market.
June woke up a few hours later and decided to leave. During her way back to the buildings of the Royals, she made sure that many heroic assets saw her injured state just to spread the information that she and Noah were sparring in her visits.
The news quickly reached all the heroic assets in the city, and their reactions surprised both June and Noah when they learnt about them.
The Royals and the Elders began to admire June for her determination in pursuing her path. She was even willing to request for Noah as a sparring partner to obtain the help of the most talented cultivator of her generation.
Of course, many rumors concerning what price she had paid for that service spread too, and Noah found himself receiving messages that inquired about that topic. However, he mostly ignored them since his mind could barely move away from his tests on higher energy.
.
.
.
Peaceful years passed, and the neutral city never stopped expanding in that period.
Cultivators moved there because they didn't like to be too close to the leading powers, even if they were members of their organizations. Still, most of the newcomers were powerful families or sects that had an interest in the Divine Stele.
The markets in the city improved as more resources ended up inside them, but the gains of the Hive were inferior to those of the other forces since it had deployed fewer heroic assets compared to them. It was only natural that it could seize fewer resources with that lack of manpower.
Yet, Daniel returned from the other world at some point, and he offered himself as an ambassador when Amos Udye updated him about that situation.
In a matter of months after his return, Daniel moved to Divine Market city.