Daniel's arrival balanced the power among the three factions ruling the neutral city. All of them now had two rank 5 cultivators each deployed there. Hence, their influence on the population became similar even if there was a still huge disparity in their number of heroic assets.
The Hive still had less manpower on that level, but it wasn't considered weaker than the other factions anymore.
Daniel had followed Noah's suggestion after the war and had gone to the other world to hone his abilities as an alchemist. He had even joined the hunting groups of the Hive there to help to gather of hybrids and ordinary beasts.
Those years spent in the wilderness had helped him clear his mind after his conversation with Faith. He now understood what was wrong with his initial idea. He couldn't become a law if he forsook even what made him unique.
One couldn't become stronger by willpower alone. There had to be features that individualities had to carry.
Noah and June had their steadfast determination, but their paths were completely different. In the same way, Daniel had to push what made him unique forward and underline the features of his character.
Even the purest light had a specific behavior. Daniel's challenge was in making his individuality shine when his path put him in an endless refinement cycle.
It often happened that heroic cultivators switched paths as their level increased. The greater understanding obtained once reached higher ranks could make them realize that they had been wrong about certain aspects of their individualities.
Even Noah had become aware of his creation only during the exploration of the new continent. It was unlikely for newly advanced heroic cultivators to find the right path as soon as they surpassed the Tribulations.
The matters concerning the individualities were deep and complex. They would even assume different features after the cultivators came in contact with the laws, or change entirely due to some real-life struggles.
Generally speaking, it was never too late for heroic cultivators to switch paths as long as they didn't reach the last stages of the heroic ranks. Their accumulation would be faulty at that point, which would prevent them from crossing the last obstacle before the divine ranks.
Becoming a divine entity was a slow and cruel procedure. Even the most subtle mistake could prevent a heroic cultivator from obtaining enough power to face the Tribulation.
The best way to spot those mistakes was to overcome struggles. Still, there were political systems that took care of most of the problems of talented cultivators, and Daniel had experienced that first-hand.
His recent experiences though had forced him to grow, and his interaction with Noah and Faith had polished his understanding further. His decision to help with the neutral city hadn't been casual either. He had chosen to go there to interact more with the talents of his generation.
When Daniel reached the buildings of the Hive, he found himself in front of a scene that he would find it hard to forget for the rest of his life.
He had gone directly for the underground quarters meant for rank 5 cultivators, but a dark lightning bolt fell right in front of him as soon as he crossed their entrance.
A dangerous feeling quickly enveloped him, but he didn't deploy his defensive measures when he understood what was happening inside that structure.
Daniel saw June and Faith hovering in the air and exchanging a series of powerful attacks that shattered the air and forced the inscriptions on the walls to lit up. June was filling the entirety of the underground area with unstable spheres that released crackling sounds and lightning bolts, while Faith used her aura to suppress the violent features of her opponent's energy.
Ethereal rivers surrounded Faith's figure and enveloped both June and her spells to spread her calming abilities on them. It was as if she was trying to shut down her opponent's offensive while also defending against the constant attacks of the crackling spheres.
Faith wasn't having much success. June's spells only became more violent under that suppression, and her battle intent kept on intensifying even if peaceful feelings hindered the functioning of her Perfect Circuit.
What surprised Daniel the most was that both women appeared extremely serious about that battle. It seemed that they were really trying to kill each other!
It was at that point that Daniel noticed someone else in the underground quarters.
Toward the end of the structure, Daniel noticed a wide cloud made of dark gas and a cultivator with long black hair managing it. The cultivator had his upper body uncovered and performed fast movements with his hands as he tried to affect the nature of the energy in front of him.
Daniel had already understood who that cultivator was even before noticing the few scales on his naked back. Only Noah Balvan could remain so focused on his projects while two rank 5 experts fought right behind his back.
No one seemed to notice Daniel's arrival. The three cultivators in the underground quarters were too focused on their business to care about that foreign presence.
Of course, they didn't really fail to notice him, but they were too immersed in their projects to give him any form of attention.
Noah's hands continued to shoot in seemingly random directions, and the cloud of "Breath" in front of him changed form according to those gestures. Four years had passed since he moved into the neutral city, but he still was in the initial parts of the testing phase.
He had yet to find a higher form that his darkness accepted, and the failures that had filled the past years had eventually forced him to change approach on the matter.
According to his ideas, using only small quantities of his darkness in his experiments would never lead to anything. So little energy couldn't reach a higher state even if he knew the right method to use for that procedure.
Only a large amount of "Breath" could give birth to higher energy. That was merely a matter of materials needed to create something stronger than the single items used in the procedure.
So, Noah believed that he needed to use more darkness if he wanted to obtain some results.
As soon as he moved the testing phase in that direction, the outcome of his experiments improved, even if that wasn't enough to make him move to the next stage of his project. Also, risks accompanied that new approach, and they would force him to stop and reconsider his understanding at times.
A sudden dangerous sensation filled the minds of Faith, June, and Daniel at some point, and the two women interrupted their battle to shoot toward the entrance of the quarters. Faith even grabbed Daniel his collar and pulled him into the corridor that led to the buildings on the surface.
Then, a loud explosion resounded in the underground quarters, and a series of tremors even reached the corridor where the three rank 5 cultivators stood in silence.