Noah's inscribed notebook rang continuously. It was only June at first, but even the other rank 5 cultivators in the neutral city started to send him mental messages.
All their messages described the same events. It seemed that the gravitational pull had started to affect both the "Breath" and the buildings on the surface.
That wasn't a force that the inscriptions in the underground area could block completely. Noah had created a small dark star that continued to grow stronger with time. Its effects were bound to spread in the outside world.
It wasn't an issue when the experiment affected only the "Breath". Cultivators in the heroic ranks would often perform techniques that involved large amounts of energy.
Still, the buildings had started to crack under that pull too. The citizens of Divine Market city began to fear for their lives at that sight.
The human cultivators were even worse off. They couldn't leave the city without the tools necessary to survive the dense "Breath" in the environment of the new continent.
They were trapped in a city that was slowly falling apart.
The matter became even worse when the first rank 2 cultivators started to fell the effects of the increasing gravity. They would feel as if a mountain had suddenly appeared over their shoulders as they dragged their bodies into the main roads to escape from that slow destruction.
Some of them even kowtowed in the direction of the central buildings, hoping that their mighty heroic cultivators could stop the catastrophe that was falling on their homes.
Noah felt hesitant as he stared at the black star. The reports of the other rank 5 cultivators didn't bother him, and he didn't care about the well-being of the human assets in the city.
However, June sounded concerned in her mental messages, which meant that the situation on the surface was quite bad.
Also, the black star had reached the point where Noah wasn't able to provide enough darkness anymore. Its traction force had become so strong that the underground area had started to have empty spots where the inscriptions on the walls could shine.
Noah would pour more "Breath" in the air only to see it fly toward the black star. His experiment had reached the moment when he couldn't contain it anymore.
'This is my limit as a cultivator in the gaseous stage,' Noah accepted that in his mind as he inspected the illuminated areas in his training hall. It wouldn't take much for the "Breath" from the outside world to fill those spots, and that was something that he wanted to avoid at all costs.
Noah didn't know what kind of reaction the black star would have when other materials fused with its form. There was even a high chance that tainting its purity would cause a detonation.
An explosion backed by so much energy couldn't lead to anything good. The inscriptions on the walls would probably be able to contain it, but Noah would have to endure the entirety of its might.
As a rank 5 hybrid in the upper tier, Noah didn't think that there were many attacks capable of hurting him, let alone killing him. Yet, the black star had his higher energy inside its fabric, which made it challenging to analyze.
Noah felt confident that he could survive the explosion, but it wasn't the same for many cultivators on the surface. Also, he was bound to end up badly injured, even with his fantastic body.
'Just a little touch then,' Noah thought as he made up his mind and started to walk toward the black star.
Power surges and flares would escape from that spherical amass of energy and sweep him with their power, but Noah strived forward with a determined expression on his face.
His sharp darkness would land on him and tear his robe, but he didn't stop. He continued to walk toward the center of the black star even when the flares left bloody marks on his body.
That wasn't the power of the gaseous stage anymore. Noah had created something able to hurt him.
Noah felt proud at that realization instead of being worried about his safety. The energy that was able to hurt him was just darkness in a far denser form, but it was still his "Breath".
So, that meant that his higher energy had to be far stronger than his normal darkness.
Noah began to feel strange as he walked through the dense layers of darkness that had yet to become higher energy. They appeared as dense gases capable of slicing him in multiple pieces, but that could only cut his skin due to the innate violence of his energy.
He didn't fear that wild "Breath" though. He felt good, and his mind started to expand on its own while he lost himself in that sensation.
There was creation everywhere he looked or touched. The sphere was the most natural expression of his individuality, and being in the middle of it gave Noah's mind the possibility to increase his understanding of the laws connected to creation.
His mind had entered a peculiar state as he reached for the center of the star. Noah would slowly understand the laws that regulated his darkness, and the subject became more complicated as he pressed forward.
His journey toward the center of the sphere continued, and more superficial wounds appeared on his body. Still, he eventually reached the densest area in the entirety of his experiment. He arrived right in front of that gas that didn't emit any light.
Noah could sense it floating slowly through his darkness. He noticed some resemblance with his "Breath" in that form, but there wasn't the usual sharpness inside it.
The higher energy appeared almost liquid, and it radiated his intense ambition. There was even a sense of defiance surrounding its shape.
It seemed that Noah's ambition had evolved too during the procedure. It would become an arrogant statement that he still couldn't put it into words.
Noah raised his hand to touch the higher energy, and that simple contact was enough for him to gain even more insights into the laws ruling over that energy.
It was mostly understanding concerning the laws of creation, but Noah found various pieces of his individuality inside it too.
He soon understood that the higher energy was connected to his mind. It felt heavy and clunky, but he could control it.
The higher energy felt solid at the touch, but it was gaseous since Noah's hand made a hole in it without sensing any opposition. The last tool necessary for his individuality was right in front of him, but he would have to destroy it unless the automaton of his ring said otherwise.
"The ring is nearing its limits," The automaton said as Noah let it inspect the higher energy. "But a little bit might fit."
Noa nodded and seized part of that higher energy to store it. Then, black smoke began to come out of his body.
It was time to destroy his project before it was too late to stop it.