Noah didn't know much about the Second Life formation. He had learnt a bit about its functioning and requirements from Andrew Elbas, but even the Royals couldn't be sure about every detail.
After all, that was a legendary formation that those Mortal Lands didn't see for millennia. The records concerning it were bound to be imprecise and fragmented.
Still, even that little information gave Noah an idea. The Second Life formation would activate only after a cultivator's death, which meant that he could seize anything he wanted from his opponents before that moment.
In theory, Noah could eat the dantian of his opponent before killing him. Even a miraculous formation couldn't affect his meal once the "Breath" inside that center of power became primary energy for his body.
Of course, Noah had thought about that when he first saw the Second Life formation, but he never had the chance to test it out. Everyone in the world knew about his hybrid status, and none of them would ever let Noah become too close in battle.
However, his recent breakthroughs and upgrades of his techniques gave Noah some confidence. It wasn't ideal to use that confidence against a cultivator in the solid stage, but Elder Julia was with him, and he knew that her abilities could create the chance for a sneak attack.
"Yes, we could take it slowly and drain him," Noah said to Elder Julia with a mental message sent through his inscribed notebook. "But we can also try to take him out in one assault."
A cold light shone in Elder Julia's eyes when she heard those words. If that idea came from any other cultivator in the liquid stage, she would ignore it. Yet, she became interested since it came from Noah.
"Speak," Elder Julia said, but Noah suddenly waned her about the arrival of the arrows. The two of them then performed evasive maneuvers to dodge the incoming attacks while keeping their attention on the environment.
Iron Feathers couldn't take the initiative in the battle. As much as he hated to admit it, Noah was strong, and his abilities could threaten him.
Fighting when outnumbered was tricky, mostly since both his opponents were dangerous existences. Iron Feathers could only wait for the two of them to attack or the arrows to make a move.
When the blue arrows forced the two cultivators of the Hive to move, Iron Feathers controlled his three four-winged birds to shoot toward his opponents.
Noah couldn't help but curse in his mind when he sensed that two birds were coming in his direction. He could understand that Iron Feathers was mad that he had interrupted his battle, but he didn't expect him to be so set on killing him.
What was worse was that those massive birds were stronger than the previous ones. They were faster and bigger, but their bodies appeared thinner and less stable.
Noah knew that he didn't have time to activate the spells required by the second form of his martial art, and his saber-shaped runes were still absorbing primary energy.
However, he had something powerful that he could put to use immediately without any preparation.
Noah roared and slashed with his weapons. The world lost its light for an instant as his flames, and black lines clashed with the four-winged birds coming toward him.
Metal shards fell off their bodies as the attack swept them, but they continued their charge through the sea of flames and corrosive smoke nonetheless. Theirs was a suicidal charge aimed only to kill their target.
Noah felt an immense amount of danger coming from those constructs. Black smoke started to come out from his body, and his figure became blurry as he activated the Merging spell.
Nevertheless, he didn't run away from the birds. Instead, he charged directly at them.
The saber-shaped runes formed a conical cocoon to increase his piercing ability, and he synchronized the slash of his weapons so that they would release the black lines when they collided with the birds.
The fact that his martial arts had ranged effects didn't mean that they were meant for long-distance battles. Noah's specialty was still the melee combat, and his forms were more potent when executed directly on his opponents.
A silent clash happened mid-air. Both Noah and the birds continued to fly in their respective directions even after they met, but the effects of the impact revealed themselves soon.
The saber-shaped runes in front of Noah fell apart, and deep cuts appeared on his shoulders even if the scaled armor was almost complete. However, the birds had it worse since a long cut severed their bodies in half.
Noah didn't stop flying forward and shouted a series of mental messages directed at Elder Julia. "Can you hide my presence?"
Elder Julia had dealt with her four-winged bird by then and felt relieved to hear that Noah was fine. Still, his question caught her by surprise.
"It would only last for a few breaths," Elder Julia said after a short moment. Her individuality could work as a cover for certain existences, but Noah's aura was too violent for her to hide it.
Also, they were against a cultivator in the solid stage. There was a limit to how much she could do in that situation.
"I'm coming toward you," Noah said when he heard her answer. "Pressure him when I make my move."
The four-winged birds behind Noah exploded in a storm of metallic shards when their bodies fell apart. Yet, he had never stopped flying forward, so he had escaped their area of destruction before it even started.
Noah reached Elder Julia instantly, and a strong gale came out of her body to fend off the corrosive smoke that he was releasing.
The gale carried subtle effects too. It struggled to seep through the black cloud forming around Noah, but it hid his aura when it reached his body. Then, black flames appeared in multiple spots around Iron Feathers, and black lines came out of it.
The cultivator of the Empire controlled the two-winged birds around him to fend off the attacks and the black smoke that they released in their explosion, but Elder Julia stepped in at that moment.
A torrent of wind slashes swept Iron Feathers, and Elder Julia used all her tricks to force her opponent into a defensive stance. Some of her attacks would be invisible or hide under other spells to unleash their power when they were close enough to inflict some damage.
Noah's offensive didn't stop either, and the black cloud around Iron Feathers grew as his attacks kept on exploding against his defenses.
Nevertheless, the blue arrows soon appeared and forced the offensive of the cultivators of the Hive to a stop. Also, Iron Feathers followed the arrival of the arrows with a torrent of metal feathers that shot toward the cloud created by Noah.
Elder Julia performed an evasive maneuver, but nothing came out of the black cloud next to her. The arrows and feathers pierced it without meeting any resistance, and their passage dispersed the smoke, which revealed no one inside it.