The scene from above the floating structure was breathtaking. Every building in that area was a training area suitable for beings near the peak of the heroic ranks. It was as if the Empire had converged the riches accumulated through the years to build a paradise for cultivators.
The air there even resembled that of the piece of Immortal Lands. The "Breath" in the environment was so thick that the formations on the ground remained active without a power source.
Three structures stood out from the rest of the buildings. There was the tall castle on the right side of the floating region, the mountain-like building at its center, and a dark tower on its left area.
The castle and the tower leaked a powerful aura that carried a violent feeling. Noah felt as if he was in front of natural calamities, ready to unleash their blind rage to the world.
Instead, the mountain gave off a static feeling. Everything around its area appeared motionless as if stuck in time. The only word that Noah could find to describe its aura was "eternal", but he wasn't sure that his consciousness could comprehend the true might of that structure.
Icy Stare landed on the surface of the flying structure when the group drew near God's Left Hand's castle. They walked on the shining lines that filled the ground an among the luxurious buildings meant for the best heroic cultivators of the Empire.
It was needless to say that living among the powerhouses was a big deal for the citizens of the Empire. Icy Stare gazed at those buildings with reverence and envy, revealing that even someone on her level didn't have access to those areas.
Dreaming Demon didn't care much about the structures. Her attention was on the shining lines under her, which she studied as they walked through the floating region.
Her expression soon showed amazement and zeal, and her eyes darted among the various lines in a messy attempt to memorize them.
"Don't bother," Icy Stare said when she noticed the Demon's actions. "This is a replica of the Second Life formation already. It barely works as it is. Coping a few lines won't even produce effects."
Noah and Flying Demon's eyes went on the ground at her words. The miraculous formation that had created so many problems in the war was right under their feet. They couldn't contain their curiosity.
"How did you manage to deploy something so complex in the new continent?" Dreaming Demon asked.
"We didn't," Icy Stare answered. "We increased the range of this structure so that it could reach those lands."
Icy Stare's reply appeared honest, which surprised the three rank 5 cultivators. Yet, they understood why she didn't bother to hold back pieces of information.
The lines on the ground were so intricate that even their powerful minds found them hard to memorize. The leaked complex auras too, which made them impossible to understand on the spot.
Icy Stare knew that Noah and the Demons had no chance to learns something from that scene. King Elbas was the only existence in the world that could understand something from those short glances, but even he would have to struggle to memorize it.
A few sparse auras appeared from time to time as they walked. There were some cultivators currently living there, but they didn't seem interested in meeting the group from the Hive.
Noah and the others didn't ask anything either to preserve some politeness. They just took note that there were even rank 4 cultivators on that fantastic structure. The Empire probably rewarded those habitations to soldiers that had accumulated significant battle merits, without minding their cultivation level.
Noah's sensed a familiar aura at some point. His head turned toward a building filled with windows that showed a cultivator immersed in a cylindrical container filled with a dark-red liquid.
"You pulled a nice trick on him," Icy Stare explained. "The Second Life formation has brought him back, but his existence can't find the right harmony since you took away his dantian. He has yet to wake up."
The man inside the container was Iron Feathers, the solid stage cultivator that Noah and Elder Julia had killed in the last battle against the Empire!
Iron Feathers had his eyes closed as he floated inside the dark-red liquid. He appeared to be in a coma even if his aura flickered from time to time.
Icy Stare continued to explain as they walked past him. "His consciousness is trying to wake him up, but his survival instinct stops him at the last second. We are trying to rebuild his dantian with the studies about the hybrids."
Noah felt that she had directed her last line toward him, but he ignored it. His expertise in that field was only for the Hive to use. He would benefit if the other organizations were to waste resources in endless experiments.
The group eventually reached the castle only to discover that its insides were less flashy than they expected. There was barely any furniture, and the most peculiar aspect of the main hall was the strong wind blowing inside it.
The wind grew more intense as the group climbed a series of luxurious stairs to reach the upper parts of the castle. It soon started to gather in the form of small tornadoes that flew into different rooms before disappearing from their sight.
It was a system of gales that created windstorms that disappeared inside the castle.
Noah and the others could guess that the system was part of God's Left Hand's cultivation technique, but the oppressing aura coming from the top of the castle claimed the entirety of their attention.
Icy Stare escorted the group until they reached a large door that stood at the end of the staircase. A whistling noise came out from the empty spaces between the door and the walls, signaling the presence of strong gales on the other side.
"I can't proceed further," Icy Stare said as she gestured to the group to cross the entrance.
The door opened when Noah and the Demons touched it, revealing God's Left Hand's figure sitting on top of a massive tornado in a cross-legged position.
The gales leaking from the tornado pushed the rank 5 cultivators backward, but they deployed their auras to fend off that pressure and protect the trio from the Odrea nation.
The storm calmed down when God's Left Hand opened her eyes, and the winds slowly dispersed as she floated back on the floor where a throne waited for her.
"Please sit, envoys of the Hive," God's Left Hand said as a series of praying mats appeared in front of her. "We have much to discuss and a lot to plan. Let's not waste our time."
Noah and the Demons stepped forward, followed by the trio from the Odrea nation. However, they didn't sit straight away to stick to the approach that they had planned.
"Speaking of wasting time," Noah said while wearing his usual cold expression, "What is the Empire willing to offer?"