Chapter 1410 1410. Followers
That piece of information uncovered a plan that left Noah speechless. It involved two rank nine existences that wanted to come back from the dead!
Noah had no words to express his astonishment. It was clear that he knew nothing about the Immortal Lands after his conversation with Supreme Thief. There was simply too much going on under the unaware gazes of the existences in the seventh rank.
"Who has the power to kill you?" Noah asked. "Is the ninth rank the peak of the cultivation journey? Can Great Builder really cheat death?"
Noah stormed Supreme Thief with questions, and the latter revealed a surprised expression when he heard Great Builder's name. It seemed that he didn't expect Noah to make that connection.
"Life can offer such wonderful twists," Supreme Thief said after sighing. "You must be quite unique. I didn't expect to meet someone like you from towers built on stolen inheritances. Maybe you do deserve more than a simple speck of my soul."
Noah's eyes lit up at those words, but Supreme Thief didn't give him the time to ponder about them. He stood up and played with his hair before focusing again on Noah.
"This whole place is only an acc.u.mulation of my gains," Supreme Thief said. "The bottom of the towers hides paths that lead to my real inheritance. My corpse is also there. Use this information as you see fit."
Chaos fell on Noah's mental sea. That description matched what he had seen inside the pyramid. Supreme Thief and Great Builder had created similar structures to prepare for their resurrection.
"Heaven and Earth have followers," Supreme Thief continued. "I have always seen them as slaves, but their power can match mine. You will eventually clash with them if you continue on this path. I couldn't defeat them, and you will probably end in the same way."
Supreme Thief wasn't praising Noah with those lines. He was only describing the situation of the Immortal Lands for existences that carried laws alien to Heaven and Earth's system.
"Will you continue on your path even after learning this?" Supreme Thief asked, and his expression became dead serious at that point.
"You ask this as if I had a choice," Noah replied as a faint smile appeared on his face. "I either succeed or die trying. My ambition doesn't allow me to walk any other path."
Supreme Thief stared at Noah for an instant before exploding into a loud laugh. He had seemed surprised about his reaction, but he didn't appear displeased about it.
"Perfect!" Supreme Thief replied as his hand went on his eyepatch. "Then come, gaze into my world and learn the true meaning of stealing."
Noah bent toward Supreme Thief, and the expert lifted his eyepatch. Noah's focus went on his left eye, but he couldn't see anything since a blinding blue light filled his vision and made him cut any connection with the outside world.
Countless images flowed inside Noah's head. They didn't depict anything specific. They were nothing more than emotions capable of affecting all his senses at the same time.
A profound meaning seeped inside his mental sea and dispersed among his mental energy. Noah felt that he had understood something immense, but he couldn't describe what it was with his words. His mind also felt unable to recall those emotions. They seemed too heavy for his current level.
"Stealing is only a trick, a drawback of my individuality," Supreme Thief explained once Noah regained his focus. "You will eventually understand this as long as you don't let go of your greed. For now, I can only wish you a fun journey."
"I have so many questions," Noah said, but Supreme Thief's smile widened as he shook his head.
"I won't give you more answers," Supreme Thief said. "Our time together is over. Ghosts can't bother the living for too long."
Noah felt a pus.h.i.+ng force driving him away from the hall. His feet slid on the polished floor of the tunnel, and bricks appeared on its exit as Supreme Thief began to seal that pa.s.sage.
"Heaven and Earth," Supreme Thief's words echoed through the tunnel as Noah slid away. "There is so much to steal, so much to take. You can't suppress us all for too long. Even your infinite and immense power won't be enough to contain us one day."
Noah shouted questions, but Supreme Thief didn't even look at him. That interaction was over, and Noah didn't have the power to delay its end. It was time for him to go.
As Supreme Thief's monologue echoed through the walls, the tunnel closed and cut off his voice. Noah couldn't hear him anymore and flew, driven by that pus.h.i.+ng force inside the hall where he had fought the giant golem.
'What the h.e.l.l just happened?' Noah shouted in his mind once he returned to the previous hall.
His conversation with Supreme Thief felt like a dream whenever he recalled it. The things that he had revealed hinted at a battle that involved followers of Heaven and Earth and independent existences.
'They will surely go after me at some point,' Noah thought as he reviewed what he had learnt.
He did not doubt that matter. Noah had confirmed his status as an enemy of Heaven and Earth multiple times already. They would surely send someone to kill him as long he became stronger.
'I can only focus on my personal power since I can't avoid this outcome,' Noah concluded in his mind, and the book seized after defeating the big golem appeared in his hands.
The words "embodiment of power" appeared in his mind again when he inspected its thick black cover. The book didn't seem old, but it lacked the mysterious vibe that most resources previously handled by powerful cultivators had.
Noah opened the book to inspect its contents and was pleasantly surprised to find that it described a technique that he could use. The "embodiment of power" was a process that used "Breath" as fuel for physical strength, and it was something that only the owner of that inheritance could use properly.
The only problem with the book was that its contents were incomplete. It didn't have any missing pages. The owner of the inheritance didn't complete the technique before writing it down.
That wasn't a surprise since the owner had been nothing more than a rank 7 cultivator in the solid stage when he died. He lacked the expertise to broaden his technique and make it more accessible to other cultivators.
Still, Noah didn't mind that incompleteness. He actually preferred it. Most inheritances would force him to modify his rewards anyway, and he would have it easier if they weren't complete to begin with.
'I might be able to use it with the right modifications,' Noah thought as he read through the contents of the book.
The technique described a series of specific positions that he had to perform while he filled his body with "Breath". His body would slowly learn to feed on that energy after a while and obtain surges of power once it fueled its functions.
That process was similar to Noah's black vessels but also vastly different. It hinted at an idea that had the potential to become the best body-empowering technique in the world.