Noah could understand what the Odrea nation had done but he couldn't figure out why.

'Do they expect me to help them in the future? Yet, they couldn't possibly know that I would have had access to this information.'

His mind was confused, knowing that the Odrea nation was protecting him made him feel strange.

'Are they simply doing this out of goodwill?'

That possibility left him even more confused.

He was used to people trying to exploit him but pure kindness was something that he had experienced too few times in his second life.

'If it really is kindness, what would I do?'

Going back to the Odrea nation, fight together with it, managing to free it from the clutches of the Empire, those were the things that a righteous person would do.

Yet, the Empire had a G.o.d, good and evil didn't matter in front of such an ent.i.ty.

It's not that Noah didn't want to help that country, he had been treated well there and those pieces of information had given birth to a tinge of grat.i.tude toward it.

However, the reality of things was that he was only a rank 2 cultivator on the run, he couldn't do anything even if he wanted to.

Once again, the feeling of being powerless a.s.saulted him before Noah dispersed it with a renewed determination.

'If I ever am to reach the divine ranks, I will surely pay back this favor.'

His mother, William, and now the Odrea country, those that had become close to Noah did their best to give him more time to develop and he had still done nothing to repay them.

He had simply continued to escape as he pursued power, without ever getting rid of the powerlessness that he felt.

'One day...'

He sighed as he put those thoughts in the back of his mind.

Those matters were still far away from his reach, he was only a rank 2 cultivator after all.

The shape of the building where his habitation was appeared in his sight, an urge to cultivate made him accelerate his steps as he walked toward the main door.

However, when the token needed to open that door appeared in his hand, a voice resounded from behind him.

"Are you Zach, the one that has taken part in the entrance test of the Flowing river sect?"

Noah turned only to see a simple looking man that stared at him with a stern face.

"Who is asking?"

He asked.

Noah wasn't in a good mood, the recent discovery had put some pressure on him and he wanted to improve his strength in the shortest amount of time.

"A friend was captivated by your performance in the entrance test, he would like to meet you."

The man answered.

'Performance in the test? Is he talking about my personality?'

Noah had failed the first test, the one with the Mental seed, so he didn't understand how someone could have taken interest in him nor how it did gain access to that information.

Seeing that Noah was hesitant, the man continued to speak.

"You wanted to enter a sect, right? This friend can make it happen, he is in a sect too."

Noah stared at the man for a while before nodding and gesturing to lead the way.

'He is just a rank 2 cultivator, not really a threat.'

The reason why he was so confident was that the man in front of him was clearly weaker than him, he could just escape if the situation became too dangerous.

Also, he didn't have anything planned, he was just waiting for some opportunity to appear.

'He knows my name and the fact that I wanted to join the Flowing river sect... It's still early to jump to conclusions but there is a high chance that he has connections with the Hive.'

The entrance test had happened only a few days ago and Noah didn't give his name during it, it wasn't required.

That meant that the organization behind the man was either aware of all the new arrivals in the archipelago or had investigated about Noah in the days after the test.

It was obvious that the first organization that came to his mind was the Hive.

Noah followed the man for a few minutes until he stopped in front of a poor-looking tavern.

"I can't go further. You need to enter alone if you want to meet my friend."

The man spoke those last words before turning and leaving the small street where they were.

"How will I recognize it?"

Noah asked but the man didn't turn, in a few seconds, he left his line of sight, disappearing behind a corner.

'The chances of the Hive being behind this have suddenly increased.'

He thought as he opened the door of the tavern and crossed its entrance.

Noah had been interested in that secret organization since he heard about it, there was no reason for him to refuse that chance.

The tavern was dark and most of the cultivators inside it were either drunk or sonorously sleeping on their respective tables.

The smell of strong wine and puke filled the dusty room but Noah didn't mind it too much, his attention was focused on the search of the friend mentioned by the man from before.

A soft light came from one of the tables at the end of the room.

The source of the light was a peculiar plant with bright red branches that were filled with sharp thorns.

The branches entangled themselves around a dark core, the insides of the tangle of branches were too dark for anyone to make out the actual shape of what they contained.

Noah recognized the plant that he had created during the entrance test and understood how that organization became aware of his existence.

'The Flowing river sect has connections with the underground world! Well, maybe it's the opposite.'

A hooded figure stared attentively at the plant, some of its facial features were revealed by the soft light of the branches but Noah couldn't understand if it was a man or a woman.

He decisively walked toward that table and sat in front of the cultivator, his eyes tried to probe its cultivation level but to no avail.

Silence followed at that moment, Noah wasn't going to be the first to speak.

Then, the figure opened its mouth to speak, its voice seemed to belong to a middle-aged man with a healthy const.i.tution.

"Don't you find it beautiful?"