It was only a matter of days before the legal forces of the archipelago completely abandoned the islands, carrying their belongings and part of their resources with them.

The reinforcements from the continent had suffered many losses, the sh.i.p.s on the peripheral islands that had survived the attacks of the rank 5 creature were enough to carry all the cultivators to their respective nations.

As a place mostly filled by cultivators, the archipelago had many rank 1 cultivators who had been born on those islands and didn't join any organization during their lives, they remained in their birthplace since the sh.i.p.s from the continent didn't have enough room for them.

The underground organizations gladly took them in, what they needed the most other than time was to refill their human a.s.sets, they couldn't waste all those citizens now that they could rule out in the open.

A long meeting also happened between the heroic cultivators of the various branches of the Hive, there was the need to choose a political system that satisfied all the organizations left in the archipelago, or that could at least appease the strongest ones.

In the end, it was agreed to set up something that used features of both Papral nation and Utra nation.

The Chasing Demon sect would be the overall ruler of the Coral archipelago, the other organization couldn't even begin to argue on that point since the sect had a rank 6 existence at its disposal and the control over the copying technique.

Also, the sect had been the one to start the war and to lead the Hive to victory, it had even used the contents of the Inheritance retrieved by Noah to limit the casualties.

The victory was indeed its merit, the other organizations simply couldn't argue on that point and willingly accepted the Chasing Demon sect as their ruler.

The remaining branches of the Hive were then appointed to certain economic aspects of the archipelago: The stronger organizations obtained the more remunerative jobs while the weaker were left to take care of the hunts in the sea nearby.

The strong would obtain ways to become stronger while the weak could only eat the sc.r.a.ps, that was an iron rule of the world.

Agreements were also sealed to ensure a swift collaboration between the many branches, matters like the defense of the islands and the negotiations with the continent couldn't be handled only by the Chasing Demon sect.

A group formed by the strongest heroic cultivators of each organization was created, its purpose was similar to the Council of the Papral nation, the group had to handle all the problems that concerned the Coral archipelago as a whole.

Also, the organizations wouldn't be considered anymore as separate ent.i.ties but would unite themselves under the name "Hive", it was just like the Royals who had branches of their family taking care of different matters concerning nation but without a bloodline linking them.

The organizations had different ideals and customs but a united front was stronger than many separate ones, the continent had peacefully negotiated the terms of its loss but that didn't prevent the creation of grudges, the archipelago needed a strong front against such a powerful enemy.

Yet, only time would eventually truly transform those different organizations and fuse them into one, those arrangements were just a way to increase the merging speed.

Everyone seemed busy in those days.

Be it the various dispositions of the Hive after the meeting of the heroic cultivators ended, the laying of the copying technique in the internal island, the creation of better defenses on the peripheral islands, the recruitment and allocation of new cultivators, the creation of a joint merit system with missions and rewards, and the relocation of some important faculties from the hiding spots previously used during the rule of the legal organizations, everyone, no matter its rank, had something to do.

Everyone except Noah.

He had retrieved the Inheritance that had given hope to the underground organizations to conquer the archipelago, shared his gains with his sect, and led the human a.s.sets in the harshest battlefields, all of that while being only a rank 3 cultivator in the gaseous stage!

Everywhere he went, cultivators in the human ranks would perform polite bows and respectful smiles, it must be said that his status as Demon Prince hadn't been removed even though the Chasing Demon sect didn't officially exist anymore.

His habitation had been moved again, his lofty status gave him access to the luxurious internal islands were the central powers of the legal organizations had once ruled.

Most of the resources held in those islands had been brought back to the continent when the sh.i.p.s left the archipelago but the relocation of the resources inside the exoskeleton of the Purple corals allowed the construction of a large quarter containing many useful features and that belonged only to him.

Noah had mostly wandered aimlessly in the islands, overseeing the works of the other cultivators as he waited for the construction of his quarters to be over.

Then, when the construction was over, he had simply used the teleportation matrixes to reach island nineteen, where his new habitation was.

He intended to finally go in seclusion and focus on his cultivation, the matters of the war had forced him to focus mostly on improving his battle prowess in the shortest period possible after all, he had just begun the experimentations on the procedures that required more time.

The pressure of the teleportation vanished and Noah found himself on a small purple island where a large mansion could be seen at its center.

The mansion was about a quarter of Balvan mansion but, knowing that it belonged exclusively to him, Noah felt incredibly amazed.

"Do you like it? It initially belonged to a n.o.ble of some sort but it has now been renovated and improved to meet your standards, Prince."

A familiar voice entered Noah's ears, those words carried heavy mental waves as they reached for Noah's sea of consciousness.

However, they were unable to affect the walls of his sphere, Noah had improved too much since the first meeting with the leader of the thieves' faction.

Bruce had waited for him at the exit of the teleportation matrix, a wide smile was on his face as he performed a bow.