Noah led the group from the Udye family across the southwestern coast.

Ian had to lift the barrier around them high in the sky when the flew over the lava lake, the heat in the area would just seep through it and kill all the human cultivators in an instant.

Elder Austin interrupted his cultivation when he saw Noah and rose in the sky to speak a few words to him.

Apparently, he was the one who had the idea of using a n.o.ble family to obtain the advanced devices of the Utra nation.

The sects of the Papral nation couldn't seal a pact with the Hive, its patriarch was the leader of one of the eleven unorthodox sects that had been exiled in the past after all.

The Council and the Elbas family were too busy with their territories in the new continent to care about a small force like the Hive, so only the n.o.ble families were left as an option.

The best choice among them was obviously the Udye family.

Not only was it one of the most potent large-size n.o.ble families, but it also was one of the reasons behind the Cause.

The Elbas family would neglect n.o.ble families that sided with the Cause and give part of the resources obtained in the new continent only to the loyal ones.

That led to a situation where the families siding with the Cause were forced to look for external help so that their power wouldn't stagnate.

'They could have just told me. Well, the Udye family is perfect, and it's already here, I might as well end this matter as fast as I can and continue to create wills.'

Noah sighed inside his mind as he thought that.

He had never liked being interrupted when he was in the middle of his training, but his position brought duties along with benefits.

He was quite annoyed, and that feeling was further fueled by Daniel's gaze, which was fixed on his back.

Noah flew without turning his back, he didn't care if Ian was forced to move the barrier to avoid the heatwaves, he couldn't be bothered to adapt to his problems.

They soon reached the desert, and Noah purposely flew over the area where the rank 5 sandworm rested.

Some of the human cultivators inside the barrier directly fainted when they heard the creature's screech, but they were too high in the sky, the sandworm wasn't able to reach them.

Noah led the group over the land filled by poisonous rivers only to reach for the forest of White woods where he turned toward the east.

The ethereal dome was hidden entirely even to his eyes, Noah could only see the vast azure plain stretching as soon as the forest ended.

It was at that point that Elder Julia appeared again and waved her hand to perform a spell.

Winds blew over the surface of the barrier that covered the group from the Udye family, and a thick layer of compressed air soon surrounded it.

The layer blocked the vision of the cultivators inside it and was also able to contain the consciousnesses of the two rank 4 mages in the group.

Elder Julia then waved her hand again, and the oval layer descended toward the plain before disappearing when it crossed an invisible barrier.

Noah understood that they had entered inside the area habitable by human cultivators, but his mind was on something that didn't concern the meeting.

"Can I return to my training now?"

Noah asked Elder Julia, but the latter simply shook her head before speaking a few words.

"No, the Hive needs you at the meeting, you represent the new generations after all! Remember to change yourself before the banquet."

'Banquet?'

Noah was surprised by the turn of events and was about to ask more about that matter, but Elder Julia just vanished once again.

He could only heave a loud sigh before diving toward the ground.

His vision changed when he crossed the barrier of the invisible dome.

Tall buildings appeared in his view, a small city had been built in that area in those months.

Also, he could see small groups of rank 3 cultivators walking through the street, he couldn't help but realize how the human a.s.sets of the Hive had grown in the past years.

Noah looked in the distance, toward the area with the s.h.i.+ning lakes, but he was only able to see that a tall defensive wall had been erected in front of them.

'A lot has changed while I trained, the life of the mortals seems so fast.'

He thought when he saw how his old home had been transformed into something entirely different.

It didn't take much for him to find where he was supposed to go, he only needed to follow the presences of the heroic cultivators under the dome.

Noah landed on top of a large building that stood at the center of the city and found Elder Duke waiting for him.

Elder Duke notified him that a bath and new robes had been prepared on the floors below, so Noah didn't find any reason to waste time.

The way he saw it, the sooner the banquet began, the sooner it would end.

Not even an hour later, he found himself in a large hall that featured many long tables.

Delicacies and fine wines filled the surface of the tables, and both human and heroic cultivators were seated next to them.

Of course, the order of the seats followed the rank of the cultivators.

Elder Julia, Noah, and Elder Duke sat on one side and faced Ian, Octavia, and Daniel.

In contrast, the other human cultivators sat at some distance from that group of powerful ent.i.ties.

Noah ate in silence and enjoyed the excellent wine that was served on the table, but Daniel kept his eyes on him for the whole time.

Meanwhile, Elder Duke entertained the guests with a long speech about the features of the piece of Immortal Lands, he seemed the appointed mediator for that meeting.

The banquet ended after a few hours in which Noah never stopped eating and drinking.

The Hive was serving cooked magical beasts' meat after all, he preferred it raw, but he wouldn't waste such a nouris.h.i.+ng meal just for his tastes.

Then, the human cultivators left the room, and large sofas and praying mats replaced the tables.

Even the remaining food was taken away with a gesture of Elder Julia's hand, and only the wine remained between them.

"You are free to begin with your requests, did you find something interesting in our territories?"

Elder Duke spoke as he turned toward Ian.

Elder Julia was a rank 5 cultivator, she was there only as a show of power, and Noah simply didn't care, he only wanted to finish the translation of the Warp spell.

"There is something that I wanted to ask before proceeding with the meeting."

Daniel spoke, surprising Elder Duke who thought that it would have been Ian the one to lead their side of the conversation.

"Noah Balvan, did you kill Phoebe and Manuel back in the Bare Dungeon?"