"How long ago?" Noah immediately asked, uncaring of revealing his interest in the matter.

"A few millennia, I think," Maribel exclaimed while pointing a finger on her cheek. "They weren't doing bad, but Heaven and Earth seemed quite annoyed about their presence. It wasn't hard to understand why due to their connection to you."

"Can you point me toward their last position?" Noah questioned.

"I can, but I don't think it will help," Maribel announced. "The landmass was moving across the sky. The experts there had a series of interesting formations capable of mining the energy inside the sky."

'Second Prince,' Noah immediately thought before falling silent to lose himself in his plans.

Noah would eventually find his companions since he was basically mapping the entire higher plane. Still, waiting wasn't in his nature, and he couldn't miss the chance to obtain clues.

"The previous position has to do," Noah sighed. "Maybe I'll sense a Tribulation happening on the path."

"Won't your presence there only push Heaven and Earth to deploy even stronger Tribulations?" Maribel wondered.

"They are ignoring me for now," Noah revealed. "Heaven and Earth don't need to kill me to win. Defeating the magical beasts is the main step for their breakthrough to the tenth rank. Everyone else will lose at that point."

"How so?" Maribel questioned. "Is this a secret among hybrids?"

Noah realized that an expert like Maribel might have remained ignorant about Heaven and Earth's requirements or general structure, so he gave her a quick summary. He avoided most details since he didn't fully trust her, but he still explained what the system's rebels should aim to achieve.

"Interesting," Maribel stated. "I have been close to reaching similar conclusions, but I never had the chance to find clues. Also, the focus on the magical beasts might shift due to recent developments. I don't see Heaven and Earth achieving victory after growing past their previous standards."

"A partial victory becomes absolute if it involves the tenth rank," Noah explained. "Heaven and Earth clearly have access to quasi-rank 10 power. Allowing them to take another step in that direction might be enough to put an end to everything."

Maribel quickly gained a clear idea of what Noah was implying. She wasn't stupid. Her journey had simply prevented her from seeking answers from the world for a long time, but she understood everything rather clearly after that update. Maribel remained a rank 9 cultivator with a deep understanding of the world's behavior.

Maribel's time to fall silent arrived. She recognized that the situation was harsher than she had initially believed. Heaven and Earth weren't ready to make the jump toward the tenth rank, but that event remained close, and each Tribulation shortened that distance.

"What can you trade for the location?" Maribel eventually asked.

"I almost thought you would have avoided that part," Noah laughed.

"That was my initial intention," Maribel admitted. "However, it seems that I need all the resources I can get. For what it's worth, I'm sorry to end our meeting like this."

Noah inspected the insides of his separate space. Truth be told, he had long since stopped relying on specific materials. He had only needed energy for a while, so he had stopped accumulating wealth. His immense requirements and constant drawbacks didn't help, which left him with nothing more than obsolete items.

"This is a fake core," Noah eventually stated while revealing his hand and creating one of the items contained inside his quasi-living workshop. "I radiate potential. I'm a natural positive influence for every journey, and this item embodies my nature. I can even adapt it to your world if you give me the chance to study it for a bit."

"Does giving that to others help you?" Maribel asked while wearing a knowing smile.

"Of course," Noah revealed. "That's quite obvious even."

"Won't it cause problems for my journey?" Maribel wondered.

"My existence only gives chances," Noah responded. "It will push you toward the best version of yourself, so you can expect an increase in your requirements."

"That's not ideal," Maribel declared. "Though it is interesting. I believe this fake core can't replicate the effects of your world perfectly."

"I had to tone it down a bit," Noah admitted. "Most cultivators would try to destroy it for its energy otherwise, and I wouldn't blame them for that. Similar items could risk creating flaws in the journeys, which would scare away many potential candidates."

"But your influence is different," Maribel replied while inspecting her right hand. "I can sense my world desiring it."

"The price is set then," Noah exclaimed.

"Definitely," Maribel agreed. "Although, I want the real deal. I don't mind flying you directly to that position and benefiting from your world during the path. Besides, I want to see whether I can earn your trust and learn about the secrets that you have kept for yourself."

"I don't mind that," Noah commented.

"Let's not waste time then," Maribel uttered while standing up.

Noah retracted his dark matter and began to follow the cultivator. Maribel had a similar approach to the long and dull travels across the weak sky. She sat cross-legged and hovered through the whiteness while the violent aspect of her influence dug through the white material.

Maribel didn't have to do much with her influence after teaming up with Noah. He was more than enough for that task, and she wanted to avoid deploying the power of her world since it could affect his growth. She felt that she was gaining a lot, so leaving everything else to her companion didn't sound like a bad idea.

Noah mostly cultivated while paying attention to Maribel. The cultivator minded her behavior constantly and even made sure not to affect his training. She also avoided inspecting the quasi-living workshops that Noah planted from time to time.

Everything could be Heaven and Earth's ploy, but Noah didn't believe that to be the case. The rulers had no reason to send someone to spy on him. They knew exactly what he had discovered across his cultivation journey, so sharing a few more details about the higher plane and the world didn't seem a problem.

Maribel's knowledge wasn't useless either. She didn't live like Noah and his companions, but she was really old, and her different approach to the cultivation journey had allowed her to discover things that Noah didn't have the chance to test.

Her ability to hide among the sky didn't come from her world. She had learnt to predict the position of dead zones among the storms by listening to the intensity of the chaotic laws. Of course, that skill was useless now, but it gave Noah new ideas on his study of the weak sky.

The white material that filled the higher plane was a simple evolution of the storms. It didn't contain the same amount of energy, but its blandness allowed those flying inside it to notice the arrival of foreign powers.

Maribel firmly believed that she could learn about Heaven and Earth's decision to send a Tribulation far before clouds appeared in her surroundings. That changed depending on the situation, but Noah could find some sense in her claims. It was only normal for the weak sky to have similar features to the chaotic laws, and its dullness as a material granted the chance for specific inspections.

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