The time dragon had confirmed it. The life dragon was dead, and the world wouldn't try to bring it back. Heaven and Earth had taken the first meaningful step toward their victory. They had killed one of the hindrances in front of their successful breakthrough to the tenth rank.

Noah didn't know what to say. Truth be told, there were no words for that situation. The existences involved in the fight against Heaven and Earth had always known that the final battle was drawing close. The rulers had simply started the countdown with their trap.

The dragons remained silent after the announcement. The space dragon and the death dragon were shadows of their original selves, but they still mourned the loss of their companion.

Instead, the time dragon appeared helpless and even a bit lost. Heaven and Earth had already proven that they had overcome their previous weakness. The leader had even prepared for countless years for the final battle. Yet, the event had taken it by surprise nonetheless.

"Did you experience the world's blessing, Defying Demon?" The time dragon eventually asked.

"Yes, but I'm planning to refuse it the next time," Noah honestly revealed. "I'm no vessel."

"I expected as much," The time dragon sighed. "I can only hope that you'll be a worthy challenger when your time comes."

"Did you give up on defeating Heaven and Earth already?" Noah snorted.

"We are different from you," The time dragon explained. "We have already fulfilled our purpose once. We have lived on borrowed time since then."

"I can change that," Noah responded through an annoyed roar.

"Maybe," The time dragon growled. "Still, do you think you can focus on others while Heaven and Earth prepare their next move?"

Noah didn't answer that question, but his silence was enough for the time dragon. The latter voiced a calm roar, and its pack gathered around its figure. The leader and the space dragon then activated their joint technique, and all the magical beasts in the area teleported away. Even the corpses vanished.

Noah remained silent as he went over the issue. His influence could improve the dragons, but he would need to be far stronger to affect the three leaders.

The leaders were the result of the old world. Noah would have to reach the same realm that Heaven and Earth had achieved during their attempted ascension to affect those laws deeply. Of course, his existence had an advantage in the matter, but that didn't change the fact that he was too weak to modify the upper tier dragons right now.

The project also had another important issue that Noah didn't have the chance to test. The connection that the three leaders had with the previous world created some conflict with his path. He even believed that he would need to study the fusion between the two types of journeys before modifying the dragons, but that risked compromising his world.

Heaven and Earth had already proven their path was flawed. Cultivators and worlds belonged to different journeys, and fusing them caused rejections on both sides. The process would also involve general instabilities and counters from the world, which was far from ideal unless an existence was willing to spend entire eras fixing the issue.

The rulers didn't have a chance during their path. Noah felt even confident saying that they had committed a mistake. The fact that they were on the verge of fixing their problem didn't change the reality of the situation. Heaven and Earth deserved praises for making it so far, but it was impossible to ignore how much they had sacrificed along the way.

Noah wanted to remain himself, and that alone forced him to give up on any idea that involved the fusion of the two paths. He had seen what had happened to Heaven and Earth, and he wouldn't put his ethereal blackness through that. He wasn't like that.

The project had issues, but Noah knew that the time dragon was right. He had to focus on himself for now, which also forced him to study certain problems.

Noah had to improve quickly, but that went against the nature of the ninth rank. The worlds usually required a slow growth connected to their size, ability to influence their surroundings, and weight in the universe. It was impossible to achieve immediate results, and the current state of the world even went against that.

Noah had explored basically everything in the higher plane. He had even gone outside the sky to inspect the Mortal Lands inside Heaven and Earth's influence. The void could hide more surprises, but he felt that wandering among that environment would only slow down his growth.

The higher plane currently didn't have valuable opponents either. The privileged cultivators were powerful, and Noah could benefit from defeating them, but they lived inside the sky. He felt even quite sure that Heaven and Earth wouldn't send them outside randomly, so he would need to invade the white layer to find them.

The Tribulations weren't a real threat for Noah, and they didn't even try to target him. The weak sky also slowed down eventual communications. Creating forces in the current environment was almost impossible, and the same went for organizing joint missions that required more than a single rank 9 existence.

The more Noah thought about the matter, the more he believed that everything was part of Heaven and Earth's plan. The rulers had created the perfect conditions for their victory now that the final battle was close.

The weak sky slowed down all the existences in the higher plane, and the Tribulations suppressed the magical beasts. Powerful experts could still manage to group up, but that would take time, which was exactly what Heaven and Earth needed to seal their victory.

Noah honestly didn't know what to do to accelerate his growth. His quasi-living workshops already filled the higher plane, but the lack of threats prevented him from experiencing leaps in his power. Invading the sky again also felt stupid after witnessing Heaven and Earth's power. He believed they wouldn't fight him right away, but he had no proof there.

'How can I pull this off?' Noah wondered as the desire to cause a mess grew stronger inside his mind. 'What can I do to get stronger?'

Noah couldn't find answers. The world didn't offer anything else. He had reached the peak only to remain out of options. That issue came from Heaven and Earth's impending threat, but he still found the situation rather disappointing.

"Are you done?" June asked while reaching Noah's side and taking his hand. "What did you find?"

"Nothing," Noah honestly admitted. "I don't think that the dragons will give in so easily, so they have probably gone to the orange city to create an alliance. We don't know the locations of our companions, so they can't help. We are on our own with no worthwhile goals to pursue."

"We aren't staying still," June commented before glancing at the real sky in the distance. "Yet, I understand how you feel. You fear that we might not make it to the final battle."

"I have an idea," Noah sighed, "But I don't know how good it is. After all, we really are out of options."

June understood Noah without the need for further explanations. She was experiencing the same call from the world around her. The death of the life dragon had moved the world's fairness back in their favor, so their existences became naturally attracted to assets that could bring balance.. That approach was no different from advancing blindly, but both of them knew that they didn't have anything else.

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