The demon sects had escaped from the Papral nation, so it was reasonable to think that most of them had set new homes near its borders.

Noah flew toward the nation of Efrana and began to interrogate any tribe that he found.

Efrana nation was the first independent country after the mystical fog, there was a high chance that some exiled demon sect had decided to establish itself there in the past.

The power of the tribes that inhabited that land was low, even the strongest ones would only have one heroic cultivator in their ranks.

It couldn't be helped, the Empire and the Council would just recruit any tribe that had managed to give birth to heroic cultivators in that miserable condition.

After all, the tribes there were continuously used as cannon fodder, cultivators that could survive the wars between two big nations and become stronger at the same time were highly valued.

Noah didn't need to pay anyone there, his cultivation level and the threat of the organization behind him were enough to obtain all the answers that he needed.

The pieces of information obtained by the tribes were fragmented, even the older tribes there only had knowledge passed down by the previous rulers of the central areas.

Sometimes Noah had to explore the nearby territories to follow the leads created by the information gathered.

It was needless to say that the process took a while, Noah had to fly back and forth along the border of the Papral nation to uncover the events that had happened in the last thousand years.

Noah flew from the Efrana nation to the danger zones that surrounded it.

He explored the danger zones to then reach for the encampments of the Empire, where he was received by other heroic cultivators that belonged to the Wardens.

It took a bit of Credits and insights, but, in the end, he obtained a general understanding of the fate of four demon sects.

'The Bleeding demon sect and the Thieving demon sect had been powerful tribes in Efrana nation in the past. It seemed that they wanted to build a nation back then, but the joint influence of the Council and Empire had forced them to give up on that dream. Those big nations should have recruited them after that since the records state their sudden disappearance.'

Noah thought as he hovered in the sky over Efrana nation.

That knowledge had been mostly gathered from the stronger tribes, and the rumors passed down by the older ones.

There was bound to be some inaccuracy, but there was a limit to how much Noah could do about that.

Reaching that conclusion was already far more than enough.

'The Severing demon sect had passed through Efrana nation too, but it didn't stop here. It marched toward the eastern coast and clashed with the Empire. The sect lost the battle, and its members were enslaved. It possible that some of their descendants are still around in some slave camps, but I can't recognize them.'

The Severing demon sect was specialized in unorthodox martial arts, it didn't focus on the bloodline of its members like the Enduring demon sect.

Noah couldn't distinguish its descendants from the other slaves without such apparent features, so he had simply thanked the envoy from the Wardens with a few thousand Credits and left the camp where his clues had led him.

'The Suffering demon sect had gone toward the western coast in its escape. It followed the path of the Chasing demon sect, but its tracks stop in the Scarlet mountain chain.'

The Scarlet mountain chain was a rank 5 danger zone inhabited by eagle-type and hawk-type magical beasts.

The area was quite chaotic, Noah had only been able to do a quick search before two rank 5 magical beasts in the middle tier noticed his presence.

However, that made him almost sure that the demon sect had been destroyed when it entered that area.

The Suffering demon sect didn't have a rank 5 cultivators before the exile, its survival in a rank 5 danger zone was nearly impossible.

'The Morphing demon sect or its remains should be in the Utra nation, and I can't return there yet. That leaves me with the Flying demon sect and the Dreaming demon sect.'

Noah's list only had two demon sects left.

Yet, no matter how much Noah had searched and investigated, he didn't find any trace of them.

That could lead only to three possibilities.

The first one was that they had been destroyed before leaving the Papral nation.

The second one was that the information about them had vanished during the last thousand years.

That scenario though saw them destroyed in some danger zone or enslaved by the Empire.

Clues about them would surely appear in the case of their survival, only thorough destruction could erase their traces in that way.

The third and only possibility that Noah could affect saw both demon sects inhabiting the mystical fog.

'There are bound to be rank 5 creatures inside the fog, but my natural awareness should be enough to keep me safe. Also, there shouldn't be any other area in the old continent so full of powerful magical beasts. I might benefit from its exploration.'

Noah thought as he turned his gaze toward the north.

The mystical fog divided the border between the Papral nation and the Empire, and it became thinner only in the Efrana nation.

He knew that mighty beings had artificially created both the mystical fog and the mountain chain on the other side of the continent, but the purpose behind their existence still escaped his mind.

Those creations were simply too old, even older than the Empire.

Only the god in the Mortal Lands could know something about them, but even that wasn't certain.

Noah thought for a while before deciding to explore the mystical fog.

Benefits usually accompanied risks, and Noah was enjoying that period of exploration too much to put a stop to it so soon.

Also, Noah felt that his dantian was nearing the long-awaited breakthrough, and he would gladly accelerate its arrival by acting according to his desires.

He had even translated the diagrams of the Dark ray spell, and Dark cover spell that he had abandoned since he became a rank 4 mage.

It was time to make some modifications since reaching the liquid stage would grant him deeper reserves of "Breath".

Those modifications would need many tests, and only a danger zone featured enough threats to keep his mind sharp and focused on the task.

Noah stopped hesitating when he made his mind and sent a mental message to inform the Hive about his decision.

Then, he flew toward the north, and his figure disappeared as he entered the thick, gray fog.

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