2323.Pride

The pressure wasn't only heavy. Its seemingly unstoppable power came from the deep meanings flowing inside it.

Noah and Alexander had an easier time understanding those meanings. They were extremely powerful specimens that stood at the peak of their respective fields, so they could recognize the similarities in that influence.

Heaven and Earth weren't trying to suppress Noah's group. They were merely expressing the entirety of their power, which carried the sea of worlds accumulated during their long lives.

That stable mass of meanings naturally gave birth to a superior existence, something that went beyond the limits of the species. Heaven and Earth were far past magical beasts, humans, and hybrids. They were a being that had long since abandoned those weak labels.

Noah didn't forget about his time as a human. He recalled his envy and interest in the magical beasts and the process that had eventually brought him to his current state.

Still, a long time had passed since Noah stood before a creature able to surpass his innate advantages. That period had even led him to believe that he was one of the most powerful types of beings in the world, but Heaven and Earth proved him wrong.

Noah struggled to view the crystal figure as a proper living being, but he couldn't ignore its power. Heaven and Earth didn't care about that detail when they built the avatar. They had only wanted something that could contain their immense accumulation of meanings, and the result was incredible.

The crystal figure stood at the peak of numerous fields, and Noah had to admit that he didn't know many of them. Heaven and Earth had built something extremely close to perfection, and its mere presence seemed too heavy for the inferior beings in the higher plane.

Of course, that superiority alone couldn't make Noah surrender. It only pushed him to show what he had learnt during his time at the peak of the food chain.

'I've played this game far more than you,' Noah thought before sending potential to his body and pride.

Veins bulged throughout Noah's body as he forced his figure to remain straight. His neck seemed on the verge of exploding when he lifted his head and opened his mouth.

A roar that spread into every corner of the higher plane came out of Noah's mouth and enveloped his underlings into an ethereal protective membrane. His pride filled the world, and his organization drew power from that intense meaning.

The pressure on Alexander and the others suddenly lost power. The team could move freely again, and they soon noticed that the rest of their companions were experiencing the same reassuring outcome.

Many underlings didn't understand what had happened, but Noah's core team was different. Alexander and the others only needed to glance at their surroundings to see that Heaven and Earth's pressure was still there. Their minds had simply become immune to it.

"You have always disdained the magical beasts," Noah roared while his companions straightened their position. "You can't even begin to fight me in this field!"

"We weren't trying to fight anyone," Heaven and Earth explained. "Don't pretend to know the intentions of a superior being."

"You never learnt how to deal with defeat," Noah laughed, and his companions couldn't help but reveal smirks.

"Defeat," Heaven and Earth repeated. "You think that your current power is a victory over us. You don't even understand the meaning of that word."

Heaven and Earth lifted an arm to point it at the enemy group. Noah and the others prepared themselves for the imminent attack, but their surroundings turned white before they could summon their energy.

A pillar that connected two opposite spots of the sky shot out of Heaven and Earth and engulfed Noah's group. Innate defenses activated as the white energy ravaged everything it could, but they failed to protect the experts.

Divine Demon was the first to come out of the pillar. His fuming figure hid the charred holes on his body and other severe injuries. He had lost his left arm and part of his lower body, and his world had also suffered some damage.

Noah left right after Divine Demon. He didn't lose any limbs, but his body was a charred mess. Moreover, his world shook to no end and destabilized his centers of power. He had an easier time protecting the ethereal blackness, but he couldn't control himself properly now.

The others soon followed, and they all showed a wide array of severe injuries. Still, none of them cared about their physical wounds. Heaven and Earth's sudden attack had touched their worlds, and they had to focus on patching them up or stabilizing them.

Only Sword Saint retained some degree of control over his power. His world was atypical, so it could endure the abrupt offensive, allowing him to realize that Heaven and Earth didn't stay still.

Heaven and Earth could use that chance to inflict a major loss on Noah's group. They probably had the power to kill a few experts in a single blow, but they disregarded the team to fly toward the landmass.

Shafu and the landmass had also benefitted from Noah's pride. The temporary suppression had made both of them livid, so they didn't hesitate to launch a massive slash toward Heaven and Earth when they saw their sprint.

The landmass was still getting used to its power, and the same went with Shafu. They shared an instinctive understanding that improved their teamwork, but they had yet to learn how to cooperate.

Each subsequent attack was stronger than the previous due to that learning curve. The slash that flew toward the crystal figure wasn't only immense. The amount of power it contained seemed capable of filling the entirety of the higher plane, and the meanings flowing inside it were also far deeper.

The crystal figure didn't stop advancing while the slash flew in its direction. Heaven and Earth faced the attack head-on, and the clash disintegrated that giant mass of black energy.

The scene was almost unreal. The landmass had launched one of the best attacks the higher plane had ever witnessed, but Heaven and Earth had destroyed it without effort. A mere clash with their crystal figure had turned the slash into dust. The rulers didn't even slow down during the process.

Shafu swung the landmass again, but Heaven and Earth landed on that immense black surface before the dragon could complete the attack. Their sheer presence in the area interrupted the offensive and prevented Shafu from moving its weapon.

The landmass' infinite hunger activated as soon as the crystal figure touched its surface. The immense creature tried to devour Heaven and Earth, but its corrosive abilities failed to affect their body.

Heaven and Earth didn't waste time. Their raised one leg before stomping it on the landmass. The impact generated a shockwave that spread through the entire world and filled the void with storms, but that was only the aftermath of the attack.

The stomp released countless white rivers that dived into the landmass and made their way through its structure. Giant web-like cracks expanded through the massive creature and drew images that seemed to depict lightning bolts.

The landmass growled in pain as that destructive energy expanded inside its body. Its innate defenses couldn't do anything to stop it, and Heaven and Earth had released enough power to kill its opponent in a single blow.

However, the white energy suddenly stopped expanding in random directions and came out of the landmass to converge toward its tip. June stood there, kneeling on the black surface with a hand pressed on the creature, and the crackling rivers quickly crashed on her.