Chapter 1800: Awakening
The entirety of Noah's existence advanced when he closed his eyes to start the hibernation. His body had always been the foundation of his harmony. He relied on it to fuse his power with the new features brought by his experience and breakthrough.
Noah's law had been ready to advance to the solid stage long ago, but his dantian had to gather enough energy to fuel the breakthrough. The body didn't have limitations in terms of evolution of his true meaning, but its requirements would make every expert in the world give up on the cultivation journey.
The sole idea of obtaining the energy of a rank 9 creature as a liquid stage existence in the eighth rank was unreasonable. The difference in power between them was as vast as the sky, but those rules didn't apply to Noah.
Noah's existence already allowed him to face beings at the peak of the eighth rank. Dealing with a creature in the ninth rank with the help of his best experts had been easy. It was clear that the liquid stage couldn't contain him anymore, and the energy gathered during the hunt had proven that.
His body advanced while Noah went through a dreamless sleep. The dark matter around him helped the center of power with the process and quickened the various improvements. His flesh, muscles, bones, and organs went through multiple enhancements under the strict supervision of the black hole, and some of the energy that he didn't absorb before ended up helping anyway.
Other changes happened during the breakthrough of his body. Noah's companions had eaten part of the jellyfish's energy to reduce the pressure on his centers of power, and they ended up using it during his sleep.
The energy coming from a rank 9 creature wasn't only more powerful. It had a superior quality that made Noah's companions reach the limits of their current level.
They would have normally required a bit more time to absorb that energy completely and take the last step toward the next tier, but a stronger fuel forced them to advance during Noah's hibernation.
His dantian released waves of ambition that made the companions' bodies advance on their own. They had already met the requirements for the breakthrough in terms of energy, so the intense force spreading from Noah's organ triggered the evolution.
The dark world had even expanded inside the hall. The black hole could force workshops capable of benefitting Noah's companions on its own. It didn't take much before Night, Duanlong, Snore, the Demonic Sword, and the parasite crossed the limits of the middle tier and hibernated to reach the new level.
Shafu also contained a lot of energy inside its separate space, so the companions could use it whenever their breakthroughs required more power than expected. The sheer amount of energy contained in that single hall was so intense that the golden walls, floor, and ceiling trembled due to the might thriving in its insides.
Only the six-armed dragon didn't advance. Shafu solidified its position as a peak rank 8 creature, but it didn't take the next step. The creature shared part of Noah's insane requirements, so a single share of the jellyfish's energy wasn't enough to trigger the breakthrough.
The dark world made sure that the waves of energy naturally released by Noah's figure didn't damage the mansion. The breakthroughs went smoothly and didn't cause any problem, but the process almost emptied the stashes of the jellyfish's energy. Shafu ended up being the only one with some fuel left, but it decided to store it.
The dark world flowed back into Noah's figure when he woke up. The black hole updated him about everything that had happened during his sleep, and a smile inevitably appeared on his face when he noticed the power of his companions.
They weren't falling behind. They were keeping up with Noah's improvements in their current form.
A wave of darkness spread from Noah's figure when he straightened his position. His ambition overflowed and seeped inside the mansion to improve its structure.
The golden materials gained darker shades, but their nature didn't evolve. It seemed that King Elbas had already perfected those alloys, but the same didn't apply to the overall structure.
King Elbas was a monster, and Noah couldn't even try to understand the depths of his expertise. The mansion featured many inscription methods that the world had lost long ago, but the ambition didn't care about Noah's ignorance.
Thick black lines appeared on the walls, floor, and ceiling as his ambition continued to flow in the area. Noah ignored how most of those inscriptions worked, but his law improved them anyway. It elevated their nature by relying on their intrinsic power.
Some of those inscriptions obtained abilities that even King Elbas didn't know how to replicate. Noah's ambition made them surpass the cultivator's expertise on their own, and the mansion only benefitted from it.
The structure's energy requirements lowered, the various commands ran faster through the various inscriptions, and its overall sturdiness increased. Even the various weapons spread through the mansion grew stronger as Noah's ambition reached every corner of the large series of buildings.
The other experts had remained inside their respective halls during those years. King Elbas had used the jellyfish's corpse as fuel for the entire mansion. That material had allowed all the cultivators, magical beasts, and hybrids to absorb energy and refill their stashes. They didn't manage to reach the level of their initial preparations, but the process still made them gain many years.
The arrival of Noah's ambition didn't go unnoticed. Everyone in the group knew what it felt to bathe in his law, so they felt surprised when they saw his energy affecting the mansion as a whole and transforming it into something more than a mere habitation with valuable tools.
All the halls grew dark while the experts decided to continue their training. They knew that Noah would return soon, and the mission would resume right after that.
Still, they didn't imagine that the darkness would bring such intense benefits. Some immediately gained insights on certain matters. Others found ways to improve their battle prowess even if they had remained stuck on the same attacks for millennia.
Moreover, the mansion as a whole seemed to provide more energy. The experts didn't know why that was happening, but they were aware of the source of those changes. Noah's energy was unmistakable.
"Can you stop messing with my mansion?" King Elbas' voice suddenly resounded inside Noah's hall as a golden figure came out of its walls.
"I can feel the improvements," Noah nodded while revealing a satisfied smile. "Just accept them. Maybe even learn something."
"Are you Divine Demon now?" King Elbas snorted. "I'm already studying these improvements, but I don't believe for even a second that you had control over it. Your expertise wouldn't allow you to do that."
"How is the rest of the group?" Noah asked to move the conversation away from that topic.
Noah could see that King Elbas had also reached the solid stage. His cultivation level even appeared above Noah's, but the latter didn't mind it. He could only feel satisfied.
"No breakthroughs," King Elbas explained, "We have been the only two to advance, but everyone has recovered already. The void still has much to offer to us."