Chapter 1500 1500. Details
Noah had to struggle to get the information that he wanted. Talking with the Foolery was hard. They often forgot the topic of their conversations, and they stopped speaking every ten minutes to eat some of the blue bushes in the region.
Excrements always followed their meals. Those magical beasts didn't even try to control themselves, and Noah and Fergie ended up retreating into the sky many times to avoid that awful substance.
An unbearable smell soon covered the entire region. Noah could even hear cries coming from the nearby lands due to that scent. It seemed that even the magical beasts outside of the pigs' pack couldn't stand their excrements.
Fergie soon learnt that Noah didn't fear that smell. The latter dived back into the region every time the Foolery were ready to talk again, and Fergie had to follow him to honor his leadership.
Still, even Noah stopped touching the terrain. He had no reason to dive into that filth. He spoke to the magical beasts while remaining mid-air.
Noah eventually managed to get a surprisingly detailed understanding of the magical beasts' domain. The leader of the Foolery had traveled a lot in its life, which gave the creature a vast knowledge of those lands.
The description of that domain reflected what Noah had guessed during his past inspection. The environment of the various lands depended on the magical beasts that inhabited them. The number of rank 8 creatures also spoke for the valuable resources hidden in those areas.
The pack of pigs only featured one rank 8 specimen, even with that abundance of resources. Noah soon realized that the blue plants had limited effects on those creatures due to their tight connection to their innate ability.
The energy in those magical plants matched those creatures, so their bodies flushed most of it out. Noah had to reconsider his initial position when he uncovered that feature. The Foolery's greatest weakness wasn't their intelligence. They could not grow properly through their innate ability.
'Heaven and Earth are tricky,' Noah thought when he learnt about that, but the surprises weren't over.
The human domain rarely mentioned the rank 9 existences. No cultivator knew where they were or if any of them still lived in the higher plane.
Noah had only heard about them in Supreme Thief's inheritance. He had confirmed their existence in the secret area, but he had remained unclear about their behavior.
Instead, the leader of the Foolery knew far more about that, even if its knowledge mostly involved other magical beasts at that level.
"You won't find them here," The rank 8 pig explained. "These lands are too poor for them. Most strong beasts leave for the windy regions. The air there is dense with power. Legends say that the storms hide lands full of food and delicacies!"
The leader began to drool, and the other pigs imitated the creature. Still, Noah had learnt when to ignore those beasts by then.
'It makes sense,' Noah thought when that information entered his mind.
Storms made of chaotic laws filled the areas past the Outer Lands. Noah had initially thought that those regions only featured pure creation due to the constant expansion of the higher plane, but he started to wonder about their actual size.
'What if the storms hide an environment far vaster than the higher plane?' Noah thought.
The human domain vastly underestimated the magical beasts because it was unaware of how vast their territory was. The same could happen for the stormy regions. They could hide wonders that the Immortal Lands would only discover once those regions left the chaotic winds.
'Supreme Thief's inheritance has been inside the stormy regions for eras,' Noah thought as the small pieces of information gathered throughout his life in the higher plane connected. 'Maybe he didn't leave it there to hide it. Maybe those lands were his home, the only home worthy of a rank 9 existence!'
Everything fitted what Noah had learnt about the divine ranks. Cultivators had to become worlds to reach the ninth rank, but a mere law wasn't enough to cover the complexity of that feat.
However, the stormy regions featured an abundance of chaotic laws. They were the perfect place where cultivators could expand their true meanings and aim to become something more than simple gods.
The same went for magical beasts. The chaotic laws carried far more energy than the azure lands. The stormy regions appeared as the only areas suitable for existences that aimed to become worlds.
Noah's greed started to burst out of his figure. The stormy regions weren't hard to reach. He only had to fly past the Outer Lands. They were within his reach, but he couldn't survive there at his current level.
Suppressing his greed turned out to be hard. Noah had found the final training ground, but he couldn't go there. He was too weak to explore the vastness that surrounded the known higher plane.
His focus had to return on more achievable resources. Noah now knew that any land featuring more than a rank 8 magical beast contained something valuable. Dangers that he couldn't face also surrounded those resources, but they were far easier to overcome than the storms.
'The tall tree had two packs of magical beasts fighting for its ownership,' Noah thought. 'That must count for something. Those packs have a rank 8 specimen each, but they leave their homes to fight for that resource. It has to be something good.'
When Noah reached that conclusion, his conversation with the Foolery met some setbacks. Those creatures liked to have such a valuable resource nearby because it ensured the safety of their region. It was the best bait for any pack willing to raid other lands.
The Foolery didn't want Noah to join the fight for the tree. They were afraid that he could destroy that resource due to the greed that he had shown before. That would lead to catastrophic consequences for their livelihood.
Noah took a while to understand what was in those creatures' minds. Initially, he thought that they were too tired due to the long conversation, but he soon realized that they would pretend to forget at times.
Once Noah uncovered that detail, understanding the reason behind their behavior became easy. Yet, that knowledge didn't make him abandon his plans.
Even if the Foolery were harmless, Noah had to pursue his goals. He had to obtain a rank 8 battle prowess in that journey, and it would take him centuries to achieve that if he only relied on normal training.
Fighting and seizing resources was the faster method, and Noah had just found something valuable. He would fight to get that resource whether the Foolery liked the idea or not.
"Why don't you take it for yourself?" Noah asked at some point during the conversation. "You aren't weak, so why do you limit your potential instead of fighting like every other magical beast?"
"The struggle for power can only lead to bloodshed," The rank 8 pig replied. "There is no end to our hunger, so it's better to control it. We would only make countless enemies if we started eating anything in our reach."
"Just eat the enemies then," Noah replied. "That's the whole point of improving. You get strong enough to take anything you want. Suppressing your instincts can't be the answer."
"It is for us," The leader continued. "We did not forget our place in the food chain. We are strong, but not strong enough."
"You will never become strong if you keep limiting your growth," Noah replied, but he soon shook his head. "It's fine. I will go there anyway. Can I take some plants and cultivate nearby before the mission?"
The Foolery almost cried when they saw that Noah appreciated their innate ability. They didn't want to give up on their food, but they couldn't refuse either. Also, feeding Noah would delay his journey toward the tall tree, so they allowed him to take a few blue plants.