Chapter 1774 - 1774. Roars
A deep growl resounded in Noah's mind after the mental connection formed. The dragon didn't give voice to the usual shrill cry of a newborn. Its tone sounded deep and ancient, as if the creature had taken a nap that had lasted for eras.
A torrent of emotions flowed inside Noah's mind and made his mental walls shake. Those feelings felt familiar and synchronized with his existence after they filled the insides of his ethereal center of power.
Noah knew those emotions. They carried the entirety of his cultivation journey and d.e.s.i.r.es. The massive six-armed dragon was an embodiment of his existence, just like the Demonic Sword, but its character was developing past its sources to generate something completely separate.
The intensity of the internal pressure decreased as the dragon's personality took form. Random flares of hunger, confusion, astonishment, happiness, and pride surged in Noah's mind, but they quickly waned when they found similar feelings inside the center of power.
The dragon had yet to acquire complete clarity, but its instincts knew that Noah wasn't an enemy. He was more than a father. He was the very reason behind its existence.
'Welcome to the Immortal Lands,' Noah transmitted through the mental connection as he quickly came up with a name. 'Your name shall be Shafu, devourer and creator of worlds.'
'Shaaafuuu,' The dragon transmitted inside Noah's mind through a growl that made his entire mental sea shake.
Noah's sea of consciousness slowly adapted to the echo of Shafu's deep voice and grew immune to their dangerous properties. The creature's mental pressure soon became nothing more than a heavy weight placed inside his mind that pushed his mental walls to expand.
The dragon retracted its massive head and pointed its reptilian eyes at Noah. Its eyelids were bigger than him, but it could still see the stark resemblance of their vertical pupils.
Shafu had inherited a lot from Noah's existence, but its separate personality was transforming those feelings and d.e.s.i.r.es into something unique. Yet, their eyes were identical.
'You are going to roar, aren't you?' Noah laughed through his mental connection when the dragon raised its head toward the sky and opened its huge mouth.
Cracks opened on the black landmass as the dragon gave voice to a deafening roar that spread soundwaves everywhere in the environment. The sheer power contained in that simple cry could generate catastrophic events, but Noah only laughed when that noise made his whole body tremble.
Snore, Duanlong, Night, and the Demonic Sword instinctively came out of Noah's body and gave voice to different roars to announce the arrival of a new companion. Even Noah lifted his head and joined that event. The sky had to know that he had developed a new weapon.
The event scared the existences who had lived near the region in the last years. King Elbas had warned everyone about the dangerousness of Noah's experiments, so no one had dared to be too close to the immense dark world. Yet, the threatening soundwaves and the massive cracks that spread through the landmass forced them to intervene.
A few rank 8 cultivators flew toward Noah's position, but their expressions froze when they understood that the source of the destruction was a huge winged mountain with six arms.
The sheer power generated by that creature didn't help their determination either. The dragon stood at the very peak of the eighth rank. It was a monster only one step away from the apex of the cultivation journey.
Noah had to go all-out to achieve that result, and the outcome didn't disappoint him. His ambition was already able to bring him to the peak of the eighth rank if he focused it on a single feature. The dragon had simply managed to benefit from that ability since Noah had taken his time to empower the entirety of its structure piece by piece.
The dragon, Noah, and the other companions continued to roar their happiness, and the landmass kept falling apart. The cultivators in the distance couldn't do anything about that situation, so they contacted the existence temporarily in charge of Cancer to understand what to do.
A series of golden runes lit up on the cracked ground near Shafu, and shining lines grew from them to create a circular formation. Noah stopped roaring when he sensed familiar auras appearing above those inscriptions. Some of his friends had teleported there.
'Calm down now,' Noah transmitted through the mental connection. 'You'll have the chance to go all-out very soon. Let's try not to destroy our only home for now.'
'I am homes,' Shafu replied, and Noah couldn't help but pat its head.
The dragon's personality was still adapting to its massive form and multiple influences. It would take a few weeks before it fully developed into a m.a.t.u.r.e character with precise features, and Noah didn't mind that.
Shafu had expressed one of its core features. It lived to create worlds, which it described as homes.
"Betraying you doesn't sound so bad now," King Elbas snorted while remaining inside the golden formation. "I understand that you don't care about this mess because you won't be here to hear those annoying complainers, but try to make things easier for me at least."
The formation shielded King Elbas and his group from the soundwaves. Those inscriptions weren't a teleport built at the last second. They seemed older and connected to the ground.
Shafu eventually stopped roaring, and the other companions imitated it before flowing inside Noah's body. That small demonstration was over.
"The pig is right," Noah laughed. "You complain even if you already have a solution. You must really like it."
"I do, as a matter of fact," King Elbas wanted to sound annoyed at that remark, but the voice that came out of his mouth was proud and arrogant.
King Elbas snapped his fingers, and a series of golden lines materialized above all the areas destroyed by the soundwaves. A net of inscription covered the cracks and forced them to close before restoring the ground to its previous state.
"I am almost ready to depart," Noah announced after the golden lines vanished. "I bet you are here to join the mission."
Noah's eyes moved among the experts who had teleported with King Elbas. He saw Fergie, Steven, Jordan, June, and Daniel. The sight of his old acquaintance surprised him, especially due to Faith's absence, but he didn't bother to probe too deeply into his reasons.
"Divine Demon didn't want to come when he recalled that your targets were magical beasts," June explained. "They are boring challengers, according to him."
"I thought you needed a hybrid like me to give a better impression to those beasts," Jordan added before glancing at the massive dragon. "I see now that you won't have a problem there."
"I'm your first underling," Fergie exclaimed before recalling the various companions inside Noah's body, "First human underling. It's my job to follow you."
"You are going to explore the Immortal Lands," Steven continued. "My cells might have some survivors. I can't miss this chance to come with you."
Noah glanced toward Daniel at that point. The expert wore an aloof expression, but there was a clear interest in his eyes. He seemed to look forward to the incoming mission.
"Heaven and Earth are aiming to purify the world," Daniel said in a firm tone. "I know you don't approve, but I might learn something from the process."