The sky over Earth was silent for a few seconds after the lead ship exploded.

The people of Earth, watching through their phones and the giant projections in the clouds, let out a roar of victory that shook the very air.

To them, it was a show.

To Noah, it was a chore.

The two remaining obsidian ships hung in the air.

On the bridge of the second ship, the High Priest, the man with eyes like galaxies, had stood up from his throne.

His calm was gone.

His white hair was messy, and his hands were gripping the armrests of his chair so hard they were turning blue.

"Report!" the High Priest screamed. "What happened? How did the beam return?"

"We don't know, sir!" a disciple yelled back, his voice cracking with terror. "There was no energy signature. No spell circle. He just... he just spoke, and the law of the universe changed. The ship's own attack turned into its enemy!"

The High Priest looked through the viewscreen at the young man standing in the vacuum of space.

Noah looked like he was taking a stroll in a park.

There was no shield around him, yet the radiation and pressure of space didn't even ruffle his hair.

Worst of all, the High Priest couldn't feel him.

In the world of cultivation, if you can't feel someone's presence, it means only one thing.

They are so far above you that your senses cannot even process their existence.

"Open a channel," the High Priest commanded. His voice was shaking. "Now!"

A holographic projection appeared in front of Noah.

This time, it wasn't the arrogant young priest from before.

It was the High Priest himself.

He wasn't standing tall.

He was bowing.

"Great Being," the High Priest said, his voice echoing across the sky. "We... we did not know this planet was under your protection. We have made a terrible mistake. Please, have mercy on us. We will leave this solar system immediately."

Noah tilted his head.

His expression was bored.

"Mercy?" he said. "You just erased a mountain because you were annoyed. You threatened to kill billions of people. And now that your toy broke, you want to talk about mercy?"

"We are but servants of the Chaos Temple!" the High Priest pleaded. "We were only following orders to retrieve a runaway prisoner. If we had known a master of your caliber was here, we would never have stepped foot in this sector."

Noah crossed his arms.

"I don't care about your temple. But you brought a girl into my house. You put a curse on her soul that makes her live in fear every second. Remove it. Now."

The High Priest's face went pale.

"The soul-lock? Great Being, you must understand... that is a Curse of the Void. It is a high-level seal."

"I know what it is," Noah said coldly. "I could break it myself, but it's twisted into her soul like a weed. If I pull it out by force, it might leave her mind broken. Since your temple gave the curse, your temple can take it back. Do it, and I might let you live."

The High Priest fell to his knees on the bridge of his ship.

"I... I can't! I am telling the truth! The soul-lock is not something a High Priest can control. It is directly connected to the Sage of the Chaos Temple. Only a Sage or the Temple Head has the authority to unlock the life-tether."

Noah's eyes narrowed.

He used his mastery of the Law of Truth to scan the High Priest's heart.

The man wasn't lying.

He was genuinely terrified because he knew he couldn't fulfill Noah's demand.

"So, you're useless to me," Noah muttered.

"Wait!" the High Priest cried out. "If you let us go, I will speak to the Sage! I will tell him that a supreme master resides here! He might agree to release the girl to avoid a conflict!"

Noah looked at the two ships.

He could see the anger hidden deep in the eyes of the disciples behind the High Priest.

He knew that if he let them go, they wouldn't go back and ask for peace.

They would go back and talk about the "primitive planet" that humiliated them.

They would want to return with an army to burn Earth to the ground just to wash away their shame.

But Noah's smile returned.

It was a sharp, dangerous smile.

"Fine," Noah said. "Go. Tell your Sage everything. Tell him I'm waiting."

"You... you are letting us leave?" the High Priest asked, unable to believe his luck.

"Yes. Get out of my sight before I change my mind," Noah replied.

The two obsidian ships didn't wait.

They turned around and tore through space, jumping into a wormhole so fast they left ripples in the atmosphere.

On the ships, the atmosphere changed the moment they entered the safety of deep space.

"That monster!" the young disciple spat, his face red with humiliation. "How dare he treat the Chaos Temple like that? High Priest, we must return with the Void Fleet! We must crush that planet and everyone he loves!"

The High Priest didn't answer.

He was staring at his shaking hands.

He wanted revenge, too.

The shame of bowing to a "primitive" was like acid in his veins.

But he also knew that Noah was something they hadn't encountered in a very long time.

They traveled for days through the dark dimensions until they reached the Chaos Temple.

It wasn't a building on a planet.

It was a massive, floating fortress built on the back of a dead star, surrounded by swirling clouds of gray energy.

The High Priest hurried through the dark, cold halls toward the inner sanctum.

He reached a massive door made of bone and shadow.

"Enter," a voice whispered.

The High Priest walked in and knelt.

In front of him stood a man who looked quite young, dressed in simple gray robes.

This was his superior, a Grand Elder of the temple.

The High Priest explained everything.

He talked about the girl, the reversed beam, the destroyed ship, and the man who seemed to be one with the laws of the universe.

"He let you go?" the Grand Elder asked. He was standing with his back to the High Priest.

"Yes, my lord. He told us to remove the curse. He was arrogant beyond belief," the High Priest said, his voice gaining strength as he felt the protection of his sect. "He is an anomaly. We should send the void fleet to—"

Suddenly, the Grand Elder turned around.

His eyes were not like galaxies.

They were like empty pits of hunger.

He wasn't angry.

In fact, his mouth was watering.

A thin trail of saliva ran down his chin.

"An anomalous being... one who has merged with the laws on a primitive planet..." the Grand Elder whispered. "Oh, the taste... the energy must be so pure. So refined."

The High Priest blinked, confused.

"My lord?"

The Grand Elder stepped forward and placed a gentle hand on the High Priest's shoulder.

"You have done a great job, my faithful servant. Truly. You brought me the best news I've heard in a thousand years."

"I am honored, my lord!" the High Priest said, smiling.

"But," the Grand Elder's voice turned cold. "If you know about him, then the other Elders will find out. And if they find out, they will want a bite of him too. I don't like to share my food."

The High Priest's smile froze.

"What—"

Pop.

Before the High Priest could finish his sentence, his body didn't explode.

It imploded.

He turned into a thick, swirling mist of red blood and golden energy.

The Grand Elder opened his mouth and inhaled deeply.

The entire essence of a Dao Master High Priest was sucked into his lungs in a single breath.

The Grand Elder licked his lips, looking satisfied.

"Much better," he murmured.

He didn't care about the loss of a ship or a High Priest.

To him, they were just tools.

But Noah?

A being who could manipulate laws without mana?

That was a treasure.

If he could capture Noah and refine him into an elixir, he might finally break through his current bottleneck and become a True Sage.

"I will go alone," the Grand Elder decided. "I will taste this Noah Aldric, and then I will consume his planet as a side dish."

Back on Earth, Noah was sitting on the porch of the bakery, eating a piece of bread Eric had just finished.

Lyrien was sitting next to him, still looking at the sky.

"You let them go," she said quietly. "They won't stop, Noah. They will come back with someone much stronger than a High Priest."

Noah took a bite of the bread and chewed slowly.

"I know."

"Then why?"

Noah looked at her.

"Because right now, I've only mastered a thousand laws. To get to the next level, I need to see higher-level applications of chaos and void. I need them to send me a teacher."

He looked at the horizon.

"Besides, Earth is getting a bit boring. I think it's time for the 'clowns' to realize that they aren't the ones running the circus."

Lyrien looked at him, and for the first time, she felt a different kind of fear.

Not the fear of being caught by the temple, but the fear of what Noah was becoming.

He wasn't just protecting Earth anymore.

He was hunting.

"Noah," Lyrien whispered. "If the Grand Elders come... please, don't let them suffer too much. Just... end it quickly."

Noah smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"We'll see, Lyrien. We'll see."

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