<h4>Chapter 1972 1972. Knowledge</h4>


    Wilfred and Steven had talked about their situation. The long travels and the many training sessions had given them the time to discuss their condition, and the conclusions felt obvious. They were under theirpanions in terms of sheer power, potential, and battle instincts.


    That realization wasn''t too tough to ept. Both experts had seen theirpanions achieve the impossible multiple times. The world had tried to suppress them, but they had always managed to seed in finding benefits among those struggles.


    Noah, King Elbas, Alexander, and Divine Demon were true monsters of the cultivation journey. They went looking for punishments to maximize their benefits. They wanted Heaven and Earth to show them the ws in theirws so that they could improve past the impossible limits that they had ced on themselves.


    Wilfred and Steven had tried to do the same, and they had also seeded in some instances. Yet, they had eventually fallen behind theirpanions. That alone showed their inferior potential and gave them insights on a different issue.


    The potential was an important part of the cultivation journey, but everyone could improve it. That was even truer for existences who treaded along with Noah. His ambition was an incredible fuel that made hispanions ignore limits set by theirws.


    Wilfred and Steven couldn''t use theirck of potential to justify their inferiority since being with Noah gave them the chance to improve that feature. Their issue had toe from something else, and the only variable left to inspect was their mindset.


    Steven had always known that his mindset wasn''t on par with hispanions, which sounded hrious since hisw expressed determination. He had even thought to be among the most driven cultivators in the entire higher ne before meeting Noah and the others. After all, he was one of the leaders of the cells that went against Heaven and Earth.


    Instead, Wilfred had always believed himself to be fine with his mindset. He had never considered himself the smartest of his group nor the best in terms of innate talents, but he was resolute. He had never stopped giving his everything without hesitating, and that had been enough, at least until now.


    Confirming their inferiority had led to a simple conclusion. The two experts had to fix their issues during the breakthrough to the ninth rank, but advancing was impossible when they didn''t have actual achievements on which building their power.


    The two experts had to prove to the world and themselves that theirws deserved to step on thest part of the cultivation journey. Still, their inferiority prevented them from seeding in some of the feats that could grant them the breakthrough. So, they had decided that they would put their lives on the line once the next impossible challenge appeared.


    Wilfred and Steven unleashed dense auras after they set theirws ame. They couldn''t develop techniques or special abilities that would sharply improve their battle prowess, so they resorted to the only method they coulde up with in their situation. They applied the theory behind the secret arts to their very existence.


    Steven shouted at the sky as his determination burnt to give him a temporary boost of power. His invisible energy gained dark shades that created a stark contrast with the whiteness of the world.


    The shield disappeared and transformed into a dense defensiveyer that covered his skin. Its power even increased, but it didn''t manage to step into the ninth rank.


    Wilfred bent forward as a growl came out of his mouth. His figure inted as all the muscles in his body grew. Veins appeared on his face, and red shades filled the white in his eyes as multiple blood vessels popped due to the intense power flowing inside them.


    The two experts weren''t doing anything too extraordinary. Their existences were energy that they could use. The ninth rank would have perfected and transformed them into a proper fuel meant to express their world, but they could still use them in their current state.


    Still, their existence didn''t have energy simr to Noah''s potential. Setting them ame was the only method that could transform them into fuels, but that only brought the two experts closer to their death.


    Wilfred and Steven gained ess to a superior might, but they didn''t dare to waste time appreciating it. Their centers of power were about to burst due to the massive energy flowing inside and out of them, so they had to use it before their whole figure exploded.


    The two experts already knew how to deploy their abilities to avoid creating conflicting effects. Steven expanded his dark shield and transformed it into a drill-like structure that had Wilfred as its tip.


    Wilfred continued to umte his power as Steven made the drill move forward. The two experts only had to reach their opponent to win that battle, so they unleashed everything they had to make their charge seed.


    The drill-like structure pierced through the toons of puppets. Steven didn''t bother to feel happy about that initial sess and continued to send power to his technique. The shield''s edges darkened and radiated his determination to destabilize the creatures that dared to stand on his path.


    Steven had decided to put his life on the line. His determination had reached an unfathomable level, and the puppets couldn''t evene close to matching it. They shattered as soon as the dark shieldnded on their bodies and made the pieces of the cultivator''s existence fly back toward him.


    Steven didn''t let the pieces of the cultivator''s existence surpass the drill. He had to reach his opponent before his power returned. The dark shades radiated by the determination intensified as Steven forced hisw to burn even faster and fly faster than the silver spheres converging on the expert in the distance.


    Countless puppets gathered on the drill''s path to slow down its advance, but their sacrifice didn''t achieve much. Steven was going all-out, so nothing to slow him down. The dark structure sessfully reached the cultivator and pierced the roots protecting him.


    Wilfred opened his eyes when the tip of the drill pierced the defensive array around the cultivator. He stepped out of Steven''s technique and delivered a punch that carried the entirety of his existence.


    The entire area crumbled as massive cracks that led to the void opened. The young-looking cultivator directly disappeared when Wilfred''s punchnded on his figure. Nothing could survive against that immense discharge of power.


    The puppets and many pieces of the expert''s existence shattered before falling into the void. Wilfred almost risked entering the darkness too since thest attack depleted the entirety of his power. Still, Steven grabbed him before flying away from the destroyed chunk of the world.


    "We did it, my friend," Steven sighed as he inspected Wilfred growing smaller.


    The hybrid''s muscles lost power. Wilfred''s skin caved in due to theck of energy that afflicted his body. He was falling apart, but nothing arrived to restore hisw.


    Steven was experiencing the same weakness. His determination fell apart as his existence continued to burn. He didn''t experience any power-up after his achievement. It seemed that hisw didn''t value that victory enough to step on the ninth rank.


    "Heaven and Earth had predicted something like this," The cultivator''s voice suddenly resounded among the whiteness.


    A pir of light came out of the sky and fell inside the void. The many silver spheres that had fallen into the darkness flowed through the whiteness and condensed to recreate the expert Wilfred had just destroyed.


    "We knew that you didn''t have what it took to step on the ninth rank through this approach," The expert continued. "Thank you for expanding our knowledge. We won''t waste this understanding."