Noah recognized the young-looking man and the emblem embroidered on the group's robes.
'Daniel Udye.'
That name appeared in his mind as he kept on watching the group from above.
'This isn't an invasion, it's an envoy.'
Noah picked his inscribed notebook when he realized that and sent a simple mental message to the two rank 5 elders in charge of those territories.
"We have guests."
There was no reason to say anything else because he would greet them himself.
Noah began his descent toward the group, but he stopped midway when he remembered that he had lived like a beast for the last period.
'This is an official meeting, I should at least try to appear presentable.'
Noah threw away the torn robe that he was wearing as he thought that and used his mental waves to clean his body.
The thick mental waves of a rank 4 mage were able to affect the material world, all the dirt that had accumulated on Noah in the last period was removed from him.
'I'm not exactly clean, but I won't resemble a magical beast, at least.'
Noah sighed as he took a clean robe from his space-ring and quickly wore it, he really wasn't prepared for that event.
Then, he continued his descent.
The group suddenly stopped moving, and the human cultivators in it shot confused gazes to the three figures in their lead before a dark shape entered their field of view.
'Three heroic cultivators, well, almost three.'
Noah thought when he reached the group.
'The middle-aged man should be Daniel's father, and he is in the solid stage of the fourth rank. The woman with her face covered is in the liquid stage, but she doesn't seem part of the family. Daniel is in the gaseous stage of the fourth rank, but…'
Noah had stopped in the air right above the group to analyze its power, his gaze moved between the three figures in the heroic ranks and lingered for some moments on Daniel.
'He isn't a rank 4 mage yet, he isn't a complete heroic cultivator.'
Noah didn't know how he felt when he understood Daniel's level.
He clearly remembered that his power matched Daniel's back in the Bare Dungeon, but many things had changed in those years.
Daniel, instead, felt an overwhelming sense of defeat.
He was older than Noah and had the full support of one of the strongest large-size noble families.
Yet, his achievements paled in front of the young-looking cultivator floating above his head.
"This territory belongs to the Hive, you have trespassed our borders. Do you mind explaining the purpose of your journey?"
In the end, Noah gave voice to those words.
He didn't care much about the past, he had simply used Daniel and his connection to the Cause to escape the Utra nation back then.
Yet, the two of them had never been in any form of friendly relationship.
Noah only needed him to gain time for his escape, and Daniel's purposes were linked to the Cause, he needed a cultivator with a darkness aptitude to raise his status inside his family.
"Greetings, Demon Prince, I am Ian Udye, I believe that you and my son Daniel know each other. We have traveled a long distance for the chance to be received by the higher-ups of the Hive. Would you mind showing us the way?"
Ian spoke polite words, but Noah's gaze didn't falter, he continued to radiate a cold pressure as he stared at the group.
"Yes, I do mind. Purpose of your journey?"
Noah repeated his question.
He knew the power behind his status far too well.
The force in front of him belonged to a large-size noble family, and it couldn't compare to the power of the entirety of the Hive.
He could act as overbearing as he wanted, and he felt that approach to be the best one.
That was a delicate period for the Hive, troubles had to be avoided at all costs to ensure its growth.
Daniel opened his mouth and was about to speak, but the woman next to him placed a hand over his shoulder to stop him.
She was Octavia, Daniel's personal guard, and she couldn't let him do something so stupid like being impolite to one of the most important figures of an enemy force.
On the other hand, Ian kept his calm and continued to speak politely to Noah.
"We only want to have a friendly meeting. The four nations have sealed a pact, but most of the smaller powers have been ignored in that agreement. We believe that both the Udye family and the Hive can benefit from cooperation."
Noah remained expressionless, but he knew that Ian had made a good point.
The Utra nation was considered the most advanced country when it came to inscribed items and other fields of the cultivation area.
Its political system and the academy allowed the birth of many experts every year, and innovative devices were produced along with them.
The air-ships were just one of the most striking creations, but the Elbas family didn't limit itself to the promotion of inscribed items.
Alchemy, formations, runes, inscriptions, diagrams, forms, the Utra nation was advanced in all those fields!
"It's ok, Prince, they have contacted us beforehand."
A voice resounded behind Noah, and he was suddenly able to sense that Elder Julia had appeared behind him while he was thinking.
"I guess you can handle them, Elder Julia."
Noah nodded at her after he spoke those words and was about to return to the ground below when he felt her hand over his shoulder.
Then, he felt a mental message reaching his consciousness.
"I need you to lead them to the azure plain and show the actual strength of the Hive. We need to make them understand how powerful we are to obtain a better deal."
Elder Julia's words resounded in his mind, but Noah promptly complained through another mental message directed to her consciousness.
"Can't Jason do it? I'm in the middle of something, and I'm not exactly polite with nobles."
However, his words did not affect Elder Julia, who quickly sealed the matter with her next phrase.
"You are the pride of the Hive, you are the only one who can show how capable we are. Also, weren't you looking for an alchemist? The best ones are in the Utra nation and Papral nation, but I don't think that the latter would contact us for the time being. We must settle for a noble family!"
Noah could only sigh when he heard those words and watched Elder Julia disappearing right in front of his eyes.
Ian and Octavia could clearly understand that Elder Julia was a cultivator in the fifth rank, and they were stupefied when they saw Noah calmly conversing with her through his mind.
They quickly realized that Noah's position was even higher than they expected.
Yet, Noah was quite annoyed by that matter and ignored the gazes on him as he gave voice to a few words.
"Let's go, we will take the long route."
