Elder Jason didn't turn, he kept his eyes on the corpse of the magical beast.
The scene that he had just witnessed simply didn't make sense!
Magical beasts had innate aggression that couldn't be tamed, they could just be subjugated under the rule of a stronger being of a similar species.
Those features were further enhanced as the creatures' rank rose, rank 4 magical beasts could be barely controlled even by the leaders of each pack.
Of course, even those mindless beings could understand the difference in power when they saw it.
Every living being had an innate sense of danger, and magical beasts were the best in that field.
Yet, his eyes didn't lie to him, he knew exactly what he saw.
He saw a rank 4 magical beast offering its life to Noah without struggling, it was as if Noah's pressure had suppressed even its survival instinct.
That was theoretically impossible, only creatures of a similar species and on a higher rank could subjugate lower beings so thoroughly.
However, Noah was a human, and his centers of power were still in the fourth rank.
"Are you coming?"
Noah's voice resounded in the air, and Elder Jason felt a pair of reptilian eyes landing on his back.
He could immediately sense from that stare that Noah's aura had changed into something sharper and denser.
It wasn't surprising that a cultivator's aura changed as it explored the depths of its individuality.
The heroic ranks were meant to solidify the essence of each cultivator, it was evident that a change in their mindset would affect the aura that surrounded them.
After all, the "aura" was just the energy innately radiated by the mental energy contained in the sea of consciousness.
Yet, Noah's aura seemed to change way too often.
It had first started as a cold and sharp halo only to become a violent membrane that surrounded his body.
Also, Elder Jason could even feel some sort of pride inside it.
Those sensations came from his instincts, Noah's aura wasn't clear in the end.
He seemed to radiate far too many things at once, but, at the same time, it was as if everything simply came out from the dark halo that followed him.
"How did you do it?"
Elder Jason asked when he turned toward him.
He didn't want to probe the powers of another cultivator of the Hive, especially of the Demon Prince.
Yet, the ability to tame magical beasts in the fourth rank wasn't something that could be overlooked.
The copying technique had allowed the Coral archipelago to become independent, showing how useful those creatures could be.
So, the possibility of building an army of real magical beasts wasn't something that he could ignore just to be polite.
"Oh, that."
Noah didn't seem surprised by that question, but he still hesitated a bit to answer.
He wanted to be true to his individuality, which meant that he couldn't just make up a lie to cover himself.
At the same time, he couldn't just reveal that he had fused himself with a magical beast, which gave him access to powers that simple humans could never wield.
"I think it's clear that my body-nourishing method imitates magical beasts in many ways."
Noah said in a plain tone.
Cultivators weren't stupid, especially those in the heroic ranks.
Anyone would notice that something was off about his body, he had revealed his flames and his physical strength against Adrian after all.
Also, it was easy to make a connection with the magical beasts' world.
Noah was an expert when it came to those beings, anyone would be inclined to think that he had taken inspiration from those powerful creatures when he created a body-nourishing method.
Of course, all of them believed that such a powerful body would have some sort of equally strong backlash due to the rules of Heaven and Earth.
"My body releases a peculiar scent, which becomes stronger as my rank grows. This scent makes most magical beasts think that I'm one of them rather than a human."
Noah said when he saw that Elder Jason's attention was on him.
His words weren't exactly lies, he was really exuding the scent of a magical beast.
Yet, that was because he was a real magical beast or, rather, because he was also a real magical beast!
"I've been working on a language that could be understood by those creatures in the last period. I guessed that I could talk to them since they recognized me as one of their kind. What you've witnessed is me succeeding for the first time in that language."
That was another half-truth.
Noah had never needed to create a language, he already knew it.
However, he had to live in the wilderness as a magical beast for an extended period before becoming able to use that ability.
His body alone wasn't enough to make those creatures accept him in that world, the aura around him also had to change to make that possible.
In the end, he had succeeded.
His growls could carry commands that the beasts submitted to him had to follow, and he guessed that he could expand that ability to other fields.
He wasn't lying when he said that Jason had witnessed his first success, the ape in the lower tier was the first specimen that he had completely submitted to his rule.
Yet, that was only the simplest way to use that ability.
Noah could clearly imagine him becoming able to create packs as he continued to train or just build a system similar to that of the rank 5 Albino snake in Twilboia Cliff.
"That's amazing!"
Noah was surprised to see Elder Jason exclaim that when he was done with his explanation.
"Prince, you've managed to make use of a feature of your body to control magical beasts! The implication that this achievement could have are endless! We must tell Elder Julia, she will surely know how to bett-"
"No."
Noah interrupted Elder Jason's phrase.
"I can just give orders that magical beasts can understand, but it's the power behind the orders that affects their decision to follow them. I don't mind doing missions, but I won't focus on an unreliable ability just because it can be beneficial to the Hive. Be sure to say this when you report to Elder Julia."
Noah explained before flying away in the direction of the forest of White woods.
Elder Jason hesitated a bit, but he decided to follow him in the end.
He couldn't really give orders to him, and Noah's words also made sense.
Noah was a member of the Hive, but he was also a cultivator striving for the higher ranks.
No one could ask him to stop focusing on his cultivation only to train in something that could benefit the Hive.
A bit of guilt filled Jason, which made him transmit some thoughts to Noah's consciousness.
"I've spoken too much, Prince. You have done so much for the Hive already, but I actually asked you to sacrifice your training to do even more. My apologies."
