Noah took a matrix that led to one of the residential islands belonging to the Papral nation.

The map purchased in the store was very detailed, Noah had just to think and the islands on the blueprint inside his mind that satisfied his needs would illuminate themselves.

It took less than an instant for him to pick an island and decide a route, the prices for the teleportation corresponded to those indicated by the map which made Noah even more satisfied with his purchase.

As for why he left the market area without inspecting other stores, it was because the woman's attitude had raised his wariness about the archipelago.

'I don't know how much of the archipelago the Hive controls but it doesn't feel like the representatives of the continent have done much progress in suppressing it... I can't move freely if I don't have confidence in my strength.'

Wandering in unknown territories was something that Noah had done many times already.

However, he had never been in a place where the political situation was so vague.

'Why there isn't any soldier patrolling the islands? What is the actual role of the representatives of the continent? What is the role of the Hive? How much control does it have over the many organizations?'

Doubts filled Noah's mind, there were too many questions that he couldn't answer.

'Since I can't find answers, I'll just focus on increasing my strength before making a move.'

That was Noah's solution.

His dantian was already nearing the solid stage, it wouldn't take much for the breakthrough to arrive.

Being in the solid stage would place Noah at the peak of the second rank, making him virtually unbeatable by other rank 2 cultivators thanks to his rank 3 sea of consciousness.

Noah left the formation as soon as the scenery changed, the many tall buildings were the sign of a place built for habitation purposes.

He hurriedly crossed the streets of the city, this island was smaller than island one hundred and thirty-two, it had fewer buildings but they featured better rooms.

A banner then attracted his attention.

'Three hundred Credits per week, open to everyone, average density for rank 2 cultivators. This one will do.'

Noah knocked on the main door of the building and a middle-aged man wearing luxurious clothes welcomed him.

They quickly found an agreement, Noah simply handed three thousand Credits to him and left for his room.

The density of "Breath" was quite low for his needs but the "Breath" blessing stored in his space-ring made up for it.

'This is simply too useful, I bet that the Royals will cough blood if they knew that my cultivation is going smoothly thanks to them.'

Noah couldn't help but smile when he felt the density of "Breath" in the room increase as soon as his mineral was placed on the floor.

Cultivators had two big obstacles in their pursuit of power: techniques and resources!

Techniques were the basic requirement to cultivate but the training speed was dictated by the resources in your possession!

If Noah didn't have the "Breath" blessing with him, his progress would have been far slower, a normal environment could satisfy only rank 1 cultivators after all.

'I wonder when this stone will become useless to me. I should still be fine during the solid stage but I don't know about the third rank. Well, I still don't have a cultivation technique for that so there is no point in worrying now.'

Noah suppressed his thoughts and closed his eyes to focus on his cultivation, he had planned to leave the room only after his dantian entered and stabilized itself in the solid stage.

.

.

.

Two months passed quickly.

Noah was used to training diligently so he never felt the need to go out of his room during that period.

His body and mind were on a higher rank so his dantian had improved quickly, the breakthrough that Noah was waiting for arrived only one month and a half after he secluded himself.

His dantian had reached its limits, signaling that it was time to change the state of the "Breath" inside it.

The shining black liquid inside his dantian was compressed under the pressure of his mental energy, Noah saw how the walls of his dantian couldn't fight against the steady control that he had on the process.

In just a few hours, the entirety of the liquid "Breath" was turned into a small black crystal, Noah had easily entered into the solid stage, the last stage of the second rank!

The other two weeks were spent enlarging his reserves of solid "Breath", the "Breath" blessing had begun to struggle to provide the necessary density but Noah didn't have a better solution at that moment, he was simply glad that he could cultivate at a decent speed.

He still had two weeks left before his rent expired but he had yet to decide what to do in the archipelago.

Noah found himself inspecting the map of the archipelago many times, looking for opportunities that suited him.

However, the months spent in seclusion had made most of the events described in the map outdated.

'It seems that I have to return to the store.'

Noah left the room and used the matrixes needed to return to island one hundred and thirty-two.

'Now that I think about it, this store doesn't even have a name, no wonder it's so shady.'

The same woman from the last time greeted him with a wide smile, the place was empty again so he could speak freely.

Another five hundred Credits were expended to update the map, Noah couldn't help but think that his finances were shortening far quicker than he had planned.

Yet, that purchase wasn't fruitless.

An event that attracted his attention appeared in one of the islands controlled by the Papral nation.

'Entrance tests of the Flowing river sect, two days from now on island eighty-six. This seems interesting!'

The chance that Noah was waiting for had finally arrived!