1902. Second phase
The sudden event didn't surprise Noah too much. He didn't expect it to happen right after completing the ethereal center of power, but he had long since been ready for it.
Noah's mental sphere had been on the verge of the ninth rank for years already. The lack of the ethereal center of power was the only feature that stopped it from advancing and reaching the last stage of the known cultivation journey.
However, that limit disappeared once the borderless ethereal center of power took form. Noah had forcefully unlocked the path to the ninth rank by creating an artificial version of what his core organs would have eventually built on their own. His mind suddenly found space where to expand, so it didn't hesitate to start the breakthrough.