With the Black Hole spell almost ineffective against Icy Stare's spells, Noah had a hard time creating a strategy that could allow him to defeat her. He lacked the means to gain the advantage in that fight.
Of course, Noah had known that since his last battle with her. Still, he had chosen to fight her again to gain an idea of how to improve his combat style further.
Truth to be told, his disadvantage came mostly from the difference of power between their centers of power. Noah had been in the fifth rank for a little more than forty years, and he had only spent a part of them training since he had advanced without a suitable cultivation technique.
The fact that his darkness allowed him to match an expert at the peak of the gaseous stage was already an incredible feat, even if part of the merit had to go to his hybrid status. Yet, Noah had never been satisfied with his current power and always desired more.